Welcome to Colorful Colorado

Not much can be said for the rest of the trek to Boulder on Thursday morning, except that we saw lots of cows and a girl who looked no more than 12 driving a massive pick-up truck (I guess that's just how they do things in the midwest). Finally, the Rockies came into view! It was a welcome change from all those flatlands.

We found a campsite in Peaceful Valley. It was the most rustic campsite of the whole trip (meaning the first one without flush toilets). The maps of the trails in the area left something to be desired, but we set off to explore them anyway.

Our hike that day led us down Buchanan Pass trail. Unfortunately, the thunderstorms were not as isolated as we hoped, and we spent a fair part of the afternoon hiding under tree/rock cover. Despite weather, it was a beautiful area and very peaceful, true to the name.

That evening, we drove back down the mountain to meet Tim and Will for dinner in Boulder. Strolling down Pearl St. was very pleasant, and I felt like I was in a bigger, cooler version of Asheville. Shannon broke open a boulder in the middle of the street, so I guess the city needs to be renamed Split Rock pretty soon. The four of us ate at Leaf, a vegetarian restaurant with plenty of vegan options for Tim. It was a nice meal, but I have to admit... eating all those leaves was a great reminder of why I switched back to omnivorism.

For those of you keeping score at home, you've noticed that I'm posting this 7 days after the fact. To you, I say: don't worry, be happy! I'm finally in Berkeley, and as of this writing, my boxes have all just arrived from the train station. So Joule and I have all our belongings in one place again, and we are quite content. Road trip adventures continue in future posts!