I have been offline here for a bit, but fear not because I still have found myself on a new adventure to a different city once a month. Since my expedition to Switzerland and Italy last May, I have spent the summer in Massachusetts, danced for a whole weekend in Montreal, went to a music festival in New Orleans, ate pizza and hotdogs in New York City, two-stepped all night in Nashville, sang my heart away in Austin, and reunited with old friends in College Station. I even lost my voice to a weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as I witnessed the 2018-19 Iron Bowl. This is not to mention all the sleepless nights and spontaneity in between like deciding in the dead of the night to drive an hour just so I can dip my toes in the ocean, or dragging my little cousin along to chase sunflower fields with me in the Texas Hill Country, or staying in creepy motels in nameless towns.
And where am I now? In a parking lot outside of a Five Guys in Fort Collins, Colorado. This is my first full day here in Fort Collins specifically, and all I have to say is, Why have I never eaten at Five Guys before?! I implore you all to sacrifice your Digestive System’s health for one night and eat a burger. I do not even eat red meat, but I had to make an exception. Knowing that I’ve had Gallstones before, this was practically a life-threatening risk. However, the aroma was what I imagined a Siren might smell like– this was a risk I was willing to take. Now, was it worth it? Stay tuned.
Chloe works at Five Guys. Chloe is a friend for life, and she is the reason I landed in Denver yesterday. (And yes, she encouraged the burger situation).
We spent the afternoon in Denver, and had a jam session the whole hour-long drive along the Rocky Mountains to Fort Collins. It was all beautiful and I felt like I was home with her in that blue car, singing at the top of our lungs to Lana Del Rey remixes. Once we arrived, she took me to a spot up in the mountains that tower over Fort Collins. I switched the song to ‘Rollin’ by Khalid as we zig-zagged up the mountain. We were both singing, per usual, with windows down, freezing, but happy. I had my head out the car, my hand tracing the icy wind as I was taking it all in. That’s when my breath caught.
The place she took me is called Horse Tooth and it’s a lake in between mountain peaks. It’s so vast that it looks like an ocean channel.
So, when the mountains opened up for us, and I saw the waves glisten in the golden sunset, thousands of miles up, my breath caught. It was so gorgeous my chest heaved with pain. It was that gorgeous.
And on that note, I will leave our lastnight adventures up to your imagination. At least, for now.
I’ll keep you updated on places to eat, see, and explore here.
xoxo,
J
