Estoy agredecida por las montañas.

 Hold up! Change of plan. I'm buying a Subaru and moving to Denver! ok, ok perhaps not actually happening and I may say that about any place I visit if you know me well enough. But seriously, if given the option, I would pick mountains 110% of the time. 

Jenna Wiegand, Amanda Virkler & I (nicknamed the Wolfpack by Jenna's sister) have been blessed to travel together over the past 5 years. After Jenna married, Amanda & I planned to continue our travels, which were put on hold by COVID. At the same time, Ethan & Jenna Hartter moved to Denver, CO from Hoboken, NJ last year as the pandemic pushed them both to work-from-home capacity in their respective careers. As a result, two years have subsequently elapsed since our last escapade, and it was high-time that was remedied. Due to job restraints, time restraints, and of course the virus, the logical solution was a reunion in Denver.

After collecting Amanda from the airport, Jenna & Ethan settled in for a full day's work, and Amanda & I went out exploring. We went to Red Rocks, on watching as the stage was being set up for the nights performance I set about looking for tickets that we could return and experience it... all sold out. 

We hiked the short paths surrounding the amphitheater at Red Rocks. 

We tracked down the Molly Brown house museum. But timed it poorly and were not able to enter.

So decided to sit on her front porch for a hot second instead.

Colorado capitol building.

Larimer Square.

I was very impressed to find these two set up in Larimer Square with signs saying, "pick a topic, get a poem" I couldn't resist, and gave her the topic of "Wolfpack". 

She did pretty good, no? 

Howl with me

And I know,

we sit solitary,

filling loneliness with

telephone wires

separated by God and cartographers.

But we're here now,

Under the light of the 

same moon glowing,

so howl with me,

know we're all screaming for each other's company.

and soon we'll

be a choir in perfect harmony.

~ Corvo

Our hike on Saturday was a comedy of wrong turns, but we were so bound and determined to get lost in the mountains, that we continued with the flow and ended up with an amazing hike from the Hessie Trailhead up to Lake Jasper.

Hike to Lake Jasper

Howl with me

It's tradition!

Iconic Wolfpack

Cracking up because we had just realized Ethan had been videotaping that whole time (see above two photos)

Talk about finding your inner peace...

Lake Jasper

Relaxing at Lake Jasper

Lunch break at Lake Jasper

Lake Jasper

We explored the shores of Lake Jasper a bit before heading back down the mountain.

Climb the Mountains.

Stopping in Boulder, CO for dinner on our way home.

After church in Denver we headed to Chatfield State Park for a stroll and a swim.

 

Granted our "swim" consisted of standing toe deep in water and chatting until the wind picked up and threatened a storm. 

The next day Amanda and I got to take the Subaru off-roading to a hike even further up the mountain. Hiked the 4th of July trail.

I am not one to typically focus on the flora of my surroundings, but the mountains were absolutely bursting with color. I don't have it represented well in any of the pictures I'm posting, because it does not come out well in these 2D representations.

So many streams and waterfalls along the way.

Arriving at Diamond Lake.

Diamond Lake.

Diamond Lake.

Amanda humored me with a bit of rock climbing and scrambling trying to get around the lake.

But hey, had to get to the other side! Diamond Lake.

Enjoying ice cream at Yum Yums. Delicious flavors such as Vincent Van Goat, and Absolute Thyme.

For our last morning, I had wondered out loud if we should perhaps need to be more chill.  Silly me. Not the wolfpack. Jenna moved some of her meetings around and we squeezed in one last hike prior to heading back to the airport.

Nice hike up Belcher Hill.

Thankful for our time together, the trip, and the mountains. Sufficiently distracted myself. Now back to reality. 

Much Love and Prayer.

Estoy preparando para trabajar.

And true as the rising sun, time passes, and just like that, written boards are already two weeks in the past. The test, like any standardized test, was not fun. Out of 5 possible answers, at least 3 if not 4 are typically accepted as correct responses. But somehow the test only wants one of them, and can you guess which one? In other words, can you beat the test? Very disconnected from reality, and yet this is what those cumulative pain-staking years of toil and pursuit boils down to. Whether I clicked B or C. 

I still don't have the results, probably won't for at least another two weeks. And this waiting is the worst. I am well acquainted with failure. God has picked me up, brushed me off, and pushed me forward many-a time. I'm not afraid of failure. It's nothing more than a starting point, and I can work with that; as I know God can work with that. But this not knowing... 

As I have learned from the many past tests, sitting and thinking afterwards, is the absolute worst thing I can do. So I did the opposite; keeping myself busy so as to not think about what is hanging over my head. It's not fool-proof, but it definitely helps.

I started with Illinois. Spent time with the nephews without the distraction of New York.

Miles Austin

Little Lincoln

My sister in constructing a fairy garden/gnome village.

Peter Bear and Little Lincoln

From Illinois, flew East to Virginia where Sirish and Kristina Mulpura live just outside of the D.C. area.

Exploring the many trails of the Potomac with Kristina and Noah.

Meadowlark Botanical Garden. Wolf Trap, VA

Meadowlark Botanical Garden. Wolf Trap, VA

Meadowlark Botanical Garden. Wolf Trap, VA

No, not in the botanical garden. Just Kristina's hummingbird garden in the Mulpura backyard.

We were able to get tickets for the National Portrait Gallery, which were rendered not-needed as the day we visited the Smithsonian no longer required timed entry for the Gallery. So we enjoyed our time meandering the Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum. Noah did very well as he was promised a cookie afterwards and he got to share the visit with his friend Girl Puppy.

National Mall. Washington Monument.

And making use of all time possible, we squeezed in a trip to Historic Alexandria prior to heading back to the airport to continue on my way.

Historic Alexandria

Historic Alexandria

Aside from visiting our nation's capital, the surrounding area and hiking the Potomac was able to do some reading, drink homemade lemonade and eat really good food. Seriously, the Mulpura's command their kitchen with absolute fantastic results. All in all I'd say I was distracted enough.

Next on my list in search of distraction was Colorado, but that gets its own post!

Much Love.