Bolder Boulder in Colorado

Boulder Colorado is so hip.  It is a college town set against the foothills of the Rockies.  There are bike lanes and bike paths everywhere, farmers markets, outdoor malls with street performers, and parks everywhere.  Health food stores, vegetarian restaurants and yoga studios on every corner.  As well, the architecture is wonderful.  So many unique new homes and restored Victorians.  Very few McMansions or cookie cutter track homes.  The gardens are lovely and the city keeps parks and roadways thick with flowers and greenery.

We landed at Keith and Ria's house on the west side of town.  We rented the studio above their garage which was way too hot. We parked our truck and rarely got in it.  We biked everywhere.  We knew we would be here for at least two weeks so we bought passes at Om Yoga thinking we would get a good dose of Anusara Yoga there.  We were disappointed that most of the yoga was astanga-based, but we did get one great class in with Jeanie Manchester - wonderful Anusara teacher.  

We met up with our friend Tammy Perkins who is a Maui resident living temporarily in Boulder, CO.  She told us she would be traveling back to Maui for two week leaving 5 days after we arrived.  Great serendipity.  Dave took her to the airport and we house-sat her little downtown bungalow for the rest of our time in Boulder.  Here is he view from our favorite hike up one of the ridges on the west side of town.  The hike is 3.5 miles round trip with a 1300 foot elevation change.  Great for getting your heart pumping and sweat dripping.  The first time we did this hike we were with Tammy and her 5 year old daughter Kaylee.  We went very slowly and mom had to coax Kaylee into continuing many times.  Dave offered a piggy back ride, but Kaylee was too shy.  Amazingly, she made it all the way then was ready to play more once we got back home.

Tammy's home is right around the corner from the pearl street mall so we were incredibly stoked.  We walked and biked everywhere.  We were right around the corner from the Laughing Goat Cafe where we saw some wonderful live music.  Before she left, Tammy showed us some great hikes and parks.  Here you see Tammy helping her daughter walk the slack linein North Boulder Park. 

Because his hands were still healing, Dave spent alot of time Slack Lining at our favorite North Boulder Park.  I spent my time riding, running, hiking and practicing yoga.  I also worked on my writing projects at the wonderfully air conditioned Laughing Goat Cafe.  Boulder was scorching hot!

We met some great friends there and on our last night in Boulder we had a little dinner party. 

On one particularly hot day we headed to the Eldorado Swimming Pool.  A giant pool built to catch the run off from the mountains and offer the community some cooling off fun in the summer months.  The pool at the base of a beautiful mountain and has shady picnic areas all around it.  There is also a diving board which offers loads of poolside entertainment.  Dave did a few reverse back flips and received hearty applause.

Even tough we enjoyed the nature and people of Boulder, CO we were both going through very rough times.  As my new hair was coming in, my old hair continued to fall out and I was looking more and more comical.  I had to get everything cut short and even then there were some uneven patches.  So I wore a hat everywhere but was still uncomfortable in public. 

Dave was in one of the best places for rock climbing and his hands were not getting better.  On top of that he was dealing with some difficult issues with the Maui business.  So among the play there was also confusion, frustration and tears.  We knew we had to make a decision and change our game plan.  That's when Dave decided to go back to Maui and work to set the business right as his hands healed.  I wanted some time alone to finish healing.  So we headed to Bend to find a home then part ways for a month.