Colorado

My summer schedule has been rather sporadic - so I decided to make use of the one week I would for sure have off from work by roadtripping to Colorado. Although a 3 hour flight would have been much more convenient, the 13+ hour drive from Fort Worth, TX to Denver, CO was a little nicer for the budget.

P.S. I discovered that I LOVE the mountains.

The beginning of the 773 mile journey.

Windmills in Kansas

Finally, Colorado!

DENVER

The Colorado State Capitol was closed on Sunday, so I just explored its surroundings.

The Capitol sits 1 mile above sea level - complete opposite of TX!

The Denver Art Museum was amazing! Super interactive - show your student ID for a discount :)

Playing cowboys & Indians inside the museum.

Pretending to be a painting.

My favorite part of the museum - the fashion studio! Racks of clothes surrounded the runway, & I took advantage of my one chance at modeling.

After lots of walking around downtown Denver, the Great Divide Brewing Co. sounded like a great stop.

The day was wrapped up at a sushi restaurant...

...followed by one last beer at a retro bar in downtown.

Day 2 of Boulder was spent at Chatfield Lake.

MillerCoors beer, lake & mountains.

Trying to feed the geese!

 BOULDER

Breakfast at Lucile's

Delicious.

Exploring downtown Boulder's Pearl Street.

The drive up Flagstaff Summit helped me realize my fear of heights! The view was breathtaking, though.

Flagstaff Summit scenery <3

Day 2 of Boulder consisted of tubing at Boulder Creek. After many attempts to fit the tubes into the Subaru, we were off to the creek! 

GOLDEN

The MillerCoors Brewery tour was really cool - & free! Visitors that are 21+ get three 8 oz samples of beer, too.

MillerCoors Brewery

COLORADO SPRINGS

Colorado Springs was the last city visited in CO, so a stop at the US Olympic Training Center was a MUST.

Many of the athletes were already in London, but it was still so cool to see where they all work out. Pictured here is the gymnastics practice facility.

Statue outside of the USOC Training Center.

See you later, Colorado!

Austin

At some point in my life, I want to live in Austin. At least, that's what my short 2-day trip led me to believe.

Day one included dinner at Trudy's Tex-Mex & bar-hopping on 6th street.  I unfortunately didn't take any pictures this day, so you'll just have to take my word for how amazing it all was! Here is the rest of my trip in photos:

 

Day 2 started with breakfast at Juan in a Million, so delicious. Order the "Don Juan" & share, it's a huge plate!

 

After stuffing our faces with "Don Juan," we did some Stand Up Paddling (SUP) on Lake Austin. For a whole hour I was able to float on top of the water under the Texas sun...the most relaxing experience ever! SUP was the best $15 I've spent in a long time.

Ceiling of the Texas Capitol

We spent the majority of the afternoon exploring the Texas Capitol. I took a field trip trip here in 4th grade, but it was great to revisit this historical site.

Giving an important speech

Having an intellectual conversation, clearly.

 

After the Capitol, we grabbed lunch at Hopdoddy Burger Bar. Buffalo, Turkey, Tuna...Hopdoddy has weird combinations of burgers that somehow end up being super delicious!

We topped of our Hopdoddy's burgers with red velvet cupcakes from  Hey Cupcake! along South Congress, AKA SoCo. Trendy, overpriced shops line the street, & we spent about an hour just sifting through the stores. It was fun.

Climbing to Mt. Bonnell Park

 We ended the day at Mt. Bonnell Park, which gives you a sweet overview of beautiful Austin.

Austin sunset

Two days in Austin is NOT enough. I hope I can make it back here soon!

Love this city.

¿cómo hablas el español?

I am currently enrolled in a Spanish linguistics course, & my final project for the class involves investigating the melodic curves & phonetics of 5 phrases, all spoken by native speakers from different Spanish-speaking locations.

The questions:

1. ¿Salieron los tres?
2. Tomamos tapas con cerveza.
3. ¿A qué hora sale el tren?
4. ¿Cómo es que no quieres venir?
5. Quiero chocolate caliente, pan con mantequilla y jalea.

 Here is a video (filmed & edited by my friend Katie, thanks!!) that will serve as part of my research:

I find it so interesting that one language can be spoken so differently, and that geographic, political & social influences have all affected certain accents. Maybe one day I'll be able to travel to all these places represented in the video & be able to hear them for myself!

refresh

The beach is the best place to rejuvenate.

Knee Deep (Zac Brown Band)

The combination of five days of salty water, sunshine, 1,200+ pages of recreational reading, & sleep galore was the best remedy to fight the stress bug...I'm healed!

spring break necessities

1. iPod with this song on repeat
Fun. - We Are Young feat. Janelle Monae by warnermusiccanada

2. fun reads

estoy lista para la playa, cheers to my last spring break as a student!

spring dreaming

I'm 11 days away from this...

"We shall not cease from exploration. The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started & know the place for the first time." - T.S. Eliot