Day 25. Declaring a College Miner.

Thursday February 2, 2023

The morning hours are a great time to blast out a little of the blog and also at night. So I typed out a bit and went upstairs to say some goodbyes to the Smiths. I'm leaving Breckinridge Colorado and headed a bit northeast to check out the town of Boulder which I heard has a great little main sreet vibe also.

I set the GPS for Golden Colorado since it was kinda on the way and thought I'd stop in. Town sound familiar? I gotta admit I am not a Coors light fan, but a town that has that size of a brewery might be pretty good!

I pulled in to Golden soon after and it has this cool throwback western vibe to me. A kind of cowboy mixed with a pinch of ski-town feel. A pretty cool brick lined Main Street (actually Washington Ave). with coffee, gift shops and restaurants all lined down the street. I walked around to get a feel of it and stopped into the Visitors Center where two super nice ladies pointed out a few things I never would've discovered had I not stopped in. I had no idea there was a mining college here also! Well it used to be a huge mining school but now it's turned into a pretty well accredited Engineering school - probably since I don't think many people are still digging for gold anymore. I mean even as a single guy I haven't met one. I've heard they're out there. You know - like a woman who's single and sees a guy that she would never, ever marry, let alone share fajitas with, and before you know it they're eloping because his 401carat is the size of Tom Brady's ego? That kind of miner.

But I never met one. Maybe I give off this vibe that I don't have any gold? Like it's just super obvious? Like no one in the 1800's ever started digging for gold in the bushes either right?

I can't remember any cowboy movie lines that went something like "Oh there's a tumbleweed lemme go see if there is gold in it!" And come to think of it, I have been kinda tumbling around the country lately too. But hold on - I mean I do have a 401lowercase_k and I even do my own laundry so that's somethin' right? Well, maybe I shouldn't advertiise the laundry thing now. I gotta admit being on the road and camping I've been wearing - let's say some "unfolded" clothes ok?

Anyway there's a school here.

And the people walking around the campus look way to smart to try n find a spouse that way. They don't even look like they would think that. They do look like they think about rocks and formulas a lot though. Some people just look smart. Not me though. Having not shaved since I left I kinda look like the third guy from the left on the Human Evolution chart. Especially if I don't stand up straight : )

So I walked the whole town including the college campus and of course stopped into a few shops! 'Higher Ground" is the local coffee shop and I grabbed a banana oat milk latte there, then stopped at a little cafe called the Windy Saddle Cafe where I order a sandwich to go for the road. Super cool vibe - everyone just so chill and friendly. I also stopped into a gift shop and met Jen the manager there who filled me in on a lot of the local history. So good to connect up with strangers genuinely happy to share their towns past. I bought a hat or two for souvenirs and gifts for folk back home and made my way back to the jeep.

I set the GPS now for boulder which was not all that far away. I'm planning on doing a road ride tomorrow so I pegged for the local bike shop to ask about suggested roads. Both Marissa and Evan were just super friendly at University Bicycles and even shared their favorite road rides with me. They actually have a few rides loaded onto their website which is such a great idea! I picked one that's about a 30 mile jaunt with almost 3,000 feet of elevation and some good views. I'm stoked to give it a go tomorrow and temps look like they start around 30 degrees! Heat wave!

I found and checked into the Hotel Boulderado right in the heart of downtown Boulder. Such a perfect location and it has this high end feel without the high end price. Totally awesome. Gotta be the best valet service I've ever had too...they not only took care of my jeep with a smile but after unloading my road bike for tomorrow mornings ride they tagged it up and put it away for me as well to have ready in the early morning for me. Wow! Lawton and Zach you both deserve a raise! I'll put in a good word for ya. Not sure if it'll help any. Probably not. Most people don't believe New Yorkers.

But thanks for making my stay easier and treating me (and my bikes : ) with such kind professionalism.

But I guess cycling is so popular here this is just normal for them to have people with bikes in hotels lol. Nice to be around my kinda peeps!

I spent the next hour walking brick lined Pearl street that is closed to traffic and has this great touristy vibe to it with awesome shops everywhere. The last one I stopped into, just as I was getting hungry, had not just a coffee shop atmosphere but also had this cool little 'food court' happening with all kinds of noshes to fill me up. Ordered some food and found a comfy spot to to record the days events!

Walking back to the hotel about 8pm the streets were pretty quiet but lit up nice...

I decided to grab a brew at the hotel bar before knocking off for the night...

Such an awesome travel day!

Inside

We tend to have a mental picture of how things will go don't we?

Having expectations of where I will be by February, or how much riding I'll get in each day, or whom I'll meet up with when or even thinking the temps would've been just a bit warmer! Ha!

The entire Universe with a capital U is out there, guiding and influencing us, affecting things all around us. A grain of sand we are in comparison to the entire Cosmos. Do we really think our tiny little minds have even a fraction of control over how things "should" pan out lol!?

To live in the moment, without clinging to an expectation of what is to come - and to accept whatever does come - has been a journey in itself...

A complete surrender to what is - and to love it like it was exactly what we ordered. Notta so easy huh!? But to argue against what is - is actually just futile nonsense isn't it?

So much beauty in the present moment, not hanging on to any past or future thought. To let go of any expectation of how anything "should" have worked out is not always easy but is where true freedom is found...

Gettin a lil deep here huh?

I think a bike ride is in order. I swear just cuz I'm in Colorado doesn't mean I inhaled OK!?

Outside

Travel days are always interesting in that in just a few hours I can feel like I am in a completely different country! To think yesterday I had thirteen thousand foot views of snow capped mountains and now I'm walking around Boulder which has more of a city feel to it...so many personalities our country has.

Upside

Totally blown away by the bike vibe here...probably the strongest I've felt yet. To have the valet's take care of my ride like that was just awesome... and to see cyclists passing thru streets everywhere is super neat.

downside

I don't like rushing - but I'm going to try and get the ride in and be back in time to check out of here to keep moving on westward. I've got a lot of miles actually before I get to the west coast and would like to put a few behind me! See how this expectation goes, might have to let that go too lol.

Every Which way but East

Drove from Breckinridge to Boulder today...and will most likely head towards Moab tomorrow. Not sure where I'll end up exactly though...

Any town with a cyclist in their welcome sign is cool by me!

Leaving the Smith's neighborhood....

The sign for the Windy Saddle Cafe...and an inside view below.

Downtown Golden

The Visitor Center!

College campus

Bike pathway along the river

River front walkway

A little Coors history thru the prohibition era...for you cerebral folk (not you Lou - I know you just like to look at pictures).

You can see the Coors factory sign in the distance

Gotta admit that's a pretty good plan!

Boulder Colorado vibe...

One of the many local Boulder bike shops... this one was awesome...highly recommend!

A nostalgic "Bone Shaker" bike from 1869 made out of pure metal. I'm thinking' there's not enough Chamois in the world to soften that ride! Ouch!

Also known as the Verocipede or Human powered vehicle. It was replaced with the Penny Farthing shortly thereafter!

Lobby of the Boulderado Hotel where I stayed and had a brew at the bar...

Lit up restaurants along the path back to the hotel.

Boulder from a rooftop bar/restaurant

Stick Figure, the Reggae band I fell in love with a dozen blogs ago was playing in this little food "court" kind of area. The music made me feel right at home plus it had a great food selection and coffee shop vibe with wifi as well. So good.