I am moving to Colorado whenever I get the chance!

I love Colorado. Absolutely adore it. A few highlights...

1. Akron, CO-- well, kind of. We stayed in the middle of no where eastern Colorado after leaving Kansas (finally) and we got to see an awesome sunset and enjoy the beautiful sunset when you feel like you can see forever.

2. Century into Denver! Sharif gave an awesome speech in the monring and everyone was totally pumped to get to Denver. 105 miles into beautiful Denver was our longest ride and I absolutely loved doing it. I rode mostly with Derrick, Aileen, Joe and Will and we arrived in Denver at about 3:30pm. I then was able to see Hillary who graciously invited me to her house for dinner (thank you Hillary and Mrs. Hoffer!). It was wonderful to see a familiar face after so long.

3. Affordable Housing fundraiser in Denver. We were able to talk with people working with the affordable hosuing issue in Denver and ride around town on some cruiser bikes and tour a couple affordable housing units. They are doing an awesome job in Denver and it was great to see some of the plans in action.

4. Meeting with my aunt/cousin and her daughters. I was able to meet up with Jenny and her daughters Maea and Neave for dessert and catch up (we haven't seen each other in about 10 years). It was great to talk to her about the family and get some insight into Colorado and what to expect in the neaxt couple days.

5. Boulder, CO! We had a short, beautiful ride to Boulder so we had lots of time to explore downtown Boulder. It has so many great shops and restaurants and we loved walking around at night. It is an awesome city that is so close to the mountains.

6. Build day in Boulder with Habitat for Humanity. The affiliate in Boulder is awesome and super organized. We were all busy the whole day and we got a lot of work done. My group put up rim boards and I beams for the second floor which was something new for us and lots of fun.

7. Descent from Boulder to Estes Park. After a long climb for the first 20 miles of our ride from Boulder, we had an incredible descent into Estes Park. I stopped a couple times to take pictures but I don't think they really do it justice. It was absolutely insane and perfect riding weather.

8. TRAIL RIDGE IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK! We rode through Rocky Mountain National Park over Trail Ridge which is the highest continually paved road in the U.S. Derrick and I were the sweeps for that ride so we had to stay in the back of the group and make sure everyone got to the top. It was insane. Near the top we were close to 12,000ft elevation, battling 40+mph gusts of wind, in freezing weather with lots of cars on the road literally trying not to fall off the mountain into the abyss. It was one of the hardest and craziest things I have ever done but getting to the top was breathtaking (literally). We then enjoyed an incredible descent and finished our long day into Granby, CO.

9. Bike & Build Prom! To top off the craziness that was Trail Ridge, we had B&B prom in Granby! It's a tradition to do a B&B prom and ours was so fun! We dressed up in crazy thrift store outfits and danced in the gym of the school at which we were staying. My date was Britt and we took lots of silly pictures-- it was awesome.

10. Kremmling, CO and the 4th of July! We camped in Kremmling at an RV park (not really camping) and we were able to walk into town to see the fireworks. Jen Hock's mom sent sparklers (my favorite!) so we still enjoyed all the fun of the 4th of July. It was a little cold camping but my tent was really fun and it was definitely an adventure.

11. Kremmling to Steamboat Springs. It was freezing. We woke up in our tents at 5am to 30 degree weather. Needless to say, the morning was a little rough for everyone. We finally headed out biking around 7am and got warmed up a little once we started biking. We climbed another mountain (around 9500 ft) and had a very cold lunch on top. Then we had another awesome descent of about 35-40mph for about 10-12 miles. It was perfect and really enjoyable after the long climb. When we reached the bottom of the mountain we finally warmed up and took off our layers and layers of spandex. It was another beautiful ride and I loved the mountain. I've decided that I love mountains. Climbing is always slow (especially for me) but it is awesome to get that sense of accomplishment (and the downhill part isn't bad either).

Basically, I love Colorado and I ahve decided to move here as soon as I can-- after college or grad school. The Rockies are so beautiful and there is so much to see and do! I hope the rest of the trip lives up to Colorado-- only 25 more days left (AHHHH). I miss home and all my family and friends but I am having the best summer of my life. I hope you are all doing well and give me a call or text and I'll try to call you back!

Love, Caroline