I Love Craigslist

Wow, so there is a lot to post now, bare with me! I have been thinking about posting more often just cause so much stuff happens in a day that its hard to remember all of it. Anyways, here is how the last 3 days have gone.

7/31/2014 (8/3/2014)

Wanna know why I love Colorado so much? Its cause you can make friends instantly and just go out and do fun stuff with them. Just about everyone out here has 1 thing in common, they are from somewhere else. If you simply ask anyone "Hey, where ya from?" you are bound to make a friend, or at least have a great conversation.

Today I met some new people, although I think I met them in passing last night, a girl from Romania and another guy from Texas. First Texas and I walked around, that was pretty fun, we walked up some of the mountain roads and just talked about what ever, the scenery out here is beyond compare, we saw a little fox running around and I got a few pictures of it, those should be on here very soon, I just need to pick up a new micro USB cable. We had been walking up this hill and mind you I only have a pair of dress shoes to really walk in, so I am trudging up this mountain road and realize I forgot water and I am starting to really get dehydrated, so I just walked up to this front porch where this girl and guy were talking on a balcony and simply asked "Hey can I have some water?" and thus began a new friendship.

The girl and guy came down stairs and I got my cup of water and we just walked for about 10 minutes. Both of them were just travelers, out here for a few months and just looking to live in the mountains and ski and hike. A storm front was moving in so we had to head out and started walking back to the hostel when the girl drove by and asked us if we wanted a ride, uncharacteristically I said yes. It was only like a half a mile but in that time we all exchanged contact information and suddenly I had a new friend in Breckenridge.

We got back and the storm just blew past us, false alarm, so I kept hanging out with some of the people at the hostel, I wanted to go out to Breckenridge brewery and try some of their beer so I asked the girl from Romania if she wanted to go, we started walking into town when I discovered that she wasn't feeling so great so we changed beer into pizza and a retro arcade. There is a place called Erics Downstairs and they make decent pizza and have a cool arcade with some old old video games like Donkey Kong, she had never played any of them so of course we had to play ALL OF THEM, I am a bit of a nerd after all. Funny story, she actually kicked my ass in most of the games that we played together, I was pretty impressed! The pizza there was like a garlic bomb though, I could smell that for days later, the brushing did nothing!

When we decided to go back we started hearing this classical music coming from somewhere, after looking around for a short time we found this amphitheater which had glass garage doors on the outside so you can look in and listen to what was going on. There was some sort of classical concert that we couldn't get in cause we didn't have tickets so we just stood around outside and listened and watched, personally I think we had the best seats anyways. There was supposed to be a open concert the next day so we said we would check that out tomorrow.

After that we went back to the hostel and just hung out and talked, the guy from Texas was there and we all just talked about our adventures and what we wanted to do. I was applying for jobs the whole time and thats basically how my night ended.

8/1/2014 (8/3/2014)

The next day I was applying for jobs on Craigslist and I got a call almost immediately in the morning, it was for a front desk job at a hotel, I got there for the interview at 1, funny story, the manager was actually from Mokena, and she knew my best friend Chris cause they went to school together, small world right? Long story short, I HAVE A JOB! All it takes to get a job out here is a little hard work, just use craigslist or coolworks or a few other websites and something will come up. I start Monday, I am pretty excited for it, I get a free pass to Copper Mountain, which I have been told is the best mountain up here anyways. Now all I need to do is find a room to stay in.

After I got my job I came back to celebrate, that girl from Romania and I went to see that concert, unfortunately it was just rehearsal so we didn't stay long, it was kind of a bust, but that's okay, cause in Breckenridge there is always something else to do! We stopped at this little Vegetarian cafe and got a sandwich which was actually really good, after we road the gondolas up the mountain and just looked at the mountains. Seriously, I could do nothing but that for the whole day and be completely happy.

Once we got to the top it was this really big resort town with rides and little overpriced activities to do. We climbed up this little snow hill and boy was I tired by the end, I am pretty sure we were at around 12k feet so the air is pretty thing there. She thought I was gonna fall cause I was doing all of this in dress shoes, but little do all of you know I am a master dress shoe climber. (Not really I just need to get my mom to send me my hiking shoes) We went on a little roller coaster ride that was a ton of fun and crazy fast and seemingly incredibly dangerous, we had to sign a waiver just to go on it. After that I was pretty tired so we started making out way back.

About 3 miles from the hostel it started raining, and it was just little sprinkles, this was "water dripping from your hair" rain,  we ducked into a coffee shop where I learned that Mexican hot chocolate is not my drink, then we went into this art gallery where it was all basically cowboy art. It was all bears and mountains and horses, I really enjoyed the exhibit, then it was time to just suck it up and walk the rest of the way back. By the time I got there I was soaked all the way to my panties, but it was totally worth it.

I was freezing so first I took a shower, but then I remembered... there is a hot tub here, so we get into that and looked at the stars, I don't know why its so pleasing to do but I love to go into a hot tub when it is cold out. There were like 6 other people in the hot tub and we all just shared stories and relaxed until the sun went down, then we sat by this little gas bonfire that they have on the porch, at some leftovers, got back into the hot tub, and the night just passed by with ease, it was probably one of my best times out here so far.

8/2/2014 (8/3/2014)

The girl from Romania found an apartment out here so I helped her pack her car up and she was on her way, it's cool that I now have a friend out here, we are kind of on the same path so we share out troubles VIA text like "how did the interview go?" it reassuring to see other people around you doing the same thing and succeeding, also if I ever need help I know I have someone I can ask now.

It was so cold this morning there was frost on the cars, but as the day went on it started to warm up. I was kind of relaxing when I remembered that girl we met on the mountain so I shot her a text to find out what she was up too and she was about to leave to go to Manatou Springs, so I tagged along and got to go on a 4 hours scenic drive through the mountains. This is when I got some of the best pictures of my trip so far, including a video, it looked like god was touching the landscape, it was really the most amazing site I had ever seen. We had to stop and take pictures it was so nice.

Manatou Springs is a little hippy town, we just drove through it and went right back, it was really just a long scenic drive and I had made a new friend, she seems like the kind of person who would be fun to travel with. She has been all over and been out here for longer than me so her advice is sage. We were supposed to meet up with her friends out there but on the way he friends kid got hurt and had to go to the ER so it ended up the way it did, which for me was just fine, I love long drives through the mountains.

I got back just in time to look at an apartment, I went to this place that is pretty close but actually a tough drive up the mountain, I am not sure my car could handle that every day, but the people there seemed cool. It was kind of a beat up little mountain apartment, kind of what I would expect for my first place. I also have an offer for a place that is right near where I work, so if that works out then I will take it over this one in Breckenridge.

I got back to the hostel and Texas was gone, I hope he took some of the advice I gave him, I had told him about the Buddhist retreat and he talked about the coast guard, where ever he went I hope it is going okay for him. Instead there are 3 girls in my room, 2 are from Mexico and the other Malaysia, it was late so I didn't get much of their stories, but they all seemed nice, the next morning I taught the girl from Malaysia how to play Cards Against Humanity, one word... EPIC. That is how the last 3 days have been.

Inner Thoughts
This place is really amazing, the highs greatly outweigh the lows in both magnitude but also frequency. If I want to feel better I just look out over the landscape and remember where I am, it is the happiest I have been in a long while. I cannot wait to get an apartment and stay out here for the winter, looks like I am gonna learn some snow sports. Although I do miss my friends and family I actually enjoy that sensation for once, it is better than annoyance or anger, which no one really deserves its all just my own BS. I think my mom and I have talked more in these past 10 days than I have with her in months, and as much as I would like to see her, I think that distance is doing our relationship some good. There is a quote that I heard once on a really really bad tv show, and it goes something like this,
"Love is like a flame, and Wind is like distance, when the flame is strong the wind will make the flame larger, but when the flame is small the wind will blow it out."

I wish all of you well and don't be afraid to comment or send me a message, also if you think I should post more frequently I would like to hear that cause for now its just gonna be every 3 days but I might be able to be convince to do it every other day.