It has been one exciting week! We pulled out of Orlando, Florida and 3 days later arrived in Frisco, Colorado. The drive not nearly as bad as I was expecting.
We’ve already been hiking, biking, fly fishing, shopping, chillaxing, and reading Ralph Waldo Emerson. I think experiencing nature while reading his poetry makes it all the more a life goal I want to tattoo on my heart.
I feel peaceful here. I feel like we have the time to enjoy our day rather than rush to the next thing. Hurry has no place in the mountains during summer.
I can’t even begin to explain how thankful I am that I was going to the gym before this trip! My legs have been great keeping up. We’ve all experienced a bit of altitude problems – breathing heavy this high up is a challenge. We hiked 6 miles one day and I was not sore the next. Had I not been on the elliptical and doing Zumba months earlier I doubt I would have made it that far hiking.
The weather has been most surprising. We hiked upon a few patches of snow … in June! Its’s hard to keep in mind that it’s up over 90 back home. We are learning about gratitude in the most interesting ways.
The wildlife was quick to impress. Upon driving in our first night we spotted a fox running across our rental home’s front yard. The next morning prairie dogs raced beside the bike path while chipmunks darted between evergreen trees.
Main Street is lined with charming shops and restaurants. Everything we’ve tasted has been excellent and I am becoming a bench resident outside of the local book store. This place makes me even more fiercely loyal to support small businesses.
I greatly respect the town’s effort to preserve the numerous old mining cabins. From learning about the Ute tribe, Colorado Native Americans, to life as a gold rush miner and then early 1900’s resident ~ we enjoyed our first homeschool history “field trip” of 6th grade!
Besides fun shops, every spot in town offers surrounding Mountain View’s and I am addicted to staring at them all. The air is clean and crisp. The water cool and refreshing. And the dandelions have won over my heart. I’ll gladly wear my first bike helmet for more random meadow stops!
Whenever I hop on social media to share a photo with friends and family I wonder why we ever wanted to feel connected to the noise when we can easily feel connected to nature. Far more peaceful, beautiful, and soul filling. I hope the habit of posting and mindless scrolling dies with each day spent here.
Emerson wrote, “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.”
My boys are adjusting well to less screen time. They’ve taken on log balancing over raging creek waters, mountain biking, ninja playgrounds, climbing huge trees, and spending their hard earned money on special trinkets and treats! I’ve noticed more smiles this week.
I like us here. My goal is to figure out how to keep a Colorado mindset when we get back to Florida.
