Memorial Day Weekend
Happy hump day, everyone!
Summer weather seems to be in full swing here in Boulder, and I'm definitely not complaining. There's just something about sunshine and warm weather that lifts your spirits. One of my favorite parts of summer is what I like to call the "summer snow" - the white fluff from the trees/plants that float around in the air. It's just so whimsical. I love it. Anyways, moving on!
My Memorial Day weekend was productive, but it went by at warp speed!! I don't think I had a free minute at all between Friday night and Monday night. Friday through Sunday I mostly just worked on errands and tasks that I had been neglecting while finishing up the spring semester of school. I got quite a bit done, but things continue to pile up - it's a vicious cycle.
On Monday, Memorial Day, I went with my cousin Jake and a group of friends (Shay, Katie, Bryan, Justin, Shane, and Daniella) to Colorado Springs to hike the Manitou Incline. The Manitou Incline was built as a cable car to carry materials to build
pipelines on Pikes Peak, and after the pipelines were finished, it was
turned into a tourist attraction. It just became legal to climb in February of 2013. It's a fairly difficult hike reaching a 50° slope at its steepest and gaining 2,000 ft of elevation in less than 1 mile! I took the climb at a steady pace with quite a few stops along the way. I completed the climb in about 52 minutes which I am very happy with. If I lived closer to the trail I would definitely hike it more often. We were very lucky to not have a hot, sunny day for the hike. It was around 70° and the sun wasn't out very often which was nice. It actually rained/hailed on us a little bit on our way back down the Barr trail, which is a 2.5 mile trail you can take back down if you don't want to go straight back down the incline. Because it was Memorial Day, I decided to dedicate my hike to all the people who have died serving our country. While I was making the climb, I couldn't help but think of the ways the experience reminded me of Jesus and everyone who served, and currently serves, our country. I was reminded of Jesus because of the nails in the boards that created the trail. It brought me back to the time when Jesus was forced to carry his own cross to the hill where he was then nailed to it. Whenever I got tired or wanted to start complaining that my legs were burning, I would think about the people who have made so many sacrifices on behalf of our country and for me personally. The people who serve our country risk their lives every day on our behalf, often times in horrible, painful conditions, and Jesus sacrificed his life in exchange for our own. These two facts are almost hard to fully comprehend because of the level of selflessness that they carry. After pondering these ideas throughout the hike and the remainder of the day, I realized that there are so many ways that I can work on becoming a more selfless person.
After we all completed the hike, three of our friends went their own way, while the other five of us went to Rudy's BBQ to get some food. I decided to hold off and get Chipotle for my post-climb fuel instead. Once we got back to Denver, I decided to wait around to see my cousin Paul and his wife Bethany who were driving back to Arkansas from Utah and staying with Jake for the night. Since I hardly ever get to see them anymore I figured it would be worth the wait, and it certainly was! Even though we only got to see each other for a short period of time, it was so nice to see them and catch up. After we had our chance to chat and then say our goodbyes, I headed back to Boulder.
Overall it was an awesome weekend! It was so nice to do something active and fun with great people. My summer classes have now started and I think I'm actually going to enjoy them! I am taking a consumer behavior class and a drugs, health, and human behavior class. So far they have both proved to be fairly interesting.
I hope the rest of everyone's week goes wonderfully! Get out and enjoy the sunshine if you can!
Goodbye for now. :)
♥ Jane
Summer weather seems to be in full swing here in Boulder, and I'm definitely not complaining. There's just something about sunshine and warm weather that lifts your spirits. One of my favorite parts of summer is what I like to call the "summer snow" - the white fluff from the trees/plants that float around in the air. It's just so whimsical. I love it. Anyways, moving on!
My Memorial Day weekend was productive, but it went by at warp speed!! I don't think I had a free minute at all between Friday night and Monday night. Friday through Sunday I mostly just worked on errands and tasks that I had been neglecting while finishing up the spring semester of school. I got quite a bit done, but things continue to pile up - it's a vicious cycle.
On Monday, Memorial Day, I went with my cousin Jake and a group of friends (Shay, Katie, Bryan, Justin, Shane, and Daniella) to Colorado Springs to hike the Manitou Incline. The Manitou Incline was built as a cable car to carry materials to build
pipelines on Pikes Peak, and after the pipelines were finished, it was
turned into a tourist attraction. It just became legal to climb in February of 2013. It's a fairly difficult hike reaching a 50° slope at its steepest and gaining 2,000 ft of elevation in less than 1 mile! I took the climb at a steady pace with quite a few stops along the way. I completed the climb in about 52 minutes which I am very happy with. If I lived closer to the trail I would definitely hike it more often. We were very lucky to not have a hot, sunny day for the hike. It was around 70° and the sun wasn't out very often which was nice. It actually rained/hailed on us a little bit on our way back down the Barr trail, which is a 2.5 mile trail you can take back down if you don't want to go straight back down the incline. Because it was Memorial Day, I decided to dedicate my hike to all the people who have died serving our country. While I was making the climb, I couldn't help but think of the ways the experience reminded me of Jesus and everyone who served, and currently serves, our country. I was reminded of Jesus because of the nails in the boards that created the trail. It brought me back to the time when Jesus was forced to carry his own cross to the hill where he was then nailed to it. Whenever I got tired or wanted to start complaining that my legs were burning, I would think about the people who have made so many sacrifices on behalf of our country and for me personally. The people who serve our country risk their lives every day on our behalf, often times in horrible, painful conditions, and Jesus sacrificed his life in exchange for our own. These two facts are almost hard to fully comprehend because of the level of selflessness that they carry. After pondering these ideas throughout the hike and the remainder of the day, I realized that there are so many ways that I can work on becoming a more selfless person. After we all completed the hike, three of our friends went their own way, while the other five of us went to Rudy's BBQ to get some food. I decided to hold off and get Chipotle for my post-climb fuel instead. Once we got back to Denver, I decided to wait around to see my cousin Paul and his wife Bethany who were driving back to Arkansas from Utah and staying with Jake for the night. Since I hardly ever get to see them anymore I figured it would be worth the wait, and it certainly was! Even though we only got to see each other for a short period of time, it was so nice to see them and catch up. After we had our chance to chat and then say our goodbyes, I headed back to Boulder.
Overall it was an awesome weekend! It was so nice to do something active and fun with great people. My summer classes have now started and I think I'm actually going to enjoy them! I am taking a consumer behavior class and a drugs, health, and human behavior class. So far they have both proved to be fairly interesting.
I hope the rest of everyone's week goes wonderfully! Get out and enjoy the sunshine if you can!
Goodbye for now. :)
♥ Jane
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