Entry 1 - Everyone since Denver has been staring at me. I wonder if I look out of place. Travel is tiring. Denver is brown, the roads, the fields, the snow... slight variations of the same color. The airport was a wide open space with water fountains and a beige multi-tent roof, Cirque du Soleil style. I touched down in Denver just as the flight was beginning to feel cramped. We were flying at 36,000 ft. 560 mph! SW Wyoming was beautiful, a vast glacial desert with frozen rivers that appeared thin as string from altitude but on the ground would seem impassable. Idaho's mountain ranges were varied and beautiful. The crests and ridges and crevasses I'm sure were monumental but appeared as a flat clay mold of Earth from such an elevation. The dampening, depressing fog above Portland finally broke at 27,000, the sun's blinding reflection shone off the left turbine as the mountains began to surface, surreal. A mill of some sort produced steam that appeared as a deadly avalanche perfectly frozen in time. The quick descent and turbulent landing tossed my stomach upward. I was afraid for a millisecond. The airport resides at 5400' elevation; Boulder is 6800 ft. The air feels only slightly thinner but a million particles purer. It is perfect, I can breathe deeply without overwhelm and gravity does not weigh my limbs down in fatigue. Denver was too unicolored, maybe it's winter but to my green eyes it seemed dirty. The bus to Boulder was when my tiredness set in, along with stomach discomfort. I have been drinking buttloads of H2O and Vitamin C to counter any possible plane germs. Boulder is situated at the foot of a snow and timber covered mountain. It is cold but active despite. People are alive, not like in Portland.
Good restaurants, rock and ice climbing, elevation, shopping. I have yet to see the residences or the mountain up close. Better than Portland for young, active people but not the place for us. I am waiting at a restaurant to be picked up by Courtney's friend and taken to her house. I will probably go to her birthday party at her neighbors house and soon after to sleep. I miss Daniel already...
E-mail to Daniel 7:40 pm- Hi dr, the flight was wonderful, denver was brown, boulder is cool. I explored downtown for a couple hours and courtney's friend Abrie picked me up. Courtney is way cool, she's travelled and is surprisingly hospitable. It's her birthday tomorrow so they're having a party tonight. I got to hear travel stories about peru, morocco and plans for kazakhstan, they're quite a bit like us. I am going to stay at courtney's apartment tonight, she has mountaineering books and everest posters and tibetan murals on her walls. I was nervous about meeting so many people at a time but it turned out awesome. I miss you I miss you I miss you. We leave tomorrow morning at 7 am. please let everyone know i am alright and having fun. my stomach's upset but i just had some awesome jasmine tea and i'm trying to understand tibetan. everything so far has been perfect. I am going to bed, I can't wait to show you pictures and journals and stuff when I get back... I'll call you tomorrow evening...goodnight love.
Love, meg
