The Age of Responsibility

Ample parking day or night, people spouting "Howdy, neighbor"

I went to Boulder last weekend. My friend is out there getting her PhD in something or other, so a couple of us girls flew in to see her new-ish digs.
Here's where I admit that, sophisticated world traveler that I am (don't laugh!), I've never seen much of the middle of the country. The East and West coasts, sure- up and down both of 'em. But the rest of it? Eh, a brief trip to Kansas (which, to be honest, looks a lot like parts of the middle of Virginia) is about it.
So, the view I got as the plane swung around to line up w/ our runway? Completely surprising to me. My first impression was something along the lines of "You know, for a state that supposed to be all about the mountains, it sure is damn flat...where the hell are the Rockies?" That, of course, was quickly followed by "Oooohhh... holy shit. Those things are freakin' huge..."
Boulder is very pretty. Pretty people walking around pretty streets, or driving pretty (often environmentally responsible) cars to pretty buildings. I'm not sure what else to say, except that it's quite clean... it actually felt a little sterile to me. Also? It's very, very white. Maybe I've just grown accustomed to Raleigh, which does have a reasonably sizable african-american (can we just say black now?) population, but the sheer, blinding caucasian-ness of Boulder was pretty startling.
Anywho, after the two of us "out-of-towners" landed and unpacked, we headed out to the Flat Irons (Flatirons?) do some bouldering and hiking. Nice hike, nice rock (dear god do I suck at bouldering... hi, arms? remember when you used to have muscle?), and amazing views. I was really surprised a the number of people just out enjoying a hike. It's something you really don't see much here in Raleigh. Lots of people out biking, or running, or sweating their asses off at the gym, yes. But it's all for a purpose. Seeing people just go out for a hike or a stroll is much less common. It was a really nice change.
After an hour or so, we headed back to home base to eat dinner (many thanks to the chicas for indulging my vegetarian whims!) and change for a night on the town. After checking out a few bars, we settled for one that specialized in rum concoctions. Mmm mm, best Mojito I've had since Puerto Rico! We chatted, people watched, and met the boyfriend-by-proxy. Fun times!
The next day was dedicated to hiking. We drove up to about 10,000 feet and chose a 5 mile hike that would take us by some scenic lakes. The hike itself was pretty laid-back, and with the exception of a mild headache and a definite desire to keep sucking back water, I really didn't notice the elevation.
That is, until we got back to the car.
See, this east coast girl has never been above, oh... maybe 5,000 feet? I know I've never hiked above 4,000. And, while I had a vague idea that people could get altitude sickness, it really wasn't something I had done much research on. I sort of figured it was one of those things you only had to deal with if you were in the Himalayas or really old or something.
You can imagine my surprise when, after getting back to the car, sitting down, and taking off my boots, I felt a little funny. Perhaps you can imagine my even greater consternation when, after a couple minutes of sitting, that little headache I'd had for most of the day morphed into the BIG FREAKIN' MIGRANE FROM HELL, complete with dizziness, sensitivity to light and sound, and a general desire to blow my brains out to dull the pain. Oh, and I've never had a migrain, so yeah...
It was fun. In fact, the whole drive down Rte 76 was fun.
And then we hit this little mountain town at about 8,500 feet...like magic, my dizziness went away a couple minutes after hitting the town limits. A few minutes latter the headache started to recede, and by the time we got back to Boulder? Praise jeebus, I was healed!
Wierd stuff. I'm pretty sure I have never in my life gone from feeling so good, to so utterly wretched, to good again in so short a span.
Anywho, dinner and beer completed the day, giving us girls time to talk and catch up. Early to bed and early to rise got us to our respective bus stops on time, two of us heading to the airport and one onto campus. We hugged our goodbyes and promised to email/call/send telepathic messages and headed our separate ways.
I don't want to diverge too much into a mushy ode to my friends, but I just have to say- I am so proud of my girls. I got to spend the weekend hanging out with two strong, sweet, smart (doctor, doctor!) women who are absolutely phenomenal people. I love you guys!

After 22 posted at 7:18 PM

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