Is it August already?

My days are drawing to a close and I haven't been writing (partly because I haven't had internet again) because I don't want to recognize that's true. I have been trying not to sleep lately because I don't want to miss out on anything in the last week+, but that backfired last night when I accidentally fell asleep at 6:30pm and woke up at 8:00am this morning. Maybe that will last me the rest of the week though!

Here has been the breakdown of the beginning of August:

Friday 31: Jess showed up after work!! We headed to Safeway where she was amazed by how many things I picked up in the produce section. Around 8, the guys and Kristin! showed up for a BBQ in the backyard before a storm hit and then we all headed to The Rock for the usual Friday night routine. Kendall spilled the beans on something, but we all had a great time hanging and dancing.

Saturday 1: Jess and I woke up and got cinnamon rolls in Glen Haven before heading partway up Trail Ridge Road. I was her personal tour guide and we saw some marmots! Some of the guys and Kristin came over for game night later on and we played JabberJot.

Sunday 2: We woke up and went for a walk down the street before I dropped her back off at Andrew's house in Longmont. After that stop, I drove through Fort Collins to get to I14 to see Laura up by the Poudre Pass. Alissa arrived half an hour after me (around 4:30pm) and we all caravaned back to her cabin. Four bull moose joined us for dinner (we ate elk!!) and we hung around playing Monopoly Deal until about midnight.


Monday 3: The three of us woke up for our hike day, uniformed up, and headed out on the ditch road. Laura and I hiked around 8 miles, and Alissa wasn't feeling well so she didn't get to do as much. We made another amazing dinner and played a few more rounds of Monopoly Deal before heading back to Estes for that 2-3 hour drive. Conor and Scott came over when I was in the shower and we watched the end of The Big Lebowski.

Tuesday 4: Ed's Cantina after laundry/work with Kendall, Conor, and Scott. It was trivia night and they did pretty well, regardless of the fact that they kept picking the same categories. (Conor=history, Scott=sports) Kendall drove my car home and I entertained her by dancing with my bread the rest of the night until I was ok to go to sleep.

Wednesday 5: BCO went to Casa Bonita!! There were 12 of us altogether, and my car watched the South Park episode on an Ipod in the car on the way to Denver. After dinner (you don't ever actually go for the food), we looked around at all the different amusements there and then settled into a game of hide and seek! Neil got thrown out in our last game for the following situation...

Characters: Neil (50 something), Aubrey (20), Manager
Scene: Casa Bonita near the main entrance, around some tables
What happened: Neil was hiding under and table, and Aubrey went to hide under the same one. After she saw he was there, she turned to find a different hiding spot before Todd finished counting, and Neil playfully grabbed her leg as she walked away. Enter manager. The manager only saw a 50-year-old guy grab the leg of a 20-year-old from under the table and threw him out without explanation. Neil texted Landon that he was waiting outside and we all cracked up when we saw him sulking by the fountain. Before heading back to Estes, our car headed towards downtown to see the capital building lit up with the full moon and awesome electric storm that was with us the whole way home.

Thursday 6: After work, Kendall and I headed to The Rock for a Thursday night to drink with the New Belgium Brewing Company! We got a few free beers from them and just had a chill night hanging with the Co. and Scott, Conor, Kristin, etc.

Friday 7: After work, I got my backpack and met Conor, Chris (Todd's friend), and Meaghan (Conor's friend with WAY too many letters in her name). :) We loaded into my car and were on the trail by 6:30pm, heading to the Thunder Lake Cabin. We made it and met Todd there a little after nine, but the moon was so full and bright that we never needed headlamps. I made a killer dinner--pesto pasta with summer sausage and sundried tomatoes--and then proceeded to kill everyone at Monopoly.

Saturday 8: We woke up after a cozy night in the loft and kicked it by the lake for a few hours fishing, reading, writing, and playing games. I talked with a bunch of visitors who came by, and one made my favorite comment of the summer so far: "If Walt Disney himself had drawn a picture of this place, no one would have believed him." We hiked out around 3pm and I was home before 6pm which gave me about an hour to get ready for the Chili Cookoff. The cookoff was a success and we had a little under 50 people to eat, drink, and play some pong! That was Conor's last night and it was sad to say goodbye because that's just another indicator that the summer is almost over.

Sunday 9: I woke up and headed to Longmont where I was meeting Alissa and "Ryan" (her husband) to go to the Rockies game! The Rockies killed the Cubs and we had lots of fun. When I got home, I crashed and didn't wake up until this morning.

Tonight, Kendall and I are going to try backpacking again and then it's down to the last few days here! I'm definitely making the most of my time and am counting on being back again next year.