It’s hard to believe that I have been in Denver Colorado for a full week. My car ride here seemed like an eternity, but everything sped up as soon as I arrived. There’s something about being in good company that makes time go fast, and I am very grateful to be in good company. I am currently staying at my good friend Kory’s house. He and his roommates are all friendly positive people; a trend I’ve noticed by most of the people in Denver. Anyway, here are the details of my first week in Denver, beginning with the car ride.
I left my hometown on Friday March 10th to head to my sister and her husband’s house in Kentucky. My parents had planned to visit them that weekend so it worked out perfectly for me, as this would make the ride to Colorado a little shorter and I’d get to visit some family! I followed my parents to my sister’s house in which we got there in about 7 hours. It always feels so good arriving to a destination after a long haul. I spend the next couple days with my family in Kentucky and we had a great time. Louisville is a beautiful city, but the experiences we all have depend on the people you’re with. I’m lucky because I really enjoy spending time with my family. Anyway, after a nice weekend with some of the family, I departed for Denver Monday morning around 9:00AM.

Some of the Family at Sister’s Wedding
The GPS told me that Denver was 16 hours away. I was super excited to drive for almost a whole day…but not really. I did feel pretty good for the first few hours of driving; I think my adrenaline was still going. I went to a rest stop after those first hours for a short bathroom stop then immediately went back to driving. I do love blasting music to help make the car ride easier, but I also listen to podcasts and audio books. I definitely recommend listening to podcasts and books to anyone making a long trip. Moving on, I continued driving through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. I stopped once every 3-4 hours to either get gas, go to the bathroom or get food. I planned on driving straight through without sleeping, and so far I felt fine. Then along came Kansas, a stretch of over 500 miles. I arrived at Kansas right after going through Kansas City Missouri-which was the only time I missed an exit during my trip. I was frustrated I missed the exit, but it was an easy fix that only took away about 10 minutes of my time. I’m not a huge fan of speeding drivers in a big city with exits all over the place. I definitely understand why it’s easy to get upset while driving. I finally got out of Kansas City and I was halfway to my destination around 5:00PM. I was relieved to not have to drive through any more big cities. I continued driving through the plains of Kansas, where I passed by some places that looked like what I’d imagine Hell to be. This was the time where I was really hoping my car wouldn’t
break down, and it didn’t! Thank you grandma for the car! It still works. Around 10:00PM when I was somewhere in Kansas I stopped for McDonald’s. I wanted to arrive at my friend’s house at a reasonable time, not 2 or 3AM, so I decided to try and find a place to sleep. The place I found was the parking lot of a grocery store. Good times. It took me more than 30 minutes to get to sleep, and I woke up only after 45 minutes of sleeping. I couldn’t sleep any more so I kept driving. I took my time driving, stopping at a couple more rest stops before finally arriving in Denver! I arrived around 3:30AM and didn’t want to wake up my friend or roommates in the middle of the night so I slept and stayed in my car until 6:00AM. I was very happy to finally be in Denver! After catching up with my friend for a bit I went to sleep but only for a couple hours.
I woke up feeling refreshed, but knew I’d probably be tired later on. I and one of Kory’s friends, Boy, walked into downtown Denver to check out the city. Yes his name is Boy, he’s from Amsterdam, really cool guy. It was a great day to walk around as the weather was in the 70’s! We went to a couple stores then got some coffee at a café. We walked through a couple parks too, they’re everywhere in Denver! It was a good first day, I ended up walking over 10 miles. The next day I went for an interview for a consulting job. They gave me a second interview the same day and offered me the job but I didn’t accept it. The hours were too many for not enough pay and I plan on substitute teaching. I enjoy checking out different job opportunities though. The next couple of days I applied to more jobs and got in contact with some school districts. Anyway, the weekend was here already, and the weather was still amazing. Denver is pretty cool at night too. I went out with a group of people on Friday and we had a couple drinks and just enjoyed some of the bars around the area. It was a relaxing night with some good conversations. I’m excited to explore more of Denver; I always enjoy finding the hidden wonders of an area. The next day was the best yet. Kory, Boy and I went to a huge park to meet some friends and play volleyball and football. It was 80 degrees and sunny; beautiful weather with the snow covered mountains in the background. We played for hours and I got pretty sore. Afterward we all relaxed for a bit then had a couple drinks. A few of us had a great conversation that led to laughing more than I have in a long time. Sunday came and we pretty much watched March Madness basketball all day. Let’s go UNC!!! Good times..
So as I sit here writing this I’m excited for what the next week holds. It’s always awesome discovering new places, but remember, it’s all about the people you’re with!