Following up on my previous post (Five Lessons Learned from Living in Oregon), I thought I’d continue in that vein by looking at where I previously lived–Colorado.  For three of those years, I lived with the wife there, but for the other five, I was on my own.

There are some great things that you can find in both Colorado and Oregon–a general friendliness from a lot of people, lots of places to go enjoy nature (hiking and biking especially), and even Voodoo Doughnut (their bright pink boxes are HIGHLY visible in the airport).  We’ve enjoyed living in both states, and I’ve talked to multiple other people who have enjoyed or would enjoy living in both places too.

As a clarification before you read any further, these “lessons” aren’t anything like, “Things I’ve learned about life from living in location X.”  They are, instead, the lessons of what is good and unique in the different places that I’ve lived.  There are, of course, many more than I could list here, but these are my biggies.

With that explanation done, here are my five lessons learned from living in Colorado.

LESSON 1:  There are fantastic views

I grew up in Ohio, where there really aren’t mountains.  Sure, we’ve got some hills, but the highest elevation there is 1,550 feet.  Colorado, in comparison, has fifty-eight (!) mountains that rise above 14,000 feet.  These mountains create incredible views, both in the summertime when you can see how really big they are and how little you are, and during the wintertime when they just look, well, beautiful.

Personally, though, I feel that the view from the mountains heading east is wonderful too.  There are many places you can go to where you just get this view of wide-open, seemingly endless spaces.  While I’d never want to live in such places, I love the idea of there being just this vast, empty frontier out there still.

LESSON 2:  Rocky Mountain National Park–oh gosh, how I miss it

As I mentioned above, I grew up being an Ohio flatlander.  Working as a contractor in Colorado, and then moving there for a job, let me enjoy the wonders of getting headaches from the altitude and dehydration.  Yes, that was sarcasm.  Once I started drinking more water, and got used to the altitude, I was able to go do things like go and enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park.

I’m used to snow and ice, so driving through the park during early spring wasn’t too bad.  The incredible thing about going to the park during that time is that you see these like 10 or more foot high snowbanks along the edge of the road from both the snowfall that’s happened during the winter and the plowing that’s taken place to keep the roads clean.  Being in a manual transmission Saturn SC-2, driving along on a mountain road, next to those big heaps of snow–that is something that has stuck with me across nearly two decades.  That, and getting to the Alpine Visitor Center and warming up after freezing my butt off from exploring in the cold.

For those who are cold-averse, the summertime is a great time to visit too.  You get a chance to see a lot more wildlife, explore much more of the park, and not have to worry about how good your winter driving skills are.  Of course, there are a lot of other people who want to enjoy the park in the summer, so you’ll have less chance of finding isolated spots if you only explore near the main road.

LESSON 3:  It actually SNOWS there

OK, OK, so this is wanting to have my cake and eat it too.  I can handle driving on snow, but like I said in my last post, I don’t miss that driving experience.  I do really miss HAVING snow, though.  Christmas here never feels quite right because the ground’s usually just wet from rain.  Winter in Colorado, though, usually means several good snows.

If you haven’t grown up with a white Christmas, this might not be a big deal to you.  Ohio, though, usually had white Christmases, so it’s precious to me.  It’s one of the hardest tradeoffs for all the other joys we have in Oregon.

LESSON 4:  But there are a lot of sunny days too

It’s often cited that Colorado has 300 days of sunshine a year.  That figure is exaggerated, as it counts even when the sun just peeks out from behind clouds.  Still, there are a lot of sunny days.  This includes during winter–you may get a burst of cold and snow, and then get a burst of sunny and 50 to 70 degree days.  I loved watching the steam coming off the road as the heat and the dryness of the air cleared them off.

LESSON 5:  Running at altitude is great training

Yes, if you’re an elite runner, Colorado is a great place to train.  If you’re a rookie runner with a mediocre per mile pace, it’s still a great place to run.  I’m definitely in the latter camp.

From my experience, running at elevation is just a great workout.  It makes your lungs and body work hard, and you feel great at the end.  Anecdotally, this gives those elite runners who train up high an advantage when running at lower elevations.  For me, it’s just a little extra feel-good boost when running closer to sea level.  But between that boost and just running and looking at the scenery, I’ll take it.

LESSONS FOR COLORADO COMPLETED

Those are my five lessons learned about the good things Colorado has to offer.  If I lived there again, with the wife and boys in tow, I’m sure I’d change a few of those to ones more applicable to a family.  No matter what, Colorado was certainly one of the best places I’ve lived.

If you want to offer up your own top five list, or your experiences in the Centennial State, feel free to add that in the comments.  For this week’s project, keep reading; otherwise, have a wonderful week!

THIS POST’S PROJECT

I usually focus on baking.  I generally enjoy the fruits of that labor more than cooking.  Fortunately for this week’s project, it doesn’t mean I’m completely inept at cooking.

Several years ago, the wife and I watched as Jamie Oliver soared to some stardom in America when he was showing how bad the food is that we typically feed our kids.  Following that, and doing an initial perusal of his recipes, we bought his cookbook “Jamie’s Food Revolution”.  We’ve cooked a few recipes here and there, but we’d never tried the Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle.  I figured, What the hey, I may as well give it a shot and we’ll see how it goes.

GETTING COOKING

The recipe itself isn’t that complicated.  You get all your ingredients in place, including broccoli (stalks and cut crowns), potatoes, and fresh basil, as seen below.

I really haven’t often smelled fresh basil, and if you haven’t either, go buy some and take a whiff–it’s INCREDIBLE.  One of those, “That’ll wake you up in the morning, boy-o” kinds of smells.

Anyways, you mix all your good things up, do a little cooking, grate a lot of parmesan cheese, and you’re good to go.  The outcome looks like this (and yes, it looks pretty plain, but you can’t see all the broccoli and basil goodness that’s mixed up in there):

For those well-versed in their Italian noodles, you’ll notice those aren’t tagliatelle noodles.  The wife bought the noodles, was distracted by our youngest at the store, and just grabbed the noodles that started with a “T” from the shelf.  Like I said earlier, What the hey.  You roll with the punches.

RESULTS OF THE TASTE TEST

I thought there was no way on Earth our boys were going to eat this.  Our oldest wasn’t a big fan, but the youngest had some, and asked for more, and more . . .  Given that he’s one and still direct in his opinion, that gave me a feeling that this was a good meal.  Add in that the wife and I enjoyed it too, and it’s a recipe we’ll make again.