Blogs from Boulder, Colorado, United States, North America

We had a beautiful drive across the mountains from Taos to Raton (I love the name of this town..it means "mouse" in both Spanish and French). It was chilly in the morning, but the dryness made it seem much warmer than 27 degrees when I went for a run before we left. Taos is at 7,000 feet and we climbed another 2000 feet over Palo Flechado Pass before heading down to the midwest plains on the eastside of the Rockies. I stopped to wade in Taos Creek along the way...to shallow to dip all the way in.. We took a side trip into Raton to visit the history museum there...so many artifacts to see and there was a very knowledgeable docent on duty. After Raton, the scenery was mostly monotonous: flat with dry scrub. The snow ... read more

From a similar trip in 2011: Perhaps one of the most unique and enjoyable small college towns is Boulder, home to the University of Colorado, and numerous athletes in training. I have had the good fortune to visit and stay many times in the past, primarily for business, but also for après ski and to play tennis. It ranks up there with many of the cutest little college towns, and perhaps the most charming in the western United States. A bonus is the famous Pearl Street Mall, a magnet for students, shoppers, runners, cyclists, people watchers, and street performers. Outside Magazine rated Boulder the number one sports town in America. I would rank it almost as high as Queenstown, New Zealand. With the Rocky Mountains as a backyard, Boulder offers hiking, cycling, and climbing, along with ... read more

Early tomorrow morning I return to the East Coast, leaving the majesty of the Rockies behind no less than four straight days without getting into a car to go anywhere. The days spent here have not been a vacation, but they have been rejuvenating and inspirational. There is first and foremost time spent surrounded by people who've chosen to dedicate a good part of their lives to consciously seeking out ways to bring joy, understanding, insight, and hope into the world. They put their various talents, experiences, values, and passions to this effort. Some are artist-rabbis, musician-educators, poets, cantor-song-writers, liturgists, story-tellers, community builders, spiritual directors...There's a judge who spent six years after work studying and now continues to be a judge while helping to co-lead a small congregation. Self-worth is not tied up with how much ... read more

Hi everyone! So I have just under a week before I return to China, and as such, have posted my first blog through the IES Abroad website. For anyone who doesn't know, I will be writing for IES this coming semester, and part of their rules are that I am not allowed to post the same thing on their website as I post here (which is what I did last semester, when I was writing blogs for Alliance for Global Education). As such, I will be posting the link for the blogs here, because I don't think there is any way to subscribe to my blog specifically on the IES webpage. So without further ado, here is the link for my predeparture blog post: https://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/blogs/kmcgeepugetsoundedu/spring-festival-and-missing-china Hope everyone is well, and until next time (which will be ... read more

I needed a workday. I’d been playing for a week straight, and I needed to get some “real world” stuff done. My friend Mer works near Boulder and suggested that I follow her out on her way to work. There was a beautiful 6.5-mile hike in Eldorado Springs that she thought I’d like; then I could drive into Boulder and get some stuff done. We drove down Colorado State Highway 93, which follows the geographical line of where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Looking west, golden-green fields of grass danced gently with the wind. Looking east, the conglomerate sandstone outcrops of the Flatirons jutted imposingly into the sky. While Mer turned right, she signaled for me to turn left towards Eldorado Springs. I parked at the Doudy Draw trailhead and hiked out into a ... read more