Summer salutations

Summer has taken over completely. The season has swooped me up, carried me through the months, gotten away from me, and is slowly setting me back down into the reality of autumn. I love it all. This summer stands out distinctly among my life's seasons as one of my favorite.

Here's what's been happening in the past handful of weeks: 

Utah

My dad's side of the family had a family reunion in Salt Lake City in early August, and I met my dad there for the weekend. We stayed in Park City and had an excellent time catching up with the extended family, exploring Park City, and spending time together after not having seen each other for several months. My dad is the best day-trip / adventure buddy! 

Arriving in SLC at sundown

My dad and some of his great sisters.

Our view at Grappa, an incredible Italian restaurant in Park City where we enjoyed a very memorable meal.

Park City brought me my second Banksy sighting (first was in Lyon, FR in 2013)

Roommate hangs and summer scenes

A few weeks ago, my roommate and I had a housewarming party to celebrate our recent move into our new apartment in the Cherry Creek area. Prior to that, our first major roommate evening in the new place consisted of Chinese take-out, champagne in French crystal, ridiculous fortune cookies, and lots of laughter. The housewarming party a few weeks later was a great success and we were happy to welcome about twenty-five friends into our new abode! Grace is a fantastic roommate: we're on the same wavelength with in-town adventures and outdoor explorations, and we seem to always be laughing about something absurd. She's awesome. :)

The housewarming spread (pre-guest contributions)

Other memories from last month included checking out the city happenings at the RiNo Beach Club with my lovely lady friend Christy. What a crazy thing to have a "beach" in the middle of industrial Denver! Awesome people watching and great relaxing in the sand and in the pool! 

I've also been continuing to train for October's half-marathon here in Denver. This has meant more Wednesday night Pub Runs through Wash Park, long runs on the weekends (between hiking and biking), and the occasional early morning jaunt before work on the weekdays. I mostly run along the Cherry Creek Trail, which is gorgeous in the early mornings of mid- and late summer. By the time my training schedule is over, I'll likely be running from my place in Cherry Creek all the way up through downtown and back! The trail is well-paved, relatively quiet early in the day, and a great way to measure my progress as the big day gets closer (18 October, woo!). This weekend's 7-miler was a fantastic run and a great way to end the long weekend. 

6:30am golden hour

Another morning view, this one from the Santa Fe Arts District. Gorgeous!

Yet another excellent weekend involved a couple of good friends' engagement party in the Highlands, and a matinée of The Book of Mormon Musical with Christy. Such an irreverent, hilarious show! I was happy that I knew all of the inside jokes, haha.

Outdoor adventures: St. Mary's Glacier, James Peak (13,301 ft)

The last weekend of August, a solid crew of friends and I took to the trails and hiked around St. Mary's Glacier and up James Peak (a 13er located a ways west of Denver). It was a beautiful, clear, still morning for our hike, and despite getting lost for an hour (there was no trail for part of the way) and taking an unplanned detour up "Mt. Guilt", we had a blast taking on this challenging, 9-mile RT hike. Yet another gorgeous landscape that I've been fortunate enough to enjoy this summer in this amazing state! We saw marmots, pikas, hawks, and deer along the way, too, and wrapped up the day with a delicious meal and beers at Tommyknocker Brewery in the well-maintained small mountain town of Idaho Springs. Great trail, great people, great weather, great day!

Autumn is beginning to fall upon us!

Looking down on the lake from the glacier.

The "glacier", such as it is.

Into the meadows

At the top of "Mt. Guilt", at the height of our detour.

Marmot!

Looking out at James Peak from "Mt. Guilt"

Renegotiating with the map.

Amazing succulents on the trail at 12,000+ feet!

On top of James Peak

The summit crew!

Alpine lakes, adding beauty to all those craggy rock faces.

And with that great outdoor trek, August was over as quickly as it began. September has already started off with a bang, and now that the fall is creeping in, I feel even more at home in this state and in this state of my life. I'm a happy camper here in Colorado and am glad that things worked out as they did in my last two quarters of grad school and that I chose to stay in this amazing state and really focus on getting to know it. Life has only been telling me recently that I chose wisely, and for that I'm grateful. Cheers!