One More Adventure: Colorado

For one last big adventure before my brother comes and we drive back to MI, I got to head up to Colorado with some of my friends from Bible study. It was such a cool trip! We camped for two nights, and got to go stargazing, whitewater rafting, and hiking.

Three people drove up to Colorado early to set up camp, and four of us left after work. During the drive, I loved looking at the mountains…I will definitely miss those when I go back to Michigan. We drove through Carson National Forest, which wasn’t much of a forest at all. And in Colorado, we drove past a gator farm. I was confused, but Carson explained it to me. Apparently, some people in Colorado decided that they wanted to have some alligators. They set up this attraction where, apparently, you walk in and they just hand you a baby alligator. And you can also wrestle alligators there. Colorado is strange. But awesome, too.

My group arrived at camp after dark. But that meant the stars were out! It was one of the clearest nights I’ve ever seen! I tried to point out some constellations, but I didn’t have my laser pointer, and there were just so many stars, pointing things out in the sky didn’t really work. I was so happy; starry nights are the best!!

Saturday morning, we drove over to Salida to go whitewater rafting. We spent a few hours rafting on the Arkansas River through class III-IV rapids. It was really fun! One really interesting thing happened during lunch. As we were eating, someone mentioned that someone was coming down the rapids on a stand up paddleboard! So I went over to the water and watched him paddleboard through rapids. I had heard of whitewater rafting and kayaking, but never paddleboarding! I can’t imagine how crazy it would be to try to do that. In the afternoon, we again witnessed the weird monsoons. There were some small creeks that flow into the Arkansas River…I’m not sure if they always flow into the river or if they just appear during the monsoons. But, because of the flash floods during the monsoons, the creeks carried very muddy water into the river, and the river completely changed color. But even with a very rainy afternoon, we all really enjoyed going rafting.

The rest of Saturday was just a nice, lazy day at camp. Then, on Sunday, we went on part of the Colorado Trail, which was right next to our campsite. We spent about 4 hours or so hiking and getting incredible views of the mountains. It was a tiring weekend, but it was wonderful.

I’ve had tons of amazing experiences here in New Mexico, both in and out of work. This was definitely a great way to bring my time here to a close. I’m so thankful for all of the experiences I’ve had, and I wish I had time to do more in New Mexico. But I cannot wait for my brother, Nate, to come on Thursday so I can show him around. And it will be wonderful to be back in Michigan soon!! I will miss being in the mountains, going rock climbing (especially climbing outdoors), having tons of places to go hiking, seeing incredibly clear nights, and the lack of humidity/bugs here in NM. And of course, I will miss the friends I’ve made here and working with the ChemCam team. But there’s so much back in Michigan that I’m excited for. I can’t wait to be back in farm country, be surrounded by beautiful green plants, go for walks along Lake Michigan, go skiing and kayaking, go for walks around my orchard, and see my family, friends, and puppy. This summer has been wonderful, and I’m so excited that I get to spend the last little bit of it back home in Michigan!

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to morn and a time to dance, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

– parts of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Right now, I feel like I’m a roller coaster of emotions. And unlike Augustus Waters, my roller coaster doesn’t only go up (John Green, The Fault In Our Stars reference…just to warn you, there will likely be a lot of John Green references in this blog, so if you haven’t read his books, I suggest you do so, because they are wonderful). Well, I guess I only really notice the roller coaster when I stop and think about all that is happening. But at the same time, so much is happening that it can be hard to stop and think about it – I just have to keep going and packing and prepping for this summer.

Through the craziness, I know I need to make time to process what is going on….

I’m saddened by the fact that I moved away from Calvin for the last time.

I’m excited (and nervous) for my upcoming move to New Mexico.

I grieve the fact that I may have just seen some of my friends for the last time.

I am looking forward to hearing about my friends’ new adventures.

I can’t wait to focus on astronomy in grad school.

I’m worried about constantly comparing IU and Calvin.

I’m excited to meet new people and make new connections.

I’m scared that I won’t be able to stay in contact with everyone that I want to.

I think one of the big things I am worried about is losing contact with my friends as I move forward into these new adventures. I know it will be a lot harder to stay in contact, and I will have to be much more intentional about my interactions. But I’ve made some incredible friendships over the past four years and I don’t want distance to make us grow apart. As much as I’m looking forward to what’s to come, I do mourn this (potential) loss. Through the pain of leaving, though, I am comforted by the fact that I have made such deep relationships that mean so much to me. In the words of John Green, it hurts because it mattered. So, friends who are reading this, please stay in contact! I will definitely do my best, but really, don’t hesitate to text, call, facebook, skype, snapchat, write letters, etc. I really do want to stay in contact! If you need any of my contact info, just ask!

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be excited and a time to grieve, a time to hold on and a time to let go, a time to explore and a time to sit still, a time to pack and a time to unpack.

(But there is never time to just not pack or unpack…it seems as though I’m always doing one or the other.)