Time has passed quickly the last 10 days, the first few of them I spent meeting new people, experiencing the nightlife of Dallas, and looking forward to 2 things: Janina's arrival, and our trip to Colorado. Janina came Sunday evening, we picked her up at 6pm (this was by the way my 8th time in an airport in 2 weeks), and got her settled in the backhouse with me. We passed the time from Monday til Wednesday visiting the Nasher Sculpture Garden and the Dallas Museum of Art, shopping, and packing. Thankfully, the plan of us being 5 people and 2 dogs in one car driving the entire 13 hours in one day, was changed at the last minute. In stead of leaving Thursday morning, Wednesday evening only 4 people and 1 dog got in the car, and headed off to a little place called Creede, Colorado. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas for the night, at the Quality Inn, slept 5 hours, ate low quality breakfast, and continued on our journey. The landscape changed as we left Texas behind, more rolling hills, more green. Creede, Colorado is technically at the base of the Rocky Mountains, 8852 feet above sea level (ca. 2700 m.), and as we drove in to Wason Ranch around 5 Thursday evening, we could only marvel. Surrounded by mountains, and the Rio Grande running right by the house, which was gigantic. We were 8 people in total: me, Janina, Mary Grace and Jeff, Brittney and Jonathan, Ann Elise and her brother Andrew. And still there were 2 beds extra. 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 big living areas, a big kitchen, a pool table, ping-pong table, poker table, a big porch practically on the river, and not another house as far as you could see. And on top of this, it was a gang of lovely people, and we had more than enough Bud and wine for everyone. And as if there wasn't enough to do at the house (like being beaten at ping-pong), we managed to squeeze in some out-door activities too: we went to a shooting range just by the property, and those wild Texans teached us scared Europeans how to use a gun. Some went golfing, while 4 of us went river rafting down Rio Grande. The ride was about 2,5 hours long, and Janina and I, Brittney and Jonathan chose to paddle, so we had quite the little excercise going 10 miles (16 km) down the Rio Grande. It was fun, and a good way to see some beautiful scenery. I was also determined to go on a long hike, but put it off til Sunday. That was a mistake. First of all, most of Saturday night had been spent playing beer-pong. Second, it was raining. But, nothing can stop a stubborn Norwegian, so I got up at 8.30am, and climbed mountains, almost fell down mountains, nearly started avalanches, was close to tears at one point, tried to cross the river, failed at crossing the river, and walked back defeated and had to have them pick me up, after 3 hours. But all in all it was fun, and good for me, America is really the true home of fast food. We also got to spend some hours in the town of Creede itself, which is nothing like I've ever seen. About 400 people live there all year around, and our rafting guide told us that during summer and tourist season, that number increases to about 2000. We were meant to go see the rodeo Sunday afternoon, but it had been cancelled, so we decided we'd rather go see the indoor one in Fort Worth next weekend.
After 5 days of fun, relaxation and the feeling of time standing absolutely still, it was yet again time to spend a LOT of time in the backseat of a car. 5.07am Monday we were on the road and on the way back. This time we drove straight, stopping only a couple of times, and were back in Dallas 6.30pm. Isn't it weird how you can be completely exhausted from sitting still all day? I'll be going to sleep soon. Or read.. Oh, and I got into school! I am as of August 09 officially a student at NTNU, I start in 2 weeks!
Here are some pictures from Colorado:
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