on the road

This week I left Denver for what is essentially a month-long trip.  This makes me very happy.  I hit the road Monday evening with my dog and my new truck to come back to Glenwood Springs for the rest of my Public Health clinical.  The drive was incredible - it was a clear day, the sky was that deep, rich blue that only seems to happen in the fall, the aspens were brilliant yellow, and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the peaks.  It was so beautiful I spent the whole drive smiling.  Not often you get a day like that. 

Thor, the bike, and the camping gear, ready to hit the road

Stage 1 of my trip is two weeks in Glenwood Springs.  I've been here almost a week now, and I really like it!  It's a lovely little town of about 10,000 that is squished into the Roaring Fork Valley.  It looks like someone poured a bunch of houses and businesses into a valley and they slid down the sides and settled at the bottom.  The sides of the valley are steep - like really steep.  I tried to hike straight up the valley wall behind our apartment the other day and was seriously challenged to even keep my footing.  But the view was worth it.  The town is full of interesting shops and restaurants (including a delicious ice cream shop...) and cute little houses.  I've started seeing people I know around town, which makes me so very happy.  I love small towns and the feeling of community that you get in them, which is so much harder to develop in big cities.

 view of Glenwood Springs from the super steep hillside

Couch surfing has turned out to be a great thing.  Allie has been a great hostess, introducing me to her friends, showing me around town, and making sure to include me in all the fun things she does.  Last night we went to an awesome film festival in Carbondale.  You should look up liquid mountaineering, it gave me a good laugh. 

I'll be in Glenwood through Thursday night, at which point I'm done with my clinical and ready to hit the road for stage 2 of my trip.  The current plan is to head to Moab Thursday night, ride Porcupine Rim (yay!) on Friday morning, and then breeze through Zion on my way to LA.  We'll follow the coast up through San Fransisco, then on to Oregon and across to Montana, where I'll spend the better part of a week visiting with all my old friends in Missoula.  As with almost every trip I've ever taken, I'm already feeling like I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like to have.  So many things to be seen, so little time! 

alright, already, we all float on

Tomorrow begins my next adventure.  This one is neither so grand nor so glamorous as my last one (Nicaragua is pretty hard to top), but it has equally important implications for my future.  My clinical in Public Health begins tomorrow.  For a variety of reasons, I requested and was given a rural placement for this clinical rotation.  I'll be in Glenwood Springs, CO at the Garfield County Public Health Department.  Glenwood Springs is a little town about 2 1/2 hours west of Denver on I-90.  It sits right at the mouth of Glenwood Canyon, which may be one of the most breathtaking stretches of interstate I've ever been on, and I've been on a lot of stretches of interstate!  The canyon is a several-hundred-foot-deep chasm, complete with dramatic rock faces and the mighty Colorado River.  The highway runs through the bottom of the canyon, next to the river, at times so cramped for space that the westbound lanes are stacked right on top of the eastbound lanes, which are stacked almost on top of the river.  If you live in Colorado and haven't taken a drive out there yet, it's time. 

I'm excited about this clinical.  At one time, several years ago, I had considered pursuing a Masters in Public Health.  Clearly that went by the wayside.  Somehow, in spite of the fact that I knew I was interested in public health, it didn't occur to me until about 3 weeks ago that I should be excited about this class.  But now I am!  If you've heard me talk about my life mission and my goals, you know that I feel a pretty strong pull towards working in developing countries.  In situations where basic healthcare is lacking, public health nursing can have a huge impact on the overall health of a community.  I'm excited to see what I can learn that will be applicable to my future career.

My lodging situation during this clinical is going to be yet another new experience for me.  Ever heard of couch surfing?  Essentially, it's a network of people all over the world who open their homes, free of charge, to travelers who need a place to stay for a few days or a few weeks.  It's an indirect exchange system; I go stay with Allie in Glenwood Springs, and because Allie is part of the network, she might go stay with Sarah in Phoenix, and Sarah might go stay with Andrew in San Francisco, and maybe Andrew might come stay with me in Denver.   By inviting people into our homes we gain the opportunity to stay with others when we travel.  It's a great way to meet interesting people and learn about the world, and get free lodging in the process!  Over the next 3 weeks I will be staying with Allie and her roommates for 3 or 4 nights each week, and more than likely will be sleeping in the woods on weekends.  Which brings me to the other thing I'm really excited about: my new home on wheels. 

This may be more exciting to me than to anyone else, but this week I acquired a 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck!  Today I had it outfitted with a lovely blue camper shell, so I'm pretty much ready to go hobo and live out of my truck.  I've got a big road trip planned in October to break in my new toy.  In the mean time, I'll be testing it out on weekends around here.  The aspens are changing but the weather is still pretty warm.   It's a great time to be loose in the mountains in Colorado.