Goodbye Colorado, at least for now

I decided to bring some flora along for the ride.  Don't worry, I didn't bring them out of the state. Well, yes, I do still have the potted plant in my room. 

Leaving camp was difficult, especially when the young sons of one of my amazing camp directors told me that they didn't want me to leave, and when would I be back?  It seems like it is getting harder and harder to say goodbye to people and places.  I don't know if that is because I'm getting older and my internal clock is saying "look for your roots" or if I know just how difficult it is to actually maintain relationships with seasonal friends. Sure I can, and do, look at seasonal relationships for what they are; opportunities to influence each other.  Even if I never see or speak to my friends again it does not negate the time we did spend together or the way they have changed the way I think, act, or feel.  The advantage to having made this transition so many times I also know that those friends will always be friends. When I run into them months or years from now, we will still be friends.  

Exhibit A: 

My past housemate Mike, all dressed up as the Red Baron ready to ride his plane into battle with Snoopy.  

The hard goodbyes were made easier because on my drive from Sanborn toward Montana, I visited with a lot of great friends from my past experiences.  I even met up with a friend from Ohio who happened to be in Rocky Mountain National Park!  I stopped in Denver and stayed at my favorite "second home" in Colorado. Then on to my "home"; Fort Collins. The weekend that I stopped by was the fun and ridiculous Tour de Fat, put on by New Belgium Brewery.  This festival includes pretty much everything I love in festivals. Bicycles, beer (really good beer), costumes, bike costumes!, friends, games (like jenga built with two-by-fours), and music.  They also have food, I guess if I have one area that could improve it would be in the food arena though.  It is basically a citywide party, the kind of party I can get behind! 

Not the huge Jenga, but we played a little "Jumbling Tower" in the back yard after all the festivities in town.

I'd say that Colorado gave me a pretty good send-off overall.