Colorado (07.10-16.2019)

I got to visit Cheyenne, one of my best friends whom I met in college, in her home state, Colorado.

Backstory: During my junior year, we were in the same dance piece and we ended up banding together since we were majoring in different fields (Chemistry and Computer Science). However, we both had a competition dance background pre-college and even had some of the same dance choreographers. During those dance rehearsals, I found out that she is also an amazing lighting designer (and stage manager - how cool is that?) which has led to her being the designer for all of my solos that I've performed at ASU. As a Colorado native, she would mention all of these cool activities to do in Colorado including the Avalanche hockey team to the point where I just had to make a trip out there.

Getting to Colorado: I haven't flown anywhere by myself so I was nervous and anxious navigating my way through the DIA. However, with the huge signs, I was able to get on the train and make it to baggage claim. With Cheyenne's directions, I got my suitcase and was ready to see what Colorado is all about.

The Original Pancake House DTC: The first thing we did after I arrived was get breakfast at The Original Pancake House DTC. I devoured their Traditional Eggs Benedict and it hit the spot. It was also neat to see the companies and startups currently call Denver Tech Center home as we were driving by.

Adventure Golf & Raceway: We wanted to go mini golfing since we enjoyed Glow Putt Mini Golf back in AZ. Cheyenne, her cousins, and I went to Adventure Golf & Raceway in Westminster. The place offers three Adventure golf courses: Buccaneer Bay, Adventure Cove, and The Lost Continent. This place was so much fun that we spent three hours there doing all three courses!

Butterfield's Ice Cream: Cheyenne wanted to show me this place as it's her family's favorite place to go for ice cream - and let me tell you, this place lived up to the hype. Butterfield's Ice Cream is a family owned and operated enterprise located in Parker. I got Salted Caramel and Caramel Oreo and the best part was that I got to enjoy it all throughout my stay!

Overcooked 2: I got to introduce Cheyenne's cousins and friends to Overcooked 2 on the Nintendo Switch as that was another fun game we played with friends in AZ! In this game, up to 4 people take on the roles of chopping vegetables/meat/fish, cooking rice/noodles, assembling food to satisfy the Onion king and his dog, Kevin, and avoiding health codes all together. This game oddly combines stress and fun but in the end, it's so addicting and we all had fun working together to earn stars - we even got 3 stars on some of the levels!

Cheyenne, her cousins, and I got there around 5:20am and walked up what felt like 13+ flights of stairs to see the first part of the sunrise where you can only see the glow of the sun. It was beautiful to gaze at all of the rock formations and hear the birds chirping. We went up a few more flights and sat in the bleachers to watch the rest of the sunrise. As we were enjoying the sunrise, I saw people jogging back and forth between the bleachers and along the stair steps. It was an inspiring moment to see the work that these joggers were doing for their health and/or simply because they love jogging. It again reinforced what I love about the sunrise:

We ate lunch at Parker Garage, a chef driven culinary inspired restaurant that has been designated as a Parker landmark. It was restored back to its original state in 2014. I also got to check out Fika Coffee house, a Swedish American Coffee house located on Mainstreet. I had just visited Stockholm so it was quite cool to a bit of Sweden transported to downtown Parker.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: During our last semester of college, Cheyenne and I would play team battles 2v2 and 2v4 along with Adventure mode and unlock characters. One time, we even played for 6 hours straight! We, along with her friends, had played so much that we challenged all of the characters but weren't able to KO some of them. At 3am in the morning, we decided to take the Challenger’s Approach route and unlock the last 10+ characters!

Federal Reserve Bank: Cheyenne and I did the self-guided tour of the

. There's a security checkpoint at the entrance to check ID and bags. There were a lot of cool facts about how the dollars are made, budgeting, and the current economy. You could spend about 30-1 hr here depending on how much you read about each small exhibit.

Tea Cloud: On our way back from checking out a number of shops on 16th street mall, we were both needing a drink which made the perfect opportunity to try out this bubble tea place. I got the Flying Dragon (Strawberry, Pineapple + Rose Petal, Hibiscus + Jasmine) with Strawberry Popping Boba and it was satisfying.

Cranelli's Italian Restaurant:: We ended the day with eating dinner at Cranelli’s Italian Restaurant with her parents. The awesome thing about getting to spend the week with Colorado natives is that they know where all of the best local mom and pop restaurants are. This place is quality and the best part is that every time you bring in a new person, you get free garlic knots!

After a long morning of hiking, we rewarded ourselves with ice cream from Hayley's. I got a chocolate dipped cone with a double scoop of Sea Salt Caramel and Orange Sherbet. There were so many different cone flavors that it was hard to choose! Both flavors hit the spot along with the cone. Afterwards, we walked around the shops and looked for a snow globe to add to my collection. The mission was a success and I was able to add a snow globe that encompassed our hike as well as the essence of Colorado! Also, while we were walking around, the weather changed from sprinkling to hailing to nothing and for a brief moment, I understood what these Colorado natives experience daily - an umbrella is too extra.

Star Kitchen: One of Cheyenne and I's favorite lunch outings was dim sum at Mekong Palace so we just had to try a dim sum place in Denver. Her best friend, Allie, joined us and we got the usual har gow, siu mei, shrimp cheung fun, doong (sticky rice), booloo bao (pineapple bun), don tot (egg custard tart), and xiao long bao dumplings.

Cheyenne drove over a gazillion miles but it was totally worth it because every place we went to and everything we did was a blast. I even got to cuddle with her cute puppers, Mikko and Tyson, and her cat, Moxie. From singing at the top of our lungs with the windows down and the night sky to running up the stairs of Red Rocks to running up even more stairs at Rocky Mountain National Park, this was a trip that I will never forget. What's even more awesome is that I got to see Colorado through Cheyenne's experiences and perspective as you only get glimpses of a person's life in a college setting. I am truly grateful that college has blessed me with such an awesomely talented and intelligent friend who has so much depth and can do anything she puts her mind to - she literally weaved through a laser maze that wasn't even on the easy setting! Plus, she always has my back. That being said, I will definitely have to make a trip out to Colorado again!