A Very Mormon Road Trip - Part II

I have an epidemiology midterm tomorrow.  I've done very little studying so far.  Naturally that means I should take more time from studying to share more stories from the road trip I took three months ago.  Makes sense, right?  On my first full day in Colorado, Sister Berg and I drove up to Echo Lake on Mt. Evans.  My car was really struggling with the elevation changes, but we made it.  Instead of driving up to the summit, we decided to hike up to Chicago Lake instead.  I had a slight bout of altitude sickness along the way including a few minutes where I couldn't hear anything which was a little terrifying, but I was okay soon after that.  We finally made it up to Chicago Lake and it was gorgeous!

We sat out by Chicago Lake for a long time as we chatted and fed the fish.  Unfortunately, even my Italian skin was overwhelmed by the effect of being in the sun at almost 13,000ft and I got a terrible sunburn.  I very rarely get sunburned and when I do it usually tans by the next day so when this one didn't tan right away I knew it was bad.  Fun fact: It's now almost November and my legs are still super tan.  The bad news is that I had sneakers on and the sun was hitting me only on one side so I have super awkward tan lines.  Oh well.  It was a great day and fun to get to spend time with Sister Berg as a non-nametag wearing person.  On our way home we got frozen yogurt and then when to dinner at Sister Berg's friends house.  Yes, we got frozen yogurt before we had dinner.  That's how it should be done.  After dinner, I got a text from Brianne saying that she was in Denver!  She had been on a road trip around the Pacific Northwest and Canada with her parents and they were flying out of Denver the next day.  So we decided to meet up with them to catch up for a bit and so Sister Berg could meet Brianne.  We spent quite a while talking to them and it was wonderful to catch up!  It was also fun to think about how the summer before, Brianne and I had been on a cross country road trip together and spent several awesome days in Denver. 

The next day was a wonderful one!  In the morning, Sister Berg, one of her younger brothers and I went to the Denver temple.  It was the second temple I've been inside (DC was the first) and it was really nice.  And very busy since it was the first day it was open after a maintenance closing.  It was such a nice morning and we had a lovely time.  We all went out for lunch afterwards and then Sister Berg and I went to visit another friend of hers.  After dinner that night, Sister Berg and her brother sang duets while their dad played the piano.  They are so talented!!  Seriously.  Like some of the best voices I've ever heard.  It was so great!  Later that night we made a fire and roasted marshmallows.  I like fire.  I guess President Monson and I have that in common.

Denver Temple

On my last full day in Colorado, we got up early and went for a bike ride to the Aurora Reservoir.  I literally thought I was going to die.  I think I could taste blood.  I tried to tell myself that it was because I wasn't used to the altitude, but if we're being honest, I'm just really out of shape.  But it was worth it once we got to the reservoir.  It was beautiful and nice to just sit out on the dock.  Later in the afternoon we explored downtown Denver for a little bit, but we had to get back after a few hours because Sister Berg was reporting to the High Council about her mission that night.  All I have to say is it was awesome to be there for that.  Especially because she taught me on her mission.  Thankfully, I was not mentioned at all...I'm sure I would have been awkward and embarrassed if I had been so I'm grateful that I wasn't.  Afterwards we went back to the house, played Frisbee, made s'mores and watched a movie.  I was so sad to be leaving Colorado the next morning, but I was also excited to get to Utah to see Megan!!