One Week in Boulder!

Ed and I arrived in Boulder one week ago today! So far I've been too preoccupied with trying to get the house in order to do too much exploring, though we're both looking forward to a hike tomorrow and I'm dying to go on a run, too. A friend has recommended some trails, and I think I'll start my Boulder running career on Mt. Sanitas. In the meantime, I'll share some pictures from our move.

First, some pictures of our mostly empty apartment, which are really weird for me to look at. (Our landlord stored some things, like TVs and couches, while we were living there, so the place isn't totally barren.) I took these right before closing the door for the last time, an event that made me well up just a little.

Guest room/office upstairs

Living room 

Our bedroom

Our bedroom, from another angle

Master bath/closet/laundry "room" ("laundry closet" would be more accurate)

Master bath/closet, from another angle

Kitchen/living room

Kitchen

Kitchen/living room, from another angle

 Ed and I loaded Hester until she nearly burst at the seams and took a meandering route to Boulder so that we wouldn't get there too far in advance of the movers. Our itinerary was shaped by people and places we wanted to visit rather than practicality. We drove 4.5 hours to Washington, D.C., 8 hours to Charleston, 4.5 hours to Atlanta, 14 hours (!) to San Antonio, 11 hours to Santa Fe, and, finally, 6 hours to Boulder. (Note that almost every day on the road was a little longer than that, since those are driving times that don't include any pit stops.) I didn't take many pictures along the way, alas, though the one from Roswell, below, is worth sharing.

I learned (through trial by fire) that Ed is a very good road trip companion and that the cats are not. We had a great time visiting friends and family along the way, saw some cool things, and ate some great food--and some not-so-great food. In particular, we both really enjoyed Santa Fe. I visited once about ten years ago and am looking forward to spending a longer weekend there now that it's not too far away.

As well as the road trip went, I was thrilled to get my first view of Boulder through Hester's bug-spattered windshield:

The morning after we arrived in our lovely little red house, the movers filled it with boxes and I've spent just about every moment since then trying to unpack them all and arrange things into our new home. It's hard not to be too exacting about things, as is my nature, since we'll be here for only about a year (we hope) until we buy our own house. Since the kitchen was out of commission until just recently, Ed and I have been exploring lots of Boulder restaurants and have been generally very happy with what we've discovered. We've also met up with several of my friends, and I'm excited to have a small but very cool social group in place already.

Our new bedroom as it looked a few days ago. Can  you find Todd?

I love our new surroundings. I'm dangerous on the roads because I keep getting sidetracked by breath-taking views out the windows; soon they'll be a little less startling, but for now they're delightful surprises. The people here are unbelievably friendly and warm, too. This might be less notable to someone who has not spent time in New York, but for me it's a welcome change.

I'll post some before and after pictures once I can get the house in some semblance of order so that the after shots won't look just like the before ones.