lately léna

Last Saturday Margot, Conrad, and I decided to visit our friend Emily at Pingree Park campus, where she is working for a few months. We only went for one night, but being in the mountains is so replenishing that it felt like we were gone for much longer.

Fun fact: I worked at Pingree when I was seventeen, and this was my first time being up there since that summer. As we crossed the grounds, it was hard not to think of goofy seventeen-year-old me, bumbling around from cabin to cabin, totally unsure about who I was and what I wanted to do in life.

It’s so odd to think I ended up moving to Fort Collins for grad school and making a life here. At seventeen, I definitely didn’t think I would do that – I always thought I’d be a) single, b) in some big city, c) with a high-powered job and d) fancy loft apartment (!).

While things were NEVER perfect (not that I’d want them that way anyway), I’m so genuinely happy that I did move here. Colorado may not be an exciting coastal state, and Fort Collins is certainly no metropolis, but I love it here. I love the people, the mountains, my friends, my job, and the fact that I was born here, all those years ago. I’m so happy my siblings are here, and I love that my parents went to Colorado State (they worked at Pingree too!). For someone who grew up moving frequently and has a very convoluted concept of belonging somewhere, it feels good to finally call Colorado ‘home’.

But enough with the mushy stuff. Time for pretty mountain pictures!

We did the quick hike to Beaver Falls just as the light turned.

At one point, as Margot, Emily, and I were chatting away, we saw Conrad stop abruptly and shush us. Without saying a word, he pointed to the trees beside us. (Hint: look carefully at the following photos)

A family of moose! I’d never seen so many together at once, and so close to us! They watched us very carefully as we tiptoed around them.

^^Relieved smiles after not having been impaled by the herd.

Just as the sun started to sink, we made it to the waterfall.

Not wanting to miss dinner (never!), we turned and headed back for the campus. That night, things got really crazy with a heated game of Trivial Pursuit followed by Apples to Apples, s’mores and chips galore, cheap beer + fancy whiskey, and getting lost in the dark trying to find our cabin ☺

Such an amazing weekend. Thank you so much for having us Emily!

xxLena