Day 3 Driving/Relaxing - Thursday

On Thursday we got an early start leaving Trinidad, Colorado, I was able to get to the Fort Collins area around 12pm. It took me a little while to find the house I was going to be crashing at for a few days, as it was in between too large fields at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and my GPS had me going another half-mile past the driveway. I ended up having to pull into a neighborhood nearby to ask for directions, and luckily a jogger helped me on my way. Once I pulled into the driveway, I knew I had the right house when I saw the two other Alabama license plates on some familiar cars. I was glad to see some friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and excited to be in a completely new, and geographically diverse area of this great country we call AMERICA. To the west - The Rocky Foothills, and to the east - great plains as far as the eye could see. After catching up for a little while, we went exploring and did a little skating across a local frozen pond. While skating a gaggle of Canadian geese voiced their disapproval at us, it was pretty obvious they were not fond of our antics, and they were not happy to be disturbed. Eventually, after some ice cracking, we headed to the other side of the foothills to do a short hike that overlooked the local reservoir, as well as the city of Fort Collins. First amazing hiking view while being in Colorado, I could get used to the local sights.

After that little adventure my buddy had to go to work around 3:30pm, so we went back to the house while he got ready for work. My cousin and I meanwhile planned a trip to go to a local brewery for a tour, but we ended up talking in one of the fields around the house and completely forgot about our 4:00pm appointment. Oh well, maybe I can do the brewery tour other time. We ended up catching up for a few more hours before going to get some beer and see about possibly going out. After a while longer of talking, one of the roommates that works for the National  Parks advised that my cousin David and I go to the Rocky Mount National Park in the mountains the following day. We agreed, and we started to plan which locations and sights to see. Since it is winter time many of the areas/trails would be close because of snowy/icy conditions. We ended up talking and catching up until about 2am, before eventually passing out.