America the Beautiful

On Saturday, I drove up to Boulder, CO and met a bunch of other Couch Surfers to hang out at the Boulder Creek Festival. It was interesting to talk to some CS ambassadors, and learn a little more about the network. Boulder is a pretty cool city and we had lots of fun. We even got to see "Zip Code Man," a guy who knows the cities that relate to every US zip code, and even some in other countries. (zipcodeman.com)

Then I headed southwest to Dillon, CO where I met up with my friend David Carr. Dillon is about an hour drive west from Denver, in the Rocky Mountains. I'm so glad I went to see him there because otherwise I never would have driven into the mountains. Instead, I would have just gone directly south and missed that experience. That night, I felt like I had entered a different world when I entered the mountains many of which were still covered in snow. David lives in an amazingly beautiful part of the world. We hung out that night, and I left in the morning. He says he is going to come visit me in Portland next fall.

On Sunday morning, I started heading south through Colorado to New Mexico. I just cannot express how awe inspiring it was to see that part of the US. The climate slowly changed from high altitude mountains covered with pines to a desert mesas with hoodoos and buttes. I've seen these landforms on television, but it's truly

I arrived in Albuquerque and met Allison Pierce, a roommate of the guy I had contacted through Couch Surfing. She asked if I had ever had, "New Mexican Food." I told her I had had Mexican, but not "New Mexican." So we tried that for dinner. Then we went back to the house and hung out with the other roommates Will Phillips and Landon Finch. They were really fun people and I had a great time. Will totally looks like Thom Yorke. Check out Will's music at www.myspace.com/deafsmith. Among other random facts about Albuquerque, I found out that they have a lot of volcanoes nearby. Who knew?

I'm including a video from my road trip near Dillon, CO.