Random Post-Trip Reflections

There are a couple things that didn't make it into my trip recap posts that I wanted to share. So in no particular order...

Someone asked about the adjustment back from high altitude to sea level, since the transition the other way is very noticeable. My answer was always that there doesn't really seem to be much of a transition back! Its pretty easy heading East, and back down towards sea level. In fact, I almost imagine that I couldn't have pulled off that 40 hours awake thing going up in altitude the way I did going down (in May when visiting for my Dad's birthday).

However, I think I have a mid-summer addendum: Oh the Humidity!

Holy smokes, the first day when we went from CO to Iowa, we stepped out of our cool, dry, air conditioned car, into a 90* swampy mess. I immediately felt (sorry for those of you who hate this word) moist. I'd completely forgotten how to deal with humidity, and in fact my first (irrational) reaction was, "OMG, I'm never going to be dry again..." and honestly, I don't know that I felt completely dry for the rest of our time on the East Coast! Ha! It did downgrade from moist to just dewy, but it was definitely one part that I didn't expect.

For reference, and to make sure you know I'm not exaggerating, the same day that it was almost 70% humidity in Iowa, it was 17% humidity in the Denver area.

On a completely different note:
While visiting Pennsylvania, I realized that I was missing it more then ever. More specifically my parent's area over and above Philly even. The trees, the gently rolling hills, all the green; it is such a beautiful place, and I just miss it rather horribly.

I'm sure the realization that the first friend I made in Colorado was moving to Arizona didn't help, nor the fact that our favorite Colorado neighbors had recently moved to Virginia. Being in PA specifically to visit with so many people we love definitely gives the area a rosy tint! But driving through there by myself one evening just brought me such a feeling of nostalgia and missing out.

Who knows what the future holds here in Colorado, but I do know that I'm going to need a few weeks back here to feel like this is home again.