Ancient History

For my last day in Colorado, I went to the Morrison Natural Museum of History first. It was here that I learned about some of the bones that Arthur Lakes and his company had sent to co Marsh Hattie Yale University for a paleontological examination. some of these bones, such as the Allosaurus and Triceratops, we're over 90 million years old, and some fossils were found well before the Jurassic Extinction. It is incredible to see or evolutionary past at play, and even more incredible 2 c rock that are close to a billion years old.

I would NOT want to be impaled by that!

are then decided to take an Uber to the trailhead of Mount Falcon, a peek of right around 8,000 feet. The trails were easy and paved, and I found myself making good time on the trail. I reach the ruins of the Walker home, turned around on the Meadow Trail, and then hiked 2000 feet up the tower Trail to reach the summit. I was so thankful that my Uber driver provided water, because I needed every last drop to forge my way. The views, though? Worth it. 

It can't get much better than this (referring to Colorado as a whole).

I then had an Indonesian uber driver take me to Dinosaur Ridge, where he told me about his culture and the things that he misses about home. His advice to me? "If you want to see Jakarta one day, you'll make it happen. You're a smart kid." I am so thankful to have met this wonderful man in my travels.

Dinosaur ridge was chock-full of cool things to see and do. A proliferation of what I saw at the museum, There ere actual dinosaur tracks in the mountainside from the Cenozoic Era, and bones entrenched in the mountainside from the Triassic Era. Some of the shale here dated back a billion years. After this adventure, I headed to the Airport and said farewells to my new favorite paradise of the world.

Upon leaving, I had to go through additional screenings because of losing my license on the train in Denver. Both of the guys involved in my screen and clearance felt genuinely bad for me for losing my stuff, but also gave me suggestions for further travels and whatnot. both of them had actually been to my home state, and encouraged me to go Explore a museum near my house. Considering as to how my TSA process was extremely painless, I'll have to take him up on that offer.

And so, with a final run to China Wok and Einstein Bros, I disappeared into the airway terminals, met a few really cool people to converse with, and flew into the night. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Into The Rockies

In the middle of August, I decided to visit a friend from undergrad in Colorado, as he was recently transferred to for his job. working for a large security firm meant that he would be at work four of the six days that I was visiting, but this didn't really bother me that much. I always wanted to see the mountains of Colorado, and to see what life was like in the highest state in the United States (no pun intended). And so, even though my airplane was delayed by 2 hours due to maintenance problems, I finally made it to Denver International Airport, and then around 2 in the morning, passed out cold in my friend's apartment in Highland Ranch.

My roommate for the week to come.

On the first day, I decided to challenge myself by walking 1/2 hour to the nearest mall. the air was thick and dry, as I would expect from any state that was set high in the mountains. I also, for some reason, I thought that it would be cold outside, but I was sadly mistaken. And so, I found myself walking past the Children's Hospital near my friend's apartment, and walking through the Windcrest area of Highlands Ranch to get to the local mall. From here, I would do some light shopping, and then proceed to take Uber and Lyft all around town.

As I was walking to the Bakery in which I stopped to get coffee, I heard a car drive by with four very stoned individuals who asked me to flash them. As I exited the coffee shop, I saw the same individuals once more. I pretended to flash them both times, and it made their day. Such are the strange individuals of the highest state.

Next, I took my first Lyft ride in my entire life with a guy by the name of Kenny. He was a very laid-back guy from Southern Colorado who took me to the Littleton Museum, for I learned about the agricultural advances in this area, and where I could also set up on the Gallup Gardens, a small outdoor plant gallery.

What a farm looked like in 1860, before the railroad.

Inside the museum, I was greeted with a plethora of information and a warm invitation to see the to farm exhibits. Although the Farms are only thirty years apart, they were vastly different because of the invention of the railroad. I saw live animals, with volunteer Farm keeps, a volunteer blacksmith, and several informative galleries, including a plethora of propaganda from World War 1.

After the railroad came, houses modernised (ca. 1890).

After indulging the museum and getting trip suggestions from a lady, i decided to check out the nearest dispensary. a 50 minute walk later, i was looking at enough cannabinoids to kill Willie Nelson. the guy I talk to was a sweetheart, and came up from North Carolina himself to experience the state. I bought a sample, pipe, and a lighter and headed back to my friend's apartment.

to round out a beautiful and action filled day, I found myself hiking about 2 miles uphill in Deer Creek Canyon Park just outside of Highlands Ranch. My friends Drew completely underestimated how long the hike was, but it mattered not because we found a loop trail and I was able to shoot some of the coolest photos I have taken in the United States. it was a perfect end to a perfect day.

Views from the mountainside.

Vans Warped Tour

Before going overseas to gead school, I went to the very last Vans Warped Tour to ever exist. in 2018, Kevin Lyman stated that he wanted to move on to bigger and brighter things, but that there would be a large celebration in 2019, which would have been the 25th anniversary of the tour. 

The festival started small in 1995, as an Eclectic alternative rock festival that would eventually include punk rock and other genres of music. skateboard shoe manufacturer Vans would become the first large sponsor of the store, and because of the sponsorship, they were able to take the tour all around the United States and so few stops in Canada. over the next two and a half decades, many different types of bands will perform at this Festival.

Just a few of the bands from the day I went.

Rumor has it that the festival came to an untimely end because of a few bands being packed with sexual allegations. Members of brand new and Pierce the Veil Scott flags for fire do to their relations with underage patrons, and to try and keep the image pure, Vans Warped Tour took its bow and left the scene.

However, in spite of all of the criticisms and allegations surrounding the tour, it's continued 2 be an outlet for teenagers to go and see all of their favorite bands perform 35-minute sets all in one day, and continue to be an award-winning tour for over 20 years. in fact, that's why I became so popular, that just a few years after its Inception, they decided to go Global, starting the 1998 tour in New Zealand. the crowds were enormous, drawing in nearly a million people in North America alone every single year.

And so, and the tail end of July, I went to one of their final destinations in Columbia Maryland. Merriweather Post Pavillion, a venue to which I've been several times before, posted several big name bands that day. I took a friend, and we have the time of our lives. I saw I saw several great bands that day, and also crowd-surfed for the first time in my entire life. Needless to say, there must be a repeat occurrence of these events.

Less Than Jake at a meet and greet. I missed out, as the line was at least 45 minutes.

The day that I went, there were over 50 bands, and five of which I had listened to frequently prior. besides crowd-surfing to August Burns Red, I broke up a fight during Chelsea Grin, met the members of Nekrogoblikon, sat in the bleachers for We the Kings and Simple Plan, nearly broke my neck to Sharptooth and Motionless In White, and enjoyed the positive atmosphere of Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, and Mayday Parade. 3OH!3 Also made appearance, although I had all but forgotten about their existence up until this point of time.

I didn't miss out on signing the petition for Goblin Rights, though!

It was a great show filled with great people, and they were many Shenanigans to be had from the audience members. if there is ever another occurrence of a festival as awesome as this one, be sure to go.

America's Capital City

When I was halfway through college I took a day trip to Washington, D.C. I had been here before in middle school, but this time, I came with just two other friends to enjoy the city and some museums. For this post, I'm going to reflect upon past experiences in the city, as well as my trip in my twenties.

When I first went in 8th grade, I was socially awkward. I had like three good friends, and I was constantly trying to mack on the pretty girls in my 8th grade class. Unfortunately, all of this was to no avail. I did, however, make some friends, see a lot of the major monuments, and managed to get lost once or twice. This was my first experience having a cell phone as well, so I had my best friend's number on speed dial for this reason. Seeing the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial and Natural History Museum were all quite entertaining, and the Air and Space Museum blew me off my feet as well.

But I returned later in life, I learned that it made more sense to take the subway everywhere instead of driving through crazy traffic, and to plan time for two or three really excellent museums. And so, that's exactly what I did. I hopped in the car for my friend’s house in Westminster Maryland, and from there we headed for the nearest DC subway stop. We got a special deal on cost of parking (which always comes in handy, mind you), bought a day pass for the subway line, and headed for center city.

Upon arrival, we were blown away by the sheer amount of stuff that there is to be found in the city. I came back a few months later to experience the National Zoo and see their beautiful pandas again, but even this was not quite as awesome as being lost in the big metropolitan DC. We staggered around, eventually stumbling upon the Native American History Museum. We thenceforth went to the Space Museum, learning about astral science and whatnot.

At both museums, there were massive gift shops, and a plethora of history lessons. If you are reading this, understand that science is an important part of our evolutionary past, and that it is important to understand the world around us. Also understand that if you're looking to understand the world around us and the science behind it, going to the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC is a perfect way to do so. They are fun, competitively inexpensive (with most of them being free), and also very relaxing. In actuality, I would argue that the museums and history are probably the number one reason to visit Washington DC.

If you're still not sold, know that there are plenty of clubs and bars, good restaurants, movie theaters, concert venues, and other exciting things. I can personally attest to the National Zoo and concert venues there, as I've been to both and give both very good feedbacks. The capital of America is a city to be experienced for and by yourself, and absolutely worth a day trip. I am lucky that I only lived about two hours away from the state capital, so it was pretty cost-efficient to spend a day there.

The Lake Laid Blue...

In Germany, in the black forest,  there is a Scenic Lake where are all of the locals go to hang out. It is called Lake Titisee. Beside this lake, which is actually a small amusement park and Museum, there was an old dugout-style cart coaster that took us down the Mountainside. It was here that we also got to try the Black Forest Cherry Cake for the first time, one of the local favorite desserts. This chocolate torte is made with cherries, Cherry schnapps, and lots of love. My buddy Adrian ordered a slice in German, and I followed suit in English. Between this and the food stalls in the Open Air Market, it was easily some of the best food I've ever had.

Photo Credits go to Black Forest Travel.

After going down the roller coaster a couple times, brakes completely off and all, we went to another Open Air Museum. It was here that they found out that Germans grow pot in the countryside, as they had a small exhibit to show this. They also grew hibiscus, salvia, barley, corn, and a few other crops that I can't remember the names of at this moment in time. Naturally, one of my stoner friends picked off a couple of leaves from the pot plant and started munching on them. Although they would come to have no effect, it was very gutsy.

In this open air and open our Museum, we saw exhibits of blacksmith forges, traditional German houses and lifestyle, and most importantly, a teacup. This was no ordinary teacup, is it was big enough to fit 4 people into it, and sitting on the ground stationary. In the center was a wheel, which you and your friends could use to make the teacup spin around and around. We ended up getting the cup going at least 60 miles per hour, and all of us lead our heads out and it times to make it go faster. This just resulted in us screaming our lungs off and getting dizzy, and our captain almost throwing up everywhere. Regardless, it was hilarious.

Aerial view of the museum. (Credits go to Their Website.

Before getting ready to leave the countryside of Germany, we spent a little bit of time sightseeing in a small town, interacting with the locals and whatever broken languages we could speak, and enjoyed an all you can eat schnitzel noodle Buffet. This was also where our bus driver parallel parked a bus between a tight squeeze of two cars, perfectly, and in one attempt. This is where I finally got to speak with him and tell him how incredible he was. All he said was this; "you guys perform the good music for me, I'll take you wherever you need to go". Oh Jan, you're the true MVP!

Our time in Germany finally came to an end, and we laid our eyes to rest on the nunnery for the last time. We're going to be getting up early tomorrow for a long stretch of traveling - Six hours of it.