When I left Maine for the first several months I was feeling pretty homesick.
I missed the trees overhead, the possibility of going to the beach and playing in the ocean, and I missed all of my friends.
Because my summer job kept me busy, I didn't make a lot of time to go exploring much of Colorado until the end of summer. At the summer camp I worked at, once a week we got to meet up with the Audubon society, which was my favorite day of the week.
However, much to my great surprise, most of the kids and even the other camp instructors had never heard of the Audubon society, and I spent most of the summer wondering what was wrong with them. (Not seriously, of course!)
I recently learned the reason most folks out here don't know what the Audubon society is, is because Open Spaces and Mountain Parks is the big thing out here.
This makes sense, Colorado is as open as far as the eye can see, and it's this OSMP that is everywhere and full of great hikes and places to go see.
So I started exploring, starting with parks that were kind of close to me.
One park I only had a short chance to explore before work, but I ventured back in the winter when my friend Emily visited from Vermont.
 |
| Summer |
 |
| Winter |
 |
| Mule deer! |
 |
| We ran out of time to do the whole loop. This is how far we made it the first time! |
We stop to take pictures...
In mid July, one of our friends from Maine moved in with my finace John, and I.
I was able to talk him into going on a hike with me, so we went to go explore another Open Space, Heil Valley Ranch.
We got a little lost, and found this tiny place called Buckingham Park first.
We back tracked and found Heil Valley Ranch.
 |
| Nate told me that there's a neat trick you can do when taking a panoramic shot. While I'm moving the camera, he moves behind me and gets back in the shot, so he's on both sides. We messed up here, you can see part of his face on the right. |
 |
| Done right, he now has a twin. |
 |
| Ponderosa pine has really cool bark. |
I went on my own to check out an Open Space called Rabbit Mountain not too far from my house. This was a nice walk, and was also the first time I saw a wild coyote! (I've seen coyotes before in the Gray Animal Farm back in Maine, but I'd never seen a wild coyote before!)
 |
| It looked like a storm might be coming, so I didn't go too far. Summer thunderstorms were pretty common and could come out of nowhere. |
 |
| These insects are flies, not bees! They're so cute!! |
 |
| Most insects have 4 wings, but flies only have two! Not many people know that flies can be pollinators too! |
 |
| Looking behind me, I saw movement across the road. A coyote! |
 |
| The coyote and I share a curious stare |
 |
| On the way out, I saw a kestrel! |
 |
| A prairie dog hole. |
Colorado Open Spaces have honestly made me feel less homesick, and I have a lot more to explore. It's a beautiful place out here, and I think I might be falling in love with this place.
It still might be a while before I think of Colorado as home, but I'm certainly headed down that path.
