After a few frantic days of wondering where I will shower after camping for three days and then needing to attend a wedding in Colorado Springs and writing Searching for a shower, a college curling friend has come to my rescue.

In my distress, I had forgotten Leah lived there, and after posting my blog entry on Facebook, Leah saw it and so wonderfully told me that she would share her shower.

I am quite thankful and excited about her generosity. Additionally, I am excited about many firsts I expect to happen this trip.

Thanks to my boyfriend living 1,600 miles away in Utah, I have really expanded my travel horizons this year and experienced many things I likely would not have tried on my own.

I have been to Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah with Jon since the fall. I have climbed up and down scary rocks. I have camped under the redwoods and on the beach.

Pacific Ocean campsite view at Gold Bluffs Beach

I ran into the Pacific Ocean in Oregon on a crisp October day. I have skied down imposing mountains. I tried rock climbing.

Rock climbing at Red Rock National Conservation Area in Nevada

And next week I will try a few more things on my first trip to Colorado. It will be my first flight on Southwest. It will be my first time in Colorado (I don’t count airport stops.) It will be my first time in the Rockies. It will be my first time climbing up and then down a mountain. (I have been to the summit of the Untersberg in Salzburg, but got there by gondola. I did climb down, though.)

Untersberg summit

We are planning on ascending Mount Elbert, and that will be the highest I have been, at over 14,000 feet. We will be spending a night or two in the sand dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park, another first, too. I also suspect there will be camping done without a tent, which is Jon’s preferred style. (His friends didn’t even know he had a tent until he took me camping the first time!)

With all of these new things, which are what I love so much about travel, I always look forward to learning to adapt and learning about myself. New things involve patience and a good attitude. And when I am traveling with Jon, most organization and planning tactics are thrown out the window because we function quite slowly together. My travels before Jon may have been a bit of a whirlwind, and I always knew and accepted when I needed to slow down, but our travels together truly are slow, which has taken a bit of getting used to.

A requisite reflection photo of Jon and I at Valley of Fire in Nevada

These things are what makes traveling so wonderful, and my travels this year have definitely made it a great one.