Hello from South Korea! Or should I say,
Annyeonghaseyo?
A rather complicated greeting, if you ask me.
We are finally settled into our apartment in Seoul. Actually it's my Korean sister and her husband's apartment. They're kind enough to let us stay here during our five-week Korean language program. (Thank you, both!)
Speaking of which, tomorrow our classes officially begin. As they like to say here in Korea... Fighting! But before I get too far into our escapades abroad, allow me to finally wrap up our Midwest adventure in the next few posts. Continuing on with...
Denver. I love Denver. It’s not too far from the Midwest, which means not far from our family and friends. There’s plenty to see and do, with accessibility to both city life and nature. The air is clean. The sky is brilliantly blue. Low humidity. Four seasons. You can keep your door open all day long without worrying about mosquitoes. There is a breathtaking view of mountains lingering in the distance. And if you feel like climbing one, the summit is just a hop, skip, and jump away, where you can find a view like this...
I basically decided I’m moving there someday. Patrick is on board. And I think all of you should come, too. We could have some epic block parties. I’ll bring the macaroni salad and the margaritas!
Of course I'm getting ahead of myself. I do not foresee us moving there anytime soon, so until we reach that point, we’re fortunate to have family there to give us an excuse to visit every so often.
Annyeonghaseyo?
A rather complicated greeting, if you ask me.
We are finally settled into our apartment in Seoul. Actually it's my Korean sister and her husband's apartment. They're kind enough to let us stay here during our five-week Korean language program. (Thank you, both!)
Speaking of which, tomorrow our classes officially begin. As they like to say here in Korea... Fighting! But before I get too far into our escapades abroad, allow me to finally wrap up our Midwest adventure in the next few posts. Continuing on with...
Denver. I love Denver. It’s not too far from the Midwest, which means not far from our family and friends. There’s plenty to see and do, with accessibility to both city life and nature. The air is clean. The sky is brilliantly blue. Low humidity. Four seasons. You can keep your door open all day long without worrying about mosquitoes. There is a breathtaking view of mountains lingering in the distance. And if you feel like climbing one, the summit is just a hop, skip, and jump away, where you can find a view like this...
I basically decided I’m moving there someday. Patrick is on board. And I think all of you should come, too. We could have some epic block parties. I’ll bring the macaroni salad and the margaritas!
Of course I'm getting ahead of myself. I do not foresee us moving there anytime soon, so until we reach that point, we’re fortunate to have family there to give us an excuse to visit every so often.
Following the Black Hills, it was only a 6-hour journey to Denver. We drove through Wyoming, which was a jaw-dropping expanse of nothing.
Good thing our car didn't decide to break down on the way there.
Once we arrived, it was great catching up with family, like Patrick's grandparents, Aunt Mary, Uncle Paul, and Katy.
During our stay, Katy was kind enough to take us to the pool. Is that a wave or is she threatening to splash me? I'm thinking the latter.
Katy is quite the natural swimmer. When I was her age, I took swimming lessons with my sister but both of us obstinately refused to go anywhere near the deep end, even with a life jacket and our instructor holding onto us. Lessons were thus confined to the shallow end of the pool where we would practice holding our noses while bobbing our heads in and out of the water. It's really too bad there's no Olympic head-bobbing competition, because I'm pretty sure I would dominate.
Of course, Katy had no such reservations. Here she is jumping off the diving board in a remarkable display of grace and fearlessness.
Another highlight of the weekend was a trip with Grandma to Mount Evans, where we drove up to the summit. There was some truly gorgeous scenery to behold on the way up.
And now I know why they are called the Rocky Mountains.
Along with the rocks, there was also some residual snow.
When we made it to the summit, it was surprisingly cold.
Like, real cold. Which may be why I look like a penguin in this photo.
We were only up there a few minutes before storm clouds started looming ominously above.
We quickly snapped a picture next to this sign and high-tailed it out of there.
The drive down was a bit precarious as we competed against a mixture of rain, hail, and limited visibility. Quite a different experience from our picturesque drive up.
It was definitely a neat sensation to be up amongst the clouds, even if they were mostly storm clouds.
Once we made our way back down, the storm momentarily subsided and we were able to enjoy a peaceful lunch at Echo Lake Lodge at the entrance to Mount Evans.
Patrick had the chicken-fried steak...
...while I opted for the half sandwich/soup.
We also had a nice view of some hummingbirds right outside our window.
Following lunch, we took a short hike around this lake.
The trees looked like normal trees, but up close we noticed they were covered in green moss rather than needles. I was compelled to touch the tree and say, "Can't you feel its pain?" (Any other Fern Gully fans out there?)
By the time we left, the sky was back to a radiant blue. It was as if the storm was all just a show.
We concluded our stay in Denver with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery to celebrate Father's Day.
Peanut Butter Cup Perfection, anybody?
oo,
Extra fun to look at these pics again since we just got back from lovely Denver! I'm sure I could have guessed Patrick's chicken-fried steak menu choice...haha. Oh, and thank you most sincerely for the Fern Gully reference. :)
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