Fort Collins



Sunset under the storm cloud!

Fort Collins was our last stop in Colorado before heading back toward Wisconsin. This wasn't our first time in the city because a few years ago Greg did a charity bike ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (150 miles over two days!). We remember thinking that the city seemed like a really fun place.

The city has a fairly big university there, which makes everything more interesting. It has a nice main street with restaurants, ice cream parlors, coffee shops and street musicians in the summer. Greg was excited about a park with a water slide, but it was closed by the time we saw it.

But if you go a little way outside of the city, you get to prairie. We got to witness a big summer storm cloud roll over the city, which made for some amazing views. Storms in Colorado are so fascinating because it is so dry. When a storm does develop, you can usually watch all the clouds gather into one massive cloud that boils up towards outer space. You can see it let loose its rains without actually even being under a cloud yourself. This is unlike the Midwest where it usually is a whole gray sky before it starts to rain.


I loved the rugged look of the fence and wide-open land



We even met up with a friend while in Fort Collins. Our former German teacher, Sophia, from Denver who lives there now hosted us for a homemade German meal of krautstrudel (cabbage- and caraway-filled strudel) and topf-something-something. The last ones are dumplings traditionally made with quark - a type of spreadable cheese that we don't have in the US - but Sophia made them with tofu instead. Sadly, I can't remember the rest of the name, but I know how to make them more or less... and how to top them with lots of cinnamon-sugar!

Sophia had visited us in Munich for a much-less traditionally German meal of lentil soup and special small potato noodles (that I did not make from scratch). We were so glad to share our experiences with her. It was and still is refreshing to talk with someone who knows both cultures (German and Colorado/US) and likes to look at the cultural differences, too. Sitting out on her patio was a great way to end our trip in Colorado. Next up: the rest of our roadtrip... and then maybe Skipper Greg will post about his courses in August.

We'll be moving to Quito on Sunday so you all may be reading posts about past events while we're settling in. This summer has just flown by!