Whistle Pig

I've been at our vacation spot in Colorado for two days now, and already I've used half a box of tissues and set a personal record for sucking down five Halls in less than two hours.  My face is so raw from constantly blowing my nose, that it burns at the slightest touch, making me look like I dived face first into a poison ivy bush. Having a severe cold makes sleeping nearly impossible, and the sore throat makes a punishment out of verbalizing anything more than a grunt. I'm miserable, but I'm hanging in there*.

Today, my dad drove our family up and down a mountain in his Sierra Pickup. It sounds really lame the way I said it, but I don't know how else to explain it. They call it four-wheeling over here, meaning you're driving off road in extreme conditions. It's definitely not for everyone, but I enjoy the thrill of it. The switchbacks are often so narrow, that only one vehicle can drive through at a time. So if two vehicles are headed towards each other, you better hope there's enough space between the mountain and the edge for both of you, or else you're screwed. Our trip took almost the whole day, and we got to explore the remains of a Ghost Town from 1906 and delight in finding a lake in the valley of a mountain.

The views are absolutely stunning. It's crazy to think that places like this exist in our world. I've never been out of the country, or swam in a coral reef, or backpacked through the forest of America's tallest trees. But seeing the mountains this close, actually driving through them and realizing you're thousands of feet higher than you've ever been in your life...it's truly amazing.

A little treat to share with you: I peed in the woods for the first time today! It was awkward and uncomfortable and seemingly unethical, but after it was over with, I felt kind of powerful. This is what you men have been experiencing your whole life?

*Hanging in there. What does that even mean? Obviously it's a common enough phrase because it's the first way I thought to end the sentence and I was satisfied with it. We've all heard it used before, many of us use it on a daily basis, but do we know what it really means? Where it originated?

On Repeat: "Wolf Creek Pass" - C.W. McCall (It's a Colorado favorite; don't judge me)
Days Until California: 36