This was the first day we took it a little more slowly since we left on our road trip! When we woke up, it was coolish and grey outside (apparently a blessing since it must have been hot here last week!) and we decided to make it a slow morning. We checked the news, caught up on some work things, and read a sci-fi story together (“Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, the story that the movie Arrival is loosely based on). We even decided to still have our picnic lunch right here at home. We also researched some hikes in the Boulder area–so far, we’ve been spoiled with hikes in and near national parks that are well-advertised at the visitor centers and on maps/brochures, and also well-marked; but now we’ve discovered All Trails with its phone app that gives you all kinds of hikes of different difficulty levels and lengths. So we picked a 3.9-mile moderate loop hike near Boulder’s Flagstaff road that promised scenic views, and drove the 15 minutes to the edge Boulder, where the hike started near the Flatirons. We were not disappointed with the trail or the views–we were high above Boulder and had to climb nearly 1,500 feet from the start to the middle of the hike. Needless to say, the way down was easier (thankfully, it also had a gentler slope than the rock trail going up, which was better on our knees). It took us 3 hours, but it was really a fun afternoon–it was still only in the 70s, and the sun didn’t come out until half-way through our hike, so that was about perfect.
We got back to our car about 4 pm, drove back to Louisville, and rested for a little bit, chatting to the cat sitter who stopped by to give Mark’s cousins’ ailing cat, Sundance, her meds and shot (Mark gives it to Sundance in the morning–I would have no idea how) and normally spends some time with the two cats (Butch, the other one, has become quite friendly by now). Then, we went for an easier walk–about a mile and a half to downtown Louisville. We’d read on line that they have live music and food stands every Friday night in the summer, and although the downtown is teeny, it was quite a happening place–we were glad we didn’t drive down and try to park. The stands with products and drinks and food were what you’d expect–ok but overpriced–and the music, once it started, was fairly lame rock covers. We had a savory “crepes” that really weren’t crepes (much too crunchy) and ice cream that is locally famous but was just so-so. The audience was overwhelmingly affluent whites–many families, since there were bouncy things and a rock-climbing wall for kids, but also many older people with a will to fitness and staying/looking young. We thought, as we did in Telluride, that this was again quite a self-contained bubble. But maybe we were just too tired from the earlier hike. The way home along a bike path was more fun than the actual Friday night event, and we saw several wrens on fence posts and possibly a kestrel. I was pretty wiped out when we got home and nodded off at 8 pm! I did get myself back up to take a shower, but we were still in bed really early.