Memorial Day Weekend

I am taking a break from planning my summer roadtrip and am now fully focused on Kyle's visit next week. He has never been out West before (Wisconsin doesn't count) and I am so excited to show him around. He gets in Thursday night to Colorado Springs. Friday I'm taking him to the Ranch. Mom, Dad, Don and Stacy have all been out to see me at the Ranch and I'm glad Kyle will get a chance to see where I spent the best three summers of my life. That way he can see the setting for all my outrageous (but true!) stories. I've got a big roadtrip planned for the weekend. Ever since I moved to Colorado I've taken a Memorial Day roadtrip and this will be my third annual. Usually I go out of state but since I am moving away I decided to just drive around the entire state, hitting up the remaing few roads I haven't driven.

Saturday we're driving to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I've been to the North Rim with my parents but we're going to the South Rim. Then we'll take the Silver Thread scenic byway down to Pagosa Springs to stay and visit with Jess (who is preparing a Mexican feast I hear) and soak the night away in the Hot Springs. Sunday we'll head over to Durango and drive north through the Million Dollar Highway (see pic below) and the Blue Mesa byway before hitting I-70 and heading back East. I think this will really show him a lot of the state and the mountainy scenic heart of Colorado.
Monday we'll hang around Denver and see Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Rocks and eat some buffalo burgers before he flies out Tuesday morning.
In other news, I did get a job at R.I.T as a Community Advocate in the Residence Life department. I'm very excited to live on campus and make the most out of my return to higher education. I never had an opportunity like this at Keuka because it was such a small school but R.I.T is huge and I can't wait to have access to all the resources of a big and reputable institution. I am now in the process of figuring out my schedule as I just discovered they have a pretty big offering of hospitality/tourism classes, which are perfect for my future plans...