Springtime in Fort Collins

Our new "backyard" view from our patio. xoxo

When we got back to Colorado, we were greeted with about a week and a half  of uncharacteristically cold, grey, rain filled days. I spent a lot of time cooped up in the apartment, unpacking and organizing the house, and Bobby spent a lot of time cooped up at work. Weekend before last, the rain finally broke. The view above is what greeted me when I stepped out onto the back patio after a Sunday morning full of work. There is an enormous aspen off to the right, taller than our 3 story building, so I suggested to Bobby that we grab our books and a blanket and read in the grass under the shade.

Oh, and I took all of the pictures in this post with my 2 year old LG  phone. Who knew it could do such a good job?

 There is a little walkway that runs between our apartment building and the apartment building across the grassy park. I'm standing on said walkway, with our apartment to my right. That aspen is gorgeous when the wind blows through it and all the leaves start fluttering.

 Under the tree, view to the left. I really like how our new apartment complex is older and more established, because they built it on 24 acres of land and left tons of trees to their own devices. We're also right next door to a very large park, and we're right off of one of the many bike trails in our town. Our CSA's main entrance is actually right off of that bike trail as well, so a mile and a half bike ride along the creek gets us to our fresh picked, local, organic veggies. Hello spring, indeed.

 Bobby+toe socks

 I actually just finished reading that book today. I highly recommend Savage Inequalities if you want to be filled with a righteous anger to kick some ass and start reforming school finance on behalf of poor children.

 Ah, sunshine. Come to me (through my sunscreen) my friend.

 After about two hours of reading, we decided to go on a little exploratory bike ride. We like to frequent Sprouts grocery store, so we headed out in that direction. Those sweet pink tires were courtesy of this Facebook thread.

 

 Bobby, with his trusty steed. Side note- I've never lived in a garden level apartment until now, and I love it. We have our front porch all to ourselves, and our heating/cooling costs (especially in Colorado) are far lower, too.

 I love our town so, so, so very much when it comes to how bicycle friendly it is. The grocery store is 4 miles from us. For the first mile, we are on the bike trail, surrounded on both sides by trees. For the last 3, we are on this back road that curves around the southern part of town, avoiding all traffic. Nice wide bike lanes, empty fields, mountains in the background, and little to no traffic are all features of biking to the grocery store. Not a bad deal.

After grocery shopping, I got some coffee and we hung out in a park area of the south side of town's downtown. People were out biking, walking dogs, pushing kids in strollers, and enjoying the dog park across the street. It just felt like spring. You could tell everyone was grateful that the rain was over and the sun was out. We hung out there until the sun started to set, and then we hopped back on our bikes and rode home. I came back from the Texas trip around the same date as I moved up here last year, so it was nice to have a bit of nostalgia even in a place where I haven't lived for that long. I'm looking forward to many more sunny days on my bike this spring and summer. Walking and biking afford me an experience of day to day life that I just don't get when I'm locked up in my car, shuttling from place to place. I'm so glad I live in a town that values that.