Growing up in the centennial state, I took a lot of things for granted. I had assumed everything was pretty much the same all over the country, and it wasn’t until I moved away for school that I saw just how wrong I was. Here are a few things that you’ll understand if you grew up in Colorado.

1.Chipotle and Chick Fil A are everything.

When you were old enough to leave campus for lunch, the go to places were Chipotle and Chick Fil A. When you were away for a school trip, finding one of these two places during your lunch break made you the happiest person alive.

2.Every season is ice cream season.

In other states, people don’t go out for ice cream in winter. In Colorado, Dairy Queen is the place to go after choir concerts and dance recitals…no matter what the season is.

3.The best concerts are the Red Rocks concerts.

Even though for some of us, it takes multiple hours to get to the venue, Red Rocks concerts are just too good to pass up. The natural amphitheater is not only gorgeous, but also has wonderful acoustics. The experience of seeing a live band there is one that can be matched by very few things.

4.Skiing through the summer

Most ski resorts will close down sometime in spring, but not the ones in Colorado. It’s not uncommon that the resorts will be open until nearly July, because we have such a high altitude in our mountains that it takes so long for the snow to melt.

5.You don’t appreciate the mountains until they’re gone

Growing up, you’ll have visitors from out of state gush over how beautiful the mountains are and you can’t help but wonder why they care. They’re just mountains, and they make up the western horizon all the time. However, if you move out of state and come back to visit, it hits you very hard and all at once. Those mountains are beautiful and you didn’t know how much you missed them until you saw them again.

6.All four seasons in just a few days

It could be snowing when you wake up and be completely melted and sunny by lunchtime. The next day, it’s windy and raining. In Colorado, none of this is uncommon and we’ve learned to just roll with it.

7.Weird art downtown

When you’re in Denver, you may have very strange instructions. “At 4pm, let’s meet at the blue bear,” or “Get off the highway by the big yellow French fry thing.” The art downtown is strange, but makes for very good landmarks.

8.Everyone seems to like exercise.

Friends will invite you to go hiking with them, or to climb mountains, ride bikes, or just go for a walk. Colorado is considered one of the healthiest states because we have such nice weather for being outside. While it can snow in spring, there are also days in January when it’s totally acceptable to wear shorts, and we take full advantage of that.

9.Theatre district

We have a pretty awesome performing arts center in Denver. Quite a few national tours will kick off at the Buell, and this summer we’re getting the first ever live cast of Frozen. Not only do we get wonderful shows, but the center itself is one of the most beautiful I’ve personally ever seen.

10.The sky is so blue

This is another one that I didn’t personally notice until I moved away. The sky is the sky, right? No. Because of Colorado’s altitude, the sky looks a brighter shade of blue than in a lot of places, and you don’t fully appreciate how pretty is until you don’t see it every day.

11.Everybody is moving here

There was a time, long before I was born, that Colorado had its own distinct accent. Now, that’s been slowly taken away because people are from all over and there are so few native Coloradoans left in the state. And while the natives joke that they wish everyone would get out, we all secretly agree that they had the right idea in coming here.