Moving to Colorado has been a dream come true for sure, but its hard not to notice all the little things that are different from my small, suburban Chicago hometown. I have loved living near the foothills and I still gasp sometimes when I walk around a corner and see them. Trust me, its a vast difference from the fields and fields of corn back home.
So heres 15 things Colorado does different:
1. Bikes lanes
Besides there being bike lanes EVERYWHERE, the bikers here are scary. They do not care about cars, pedestrians, or other bikers. If you are in their way you better move-and fast!-because they will not care about running you over. You will always be able to get where you need to be on a bike and if you don't have one, good luck!
2. ColoRADo
I have always said ColoRODo, but that is not correct.
3. Skiing to class, the store, etc
It is just a normal day when you see a student on campus skiing to classes, the store, or anywhere else. It is also a normal day when you see ten pairs of skis laid out against the wall in your lecture.
4. Bringing your dogs EVERYWHERE
For some reason, dogs are welcome everywhere. You need to go to Ace Hardware? You're in a restaurant? You have class? Bring your dog in! Its cool! Also, instead of putting children in those carts that are pulled behind bikes, Coloradans load their dogs into them! (And you can't forget the annual Fort Collins Tour de Corgi).
5. All four seasons in a day
There are over 300 days of sun in Fort Collins, and it even rivals Miami and San Diego. But there are those weird hours of the day where it might rain, snow, and then go right back to being sunny.
6. My sense of direction relies on the mountains now
Its not a matter of what streets you are taking or where your GPS tells you to turn, its either "Go towards the mountains or away from the mountains,". If you can't see them, its because you're in them.
7. Millers
I had never heard this term before I came to Colorado. And what exactly is a miller? Its a MOTH. Why the heck are they called millers?
8. Active People Everywhere
It doesn't matter if its negative 20 with four feet of snow or 85 and blistering hot, there are always people being active. I've gone to the gym at six at the morning and nine at night and no matter what there's plenty of people there.
9. Weed
As for the presence of marijuana, I feel like it's a lot more casually presented here. I'm not sure about percentages of people doing it, but there's bumper stickers, weed socks, and so many hookah stores here, you'll always have somewhere to go.
10. Stickers!
This might be a college thing also, but the people here put stickers on laptops, water bottles, lamp posts, and anything that one can stick to. They are everywhere!
11. Big City Burrito and Cheba Hut
Enough said. You have got to try them.
12. Blucifer
You know who Blucifer is.
13. My accent
All I have to do is say my name and ask someone how they are doing. Then I get the immediate response of "Where are you from?" Weirdly, Coloradans don't have a distinguishable accent, except for not pronouncing the "t" in mountains.
14. Altitude
The first few weeks of school seemed to be filled with headaches, nosebleeds, and any other weird body effects (like burping a lot more than usual) for all the out-of-staters. The altitude is actually a big deal.
15. Chacos
These shoes are everywhere. If you don't have them, what even are you? It could be any type of weather and someone is wearing them.
16. 14ers
Hiking 14ers on the weekends seems pretty normal. Its just what you do.
17. Lastly...
That CSU will always be better than CU.
