BC

Summer Snow

Pearl Street

View from North Boulder

My first day in Boulder

So I finally arrived in Boulder yesterday afternoon. The trip was
fairly uneventful some hills around Atlanta, some very long plains,
then once I started driving up the side of a mountain I knew I had
arrived. The only two mishaps were with a gas station attendant who
wouldn't allow me to buy my gas and some milksteak on my Gator 1 card
and then again with border patrol as I attempted to use a passport
that indicated that I had never actually left New Zealand.

With nothing to do but find a job, a place to live, register and study
for the Colorado bar, locate the farmers market, open a local bank
account, choose a holistic doctor, and find a local state farm agent,
I decided the most responsible thing I could do would be to go out for
a beer.

I went by Mountain Sun on Pearl Street ordered a large then sat back
and enjoyed some spectacular people watching for the next hour until I
started talking to the person who would eventually be my first Boulder
friend, Jerry.

Jerry is also new to Boulder, seemed nice, and for many years held the
record as the world's fastest egg peeler.

Jerry was doing some consulting for Bing as well as some free lance
photography for a Canadian Biodynamic farming e-magazine.

Upon getting comfortable with him we exchange numbers and I left
excited that in my first day in Boulder I had already found someone
who may be able to help me move my stuff!

I hope this will be the start of a good experience here in Boulder.
More to come...

Boulder Fact: Boulder has a population of 97,386 (97,385 prior to my
arrival) and an average of only 1 car for every 2 people but there are
over 120,000 Prius here.

Bolder Bound

Greetings BOBH readers,

It has been almost a year and a half since my last blog post and there is much to update everyone on.

As most of my LR (loyal readers) read this post I am currently driving west from my hometown of Jacksonville, FL headed to my next stop in life of Boulder, CO.

As many people know I have spent the last 22 months since taking the FL bar hitchhiking across the world. First to the west coast where I spent weeks on various farms and vineyards picking and processing food straight from the earth. Then I caught a ride up through British Columbia into southern Alaska where I worked for several weeks on an oil rig. (Cooking meals for the crews, muscle is required for the heavy lifting jobs). My cooking was so good they sent me to sea. I traveled on a cruise liner through the Aleutian Islands and met real Eskimos. We finally landed in Russia where I returned to my vagabond ways. Though out the next several months I traveled through China, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Burna, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and finally ended up spending the last four months in a small fishing town in the Philippines off the coast of the Celebes Sea.

During my travels, I had the opportunity to do it all. I spent hours alone in rural parts of Asia, I would catch trains that I didn't know where they were headed only to fall a sleep and wake up several hours later in places where I had never heard the language, I learned to grow my own crops and cook all kinds of meals, I even had the opportunity for sometime to fall in love with a girl thousands of miles away from my home. Our relationship would eventually be hindered by our distance but it was always helped by her inability to see.

After nearly 10,000 miles and two years of traveling with out spending any of my savings I flew back early last week to return again to Jacksonville, FL.

Now if you don't care to believe the above story then assume I have been living in my grandfathers apartment and working as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley in Jacksonville.

Regardless of which story you choose to believe it has been an amazing two years full of meeting new people, making new friends, learning new things, and yes falling in love.

Now that I am headed west it is my hope to return to blogging again. After all I have many thoughts to share on the presidential election, the Kony 2012 campaign, rising oil prices, and broccoli. Much about broccoli.

But don't quit your day job just yet to read the BOBH. I have a very busy several months ahead of me so it may be another 90 days before I am able to post anything more than an occasional picture of the Rocky Mountains but I am fully intent on again spilling my opinions, epiphanies, thoughts, and humor right here on the BOBH for all 2.3 billion internet users to view.

In the meantime I will be in the car for the next few days and am happy to fill anyone in on the details of my past and future happenings or even better to hear what you have been up to.

Chances are anyone who would call has my number but just in case, my number again is 623-Blake-Ha

Hope all is well with everyone.

The Backyard Homestead