My Colorado Bucket List Strikes Back

Remember my Colorado bucket list from last year? Last December I moved back to New York when my internship ended and therefore slapped a "done" stamp on that list. A month later I was back in Colorado, but never got around to creating a new Colorado bucket list -- I was a little bit preoccupied with all things Sochi 2014. And then weeks turned into months turned into almost a full year later... and I finally think it's time to get round two going.

The only thing is that I still don't know how long I'm going to be here. Will I still be living here when the weather warms up again? Don't know! So this'll be a baby-sized bucket list, just of things I can do in winter weather. (I'm certainly not visiting Cave of the Winds or hiking Pike's Peak or going to the zoo while it's below freezing outside.) Hopefully there'll be another Colorado bucket list created for the warm-weather seasons, but for now, I'm using this as motivation to hold myself accountable and get my butt out of my apartment this winter!

1. Go on a walking tour in Denver. I did five walking tours in five different cities while I was in Europe, but I've never done one in an American city. It's high time to change that! Unfortunately most of the walking tours I've found are self-guided or aren't running during the winter, so I'll either have to wait a bit or suck it up and guide myself. We'll see. Either way, I've spent some time in Denver (the botanic gardens and LoDo), but not nearly enough. It seems like such a cool city, and I definitely need a good chunk of time to walk around and explore a bit!

2. GO TO AN AVALANCHE GAME. The caps lock is extremely necessary, because at this point I've been in Colorado Springs for parts of THREE NHL seasons and have not yet been to a game. And after a year and a half of being a Colorado resident, I have fully adopted the Avs as my team. So it's absolutely required to get myself some merch and get my butt to a game. I really wish Denver wasn't an hour away, 'cause that's kind of a schlep for a game, but I WILL make it happen.

3. Go to a Colorado College hockey game. I got to experience every other major college sport while I was at Miami, but I (obviously) never got the Division I hockey experience (though we did have a pretty decent club team!) I went to a CC game last year with some friends and it was super fun! And if I complain about the Avs playing too far away to be convenient... well, CC plays at the World Arena right in Colorado Springs. If I want to see a hockey game, it doesn't get any more convenient than that.

4. Tour Glen Eyrie castle. Did you know there's a castle in Colorado Springs? Because there's a castle in Colorado Springs. I think it's more of a mansion than an actual castle in the strictest sense, but it's called Glen Eyrie Castle and it's right by Garden of the Gods and I MUST GO SEE IT. I haven't seen a castle since 2012. Let's fix that.

I think I like the concept of a bite-sized bucket list: short, sweet, and totally doable in the next few months! Now I just need to wrangle some friends into doing things with me. Any takers? :)