For a few summers I was fortunate to perform and work at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. The great thing about this was that I worked on the weekends and could travel and sightsee during the week. I really enjoyed being a performer. But the only way I could really make working at the festival possible was taking on the role of managing the workers at the front gate, similar to what I did at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. So, I did a little managing, a little storytelling and a lot of driving!
In Colorado I saw Pike Peak, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, went up to Bolder and had many many miles of driving winding roads in the mountains. I also took trips to visit my friend Pam in Wyoming, my brother Trent in Kansas City and one year I took a few extra days driving out via South Dakota where I saw the Corn Palace, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, Devil’s Tower. I also tried to find Teapot Dome where I almost ran out of gas but thankfully found a gas station before I did. (The Teapot Dome Scandal was one of the things I remember from history class.)
I loved going to National Parks and for awhile I collected quite a few stamps for my National Park Passport (hmm…wonder where that is now?) I loved taking pictures and soft of fancied myself to be some amazing photographer - well, I still do. I remember on my trip to see Great Sand Dunes, it started raining - but only on 1/2 of the road! I have that picture somewhere. Hmm, where are all my photos? Come to think of it, I am not sure where all my photos actually are. A project for a cold winter day I guess. Then I can post for you!
I used to hike and mountain bike. I wasn’t the best at either as I’ve never had a lot of stamina but even if I couldn’t go fast, I could hike for a long time. I enjoyed the wildflowers in Rocky National Park and taking in the views at ever different turn. Now, it’s not super wise to go hiking by yourself so I generally took smaller paths when I was alone or ones that were well traveled. No falling off a cliff and having to eat my arm off to survive for me.
Part of why I love to travel is the wonderful people you meet along the way. I remember driving out to South Dakota and there were two guys in a car that I kept running into everywhere I stopped one day - gas station, Corn Palace. We had dinner together exchanging stories and then when I stopped to camp that night they continued on to Mount Rushmore because they were trying to do a two day trip to see the Black Hills! Yikes! Too fast for me. I had a big book of all the camping spots in the US and found a free campsite for the night not too far from the Corn Palace. I think I was the only one there. I also remember driving into Denver late at night, too late for me to drive down to Larkspur where the Festival was. I looked up a former student that I had met when I worked at William Mitchell Law School. I called him up and he let me stay over for the night. Oh my, taking a shower and having a couch to sleep on for the night was so wonderful. I don’t remember his name but I will always remember his kindness for taking me in so late at night.
The performers I met at the Festival were wonderful too. I remember meeting a women in the shower. She had the most beautiful floral tattoo that she was in the process of getting (it took multiple sittings to finish) that went from her “private parts down below” up to her lower stomach. It was one of the most gorgeous tattoos I had ever seen - not that I had seen that many. This was back in ‘88 or ‘89. Tattoos weren’t as common as you see them now - except for places like the Renaissance Festival where you were actually more likely to see one. Not that it made me want to get one of my own. I don’t even have my ears pierced. How could I possibly get a tattoo? I can admire them on others though.
I also admired the creativity and talent of many of the other performers and artisans. I still have a few pieces of art or jewelry that I got the years that I worked at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. And my costume. I still have that. I had some custom made pieces - my leather mug, my leather boots. Actually, I had several friends that helped make my costume. Oh, but those stories are for another time. This is actually suppose to be about Colorado. (If you read any of my writing you will notice that I tend to quickly move off my main topic…)
I am thankful to my friend Brian, who lent me his tent to use one year I was working at the Colorado Festival. It was nice and big - better than my little pup tent I used my first year out there. I still have the small pink cutting board I purchased to use when I camped at the festival and I think about the festival every time I use it. I remember campfires late at night with my friends, outhouses that got so bad you couldn’t use them because the owners wouldn’t have them cleaned so you had to walk out of the campground and up to the festival site to find one that was unlocked and clean. I remember driving back and forth between Colorado and Minnesota a few times during the run of the festival because I was helping teach at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival school run by Gary Parker. I would leave right after the festival on Sunday night and drive until I got sleepy. I would then pull off at a rest stop, lock the doors and sleep. Then when I woke I would drive again so that I would be home Monday afternoon to help at the school. Wow, that was a lot of driving.
I am so grateful that I had these experiences. I am glad that from a young age I wasn’t afraid to go and do things by myself. This summer, I am going back to Colorado for a wedding. We will be flying instead of driving so no long drive through Nebraska until you start seeing the mountains up ahead and then realize you still have hours left to drive! But I'm sure to gather wonderful memories and stories which may show up on another postcard story.