Hi Gram,
Mark and Katie let me rest a little today after all my driving and hiking the past few days. My brain needed a day to process all the fun I’d been having and my body needed a little recovery. I got some basic chores and errands done, but mostly rested and read my book. Something I learned about these mountain towns is that not only do they have all kinds of free or low-cost entertainment just about every day, the town takes logical, easy steps to reduce DUI’s and make it convenient for their citizens.

For example, there are free concerts every Monday and Wednesday evenings. Since it was Wednesday, we packed a cooler with some soda water, brought our sunhats (for when the sun is out) and hoodies (for when the sun goes down) and chairs, and walked over to the bus stop. Crested Butte provides a free bus with a bunch of stops so nobody really has to drive. It reduces congestion and the need for parking, eliminates the need for a car or the cost barrier for the daily commute, and gives you no excuse to drive home from the bar if you’ve enjoyed some libations with your friends! Not only is it a free bus, but it’s a NICE free bus with soft padded seats, armrests, and overhead storage. Plus, the bus stop makes a great spot to see and talk with neighbors while you all wait for your ride.

The bus soon arrived and whisked us through town and up the mountain to the resort at Mt Crested Butte with a number of other concert-goers. We disembarked and walked through the “village” of bars, stores, playground, and sculptures and found a nice spot on the lawn a little off to one side and back so we wouldn’t get blasted by the speakers. We spread out a blanket, set up the table and chairs, and settled into our comfy little spot. It was heartwarming seeing neighbors wave or say hi to Mark and Katie along our journey from house to concert. We each grabbed some dinner from one of the vendors and chatted until the music started. The opener was a guy from Houston, TX with a collection of original songs each with a fun backstory, some of which he tried to get the crowd to sing along with. Following him was Zach Person, who billed himself as the “new voice of Indie Rock” or something like that. He had some good songs, kept the audience engaged, and provided a nice soundtrack to what, to me, was a bunch of friends and neighbors sitting around on lawn chairs and blankets, enjoying a beer or soft drink, and just really really enjoying the mountain summer air.

As we sat chatting and listening to music, it occurred to me that I hadn’t gone for a walk yet that day. I have a goal to move my body in some way a little every day, so after the concert and bus ride home, I put in my headphones and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Now, there were two things different than my usual walk around a neighborhood. First was that the elevation change was about a hundred feet as the road slowly rose and wound around the houses scattered up the foothills that make up this community. There’s something about being surrounded by mountains and looking down on traffic below and off in the distance that made the walk memorable. The second was the fact that I had no cell reception and didn’t think to download any podcasts or music before leaving the house. No big deal, just listen to the playlists that are on my phone, right? That’s what I thought too, but soon found out that Apple helpfully puts files that I haven’t used in a while onto the cloud to clear up space on the phone. No big deal! If you ever need them, Apple seems to have said, just download them from the servers. We live in an age of constant connectivity, why wouldn’t you be able to just pull them across the ether? The net result is that I got real familiar with the five songs that lived on my phone, intermittently spaced with silence filled with conversation snippets from the houses that I’d pass, their occupants sitting out on the front porch or inside with the windows propped open. The sun had already set by the time I started my walk and darkness had settled in and gotten comfortable by the time I reached the house again. I headed inside and chatted with my hosts for a while before excusing myself and heading off to bed.