-incoming long blogpost!- Okay so when I feel inspired to d..

-incoming long blogpost!-

Okay so when I feel inspired to do so.. I’ll bake bread, paint a little, go for a long aimless walk, read a book -- real low key kinda stuff. This time, however, as I am about to leave a place I called home for years, inspiration hit me with a very clear objective: walk the entirety of Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado.

If you don't know of the spirit of Colfax... let your little Bae fill you in:

It's the longest continuous commercial street in America that runs a distance of 26.5 miles. It has an interesting history that revolves around the popularity of the gold rush, the introduction of cars -- and now, the increased desire for walkability in our communities. Interestingly, it started as walkable, but when cars became popular, the city focused on catering to them. Now we've reverted to more people wanting to walk and to rely less on cars. It really demonstrates the ever-changing passage of time and the attempts we all make at keeping up.

Now, unfortunately, it's infamous for being shady, dangerous, and violent. I can attest that I myself have seen some pretty interesting things. At this point, I see Colfax as just Denver's rowdy Uncle that somehow made a home for all of our hearts.

To begin, I began my journey downtown at Union Station and took the train to the mountains, towards the western terminus of Colfax. The day started sunny, and mild... but as soon as I began my Great Colfax Walk, it began raining, of course. I stopped at a dive bar and watched the rain turn to snow. At this point, I’m thinking I could just.. not do the Colfax walk, right? I live an uber-ride away after all. But what was the fun in giving up before I even started?!

Conveniently I was ill-equipped for the journey. I didn't even pack an actual jacket -- just a wind breaker. I kept at it. I walked a little under 6 miles in a snow storm, to get to my second stop, the Holy Grail: Applebee's. I downed a huge margarita and began my door-to-door search to find a suitable motel to sleep.

The place I decided on was… questionable. But you know what? Once I stepped inside of the lobby, I was greeted by a warm, yet stern elderly Asian lady named Sunny. She greeted me with kindness and compliments -- telling me how she moved to the country 50-odd years ago and now owns the motel with her sons. I told her about how I'm walking all of Colfax... she thought I was insane for wanting to do that. The room I received was bare, but had what I needed. I was happy. Mostly happy about the bed and the bedsheets from the 80's, haha. The entire room felt like I had stepped back in time.

In the morning, the sun was shining and I set out to walk more. I had developed blisters on my heels, so I bandaged them up after having breakfast at an old-school diner and continued on my way. I made stops at bars for a quick break once in a while. I think I walked just under 10 miles through familiar streets, moving slowly this time; observing parts of Denver I had been taking for granted.

I got to my second sleeping destination, a classier, historic motel, exhausted and I promptly zonked out. I will mention that my walk was mostly uneventful in the way of danger or weirdness. I never was bothered or disrespected. Instead, I got to revisit memories. I walked by old places I'd frequent or by old neighborhoods I used to live in. One of my favorite restaurants laid abandoned; a heartbreaker for me because I watched it once already slowly transform from abandoned, to being bought and fixed up, to it having its grand opening, and now, it seems, back to being decrepit.

There was another bar I went to that I have driven by for the last decade in which the sign had always caught my eye because of the weird letter spacing. I was happy to stop in. The bartender was in her early 20’s. An immigrant with a certain lovely innocence about her. The owner was an elderly lady who sat in the corner. She helped the bartender with my order. I was impressed with the boss because of how she carried herself, how obviously smart she was, and how evident that she had to work hard to get to where she was in life now. I absolutely love these types of people. At the eastern terminus, finally, it was beginning to get dark so I celebrated the completion of my quest before taking the bus home.

If you’ve gotten this far, I appreciate you. I will end this ramble with some comments.

Colfax feels like a living, breathing entity. It has, since its conception, shaped and redesigned itself to better ebb with the flow. People sacrificed a lot to get to Colorado for the gold rush and an opportunity to better their future generations' lives. It's been about 166 years since the beginning of the gold rush, and here we are today. We don't think about the background characters or whose backs these streets rely on to operate.

A lot has changed for me over the past decade of living here. I have witnessed some of it, and I am so freaking lucky to be able to say "I remember when this was just a..." or "I remember when they opened and now look at how much this place has grown!" I believe my move outside of Colorado will allow me to learn & grow more as an individual & I’m excited to share my journey with you!

Short version: I feel proud and connected to a community. I hope you find a way to feel proud and connected to yours too! (Yes, my boobs below are from the walk 😘) Thank you for reading :)