The Week of 6 Lakes

Honestly, the week started off pretty dull. Most of my tasks in the office are, well, office-y things. I’ve been doing a lot of filing. The number of times I’ve sang the alphabet to myself has been unreal. Occasionally my reflexes get tested while listening to Pandora and songs such as “This Summer’s Gonna Hurt Like a Motherfucker” start playing. My supervisors give me projects whenever they can so in those in-between moments I just work on those office tasks and listen to TED Talks or Pandora. It’s nice having free time and not being bombarded every single day. One cool project that I got to finish today involved editing an information manual for a YMCA culture swap. Apparently the YMCA of the Rockies has a partnership with a YMCA in Russia and they take people over to experience the different cultures. A group from our YMCA is going at the end of August so I helped my supervisor finish up the packet for all of the participants.

Another cool project that I’ve been working on throughout the week is putting decals and pamphlets in vacant cabins to promote Connect 50- the summer campaign. We’re trying to bring 50 single-parent families to our YMCA for a free three night stay (and a one-year membership) so they can have a break and spend time together as a family. The Y does a lot of amazing programs and I love seeing what gets highlighted every summer- especially because they continue the program after the summer. In most cases, they were doing the program before they decided to highlight it. The project is taking forever but that’s mainly because we have to wait for people to check out before going in. 

Despite being directionally challenged I’ve been navigating the campus just fine and I've really enjoyed seeing all sorts of cabin options. There were newly renovated cabins, cabins with gorgeous views and cabins with cool crafts and artwork. There was even one with a giant elk head at the top of the fireplace. It totally didn’t scare the bejesus out of me when I walked in! The two story cabins also aren't creepy at all (I’m definitely lying- they are terrifying). I got a little freaked out because I realized I was in a prime state for a ghost attack or, more realistically, an opportunity to see some wildlife up close and personal (it would amaze you how many people leave their doors open). I got through it like a true adult by blasting music on my phone and running around both floors.

The week was going well and I was doing great (minus the day I accidentally stole the car from someone and then almost left master keys in a cabin). By Friday I had my system down and was making good time on my route. Then disaster struck.

There I was, at Bluebird cabin, just trying to get done with the last ten cabins I had for the day. I got out of the car and locked it, as usual. I went into the cabin and came back to the car and then it hit me- I didn’t have the keys in my hands. Looking in the window confirmed my worst fears- I had just locked the keys in the YMCA company car.

Damn it.

I walked back to my office (which was about half a mile away) and explained the situation to my supervisors. They were totally understanding and told me to try looking for a spare key in the place where we check out the cars. A quick scan of the box and BAM- I saw a pair of car keys.I grabbed them and practically skipped back to the car. This worked out so well! I'll be back on my route in no time. I thought pleasantly.

Then I got to the car and realized that I grabbed the car keys for the OTHER company car.

Double damn it.

The walk back to the office was almost more shameful, but my supervisors had a good sense of humor. At first we were told that there wasn’t a spare key but after some phone calls and e-mails the situation was resolved. It was all horribly embarrassing but after all was said and done, it was a funny way to end my second week of work.

Meeting people still feels a little overwhelming but this week it’s calmed down a bit. I met a great group of girls on Tuesday from going to an LT service with my roommate. (LT is a ministry program here. Students from colleges come and work at the Y and also do various activities to grow in their faith. K-State friends- think Kaleo in the mountains.) We all hung out after the service and then went into town later in the week to get coffee. They’re all delightful so it’ll be fun seeing them around more. Rachel and I also had our fair share of adventures throughout the week. First we took a hike to Moraine Park with our friend Erica, then I showed her the Elkhorn Lodge (we tried to go upstairs but were told that people aren’t allowed upstairs...) and we took a drive through the National Park. We got to see a beautiful sunset, too!

Hey.

The weekend was an absolute blast but it was also crazy busy. Friday I went camping with a small group of people out in a free campsite called Allenspark. There was another group of YMCA people so we all hung out for a bit. It was really fun! Our smaller group got breakfast at a cool place right outside the campgrounds and then headed home. At night I hiked to Sprague Lake with another fun group of people.

The next day I went on another hike with Kristina, Elizabeth and Rachel. Our journey lasted for nine hours and about 10.5 miles. We went to Emerald Lake, went back to the trailhead and then continued on to Mills Lake and The Loch. It was both fun and exhausting. The hike up to Emerald Lake has two other lakes- Nymph and Dream- on the way, and it also has lots of snow piles. It seemed like we were walking on snow for a while but all of the lakes were gorgeous. Emerald Lake was still completely frozen, which was so cool to see. Before heading back to the trailhead we got to say hello to a marmot which was very exciting because my love for marmots burns brighter than one thousand suns.

Nymph Lake

Dream Lake- one of my absolute favorites!

Emerald Lake. 

HEY MARMOT FRIEND.

We stopped at Bear Lake (it’s right on the trailhead) for lunch and then headed towards our next destinations. Mills Lake and The Loch are both gorgeous and not far from each other so we were hoping to knock both of them out in the same day. Unfortunately time got the best of us and we were only able to make it to Mills. We were all okay with it, though, because that meant that we had plenty of time to lay down and take a nap. 

(Gorgeous) Bear Lake.

Mills Lake!!!! (Fun fact: if you grab a Colorado quarter, this is the image you'll see!

Getting home from that hike felt extremely satisfying, and we celebrated by ordering pizza and then hanging out afterwards. It was a great way to end my second week at the Y. The start of week three has been great as well! Today has been pretty laid back, which is nice for a Monday. Cabin decals are just about finished and there was a variety of other projects that made the rest of the day fly by. There are a few exciting things planned for this week so stay tuned- there will be even more fun pictures and stories to report next week! :)

So happy to be done with our hike!!!

How we felt on the inside.