It’s been 2 months since my boyfriend and I have packed up our lives and moved 1,000 miles to Colorado and while I hardly leave the apartment, there are just some things that cannot go unnoticed. Being born and raised in Southern California, I only have there to compare to, but here’s what we’ve seen so far…
1.) The weather is on crack. It will be a snowy winter wonderland one day, then bright and sunny the next, and it just means that you need all types of wardrobes accessible at all times. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly smart of us to move in December, but it’s been a wild weather ride since we’ve arrived. The SoCal part of me is still excited by the novelty of snow, but I’ve learned taking the dog out at 8am when it’s still 20 degrees isn’t fun. Or driving on ice, which terrifies me.
2.) Speaking of snow, we were told that the snow here is the best you can ask for and people were right. Snow in the Denver area of Colorado is light, fluffy, and melts pretty fast once it hits the ground. It brushes off your car pretty easy and doesn’t stick to you when you’re outside. I had some odd expectations of snow thanks to what I’ve seen in movies, but I’m digging it so far.
3.) California is widely known for it’s traffic and terrible drivers. We drive fast and are offended the second someone slightly inconveniences us, causing us to carry a full imaginary conversation to curse the other driver out. Now there are three major things I have noticed with Colorado drivers: They love to drive fast, they hate stopping or slowing down, and they tailgate like you’ve just stolen their dog. Yet, they do not seem to have the same level of sensitivity when someone inconveniences them. A California stop is longer than a Colorado stop, everyone tailgates everyone (even the cops), and most right turns are merge lanes so you don’t even have to slow down.
4.) The clouds, sunrises, and sunsets are AMAZING all day, every day. California beaches have beautiful sunsets that sink behind a glittering ocean, but there’s something different about watching the sun set behind gigantic snow capped mountains that I’ve enjoyed every day since we’ve been here. The clouds over the open landscape makes you feel like a tiny ant in the grand scheme of things and the colors range from the beginning to the end of the rainbow. The sunrises are always the most brilliant shades of orange, pink, and purple.
5.) Left turn lanes are mostly yields and it took a minute for us to get used to and truly appreciate. I’m accustomed to having a designated left turn lights in California, but those are not common in the rural areas of Colorado and are usually left turns at your own risk. I also wish there had been a Colorado welcome guide that explained yellow blinking left turn arrows. I was very confused when I encountered my first one and was convinced that I was making an illegal turn. Turns out they mean to yield to oncoming traffic, but it was my first time seeing one in my 15 years of driving and I was not prepared!
6.) California transplants are plentiful in Colorado, and who can blame them! It’s beautiful here, the people are super nice, and you can drive from the mountains to the airport in less than an hour. Due to COVID and working from home, I haven’t been out much, but every time I’ve gone somewhere I’ve run into someone that used to live in California. I’ve been homesick so much these past few months and each time I run into a California native, the pain is eased.
I’m sure there will be loads more to learn and compare to California, but in the mean time, I’m really loving it and can’t wait to explore as things slowly open during this pandemic.
My Life As Gidget 
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