I once thought that I had to wait for months for summer to turn into winter; however, this perspective changed when I took a journey to the Rocky Mountains from the suburbs of Denver.

A week ago, my friends from internship and I headed for another journey to the top of the world by taking a road trip to Estes Park, Trail Ridge Road, and the Rocky Mountain National Park.

At 9 AM in the morning, when we were in the suburbs of Denver, while the temperature was warm, the sun was sparkling in the sky.  The mountains were brilliantly green.  Pine trees with evergreen leaves adorned the landscape.   As we continued to drive, a mountain filled with snow on the top peaked in the background of our own views.  As someone who grew up in the south where snow rarely existed, seeing snow is a treasure.

While we were driving down the road towards Estees Parks, mountains with snow appeared larger and larger in our eyes.  While we were getting closer to the snow, the weather was still warm.  So warm that I was still in short sleeves.

Shortly after we passed by Estees Park, we finally entered the Rocky Mountain National Park and drove along the Trail Ridge Road.  We were driving towards the sky.  As we emerged to the higher altitude, the temperature dipped to the point that it felt wonderful.  The feeling of cool breeze swooping by me felt really good.

We continued to go up and up towards 12,000 ft above the sea level.  The higher we traveled, we felt closer to the North Pole.  Snow appeared right in front of our eyes.  The minute my friends and I saw a field of snow, we pulled the car to the side.  The minute we entered outside, we felt we were living in middle of a winter season!  It was so cold that I had a coat on me.  Aside from the freezing temperature, the wind was so fierce that girls’ long hair were flowing upwards.   As I was walking, the wind obviously wanted to be in charge of my journey because it pushed me forward giving me the signal to keep on walking.  There were occasions when the wind pushed to the side.

In spite of the powerful winds, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the snow.  I picked up some snow, created a snowball, and threw it.

We continue to travel on top of the world and admired the beautiful scenery.  After a few hours of driving, we made back down to the sea level where I was able to take my coat off and eventually no longer saw snow on the ground.

If I suffer from heat one day, all I have to do is go to the Rocky Mountains to cool off!

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