When we moved from Texas to Colorado, we expected things like colder winters, mountains, and people not saying “y’all”. But we had no idea how much different Colorado would be, not just in location or climate, but everything from the booze laws and chain laws to social hiking and landscaping. Now, there are way more differences that we’ve learned than what’s represented on the list below. And remember, just because something is different doesn’t make it bad! I’ve found it very interesting to learn all about Colorado and share what we’ve learned with people who may not have known these things either. So here’s a list of the most surprising and interesting things we’ve learned since moving to Colorful Colorado .
- You can’t buy wine in the grocery store. Seriously! When Marcus and I first got here, we went to Target to get groceries for dinner and a bottle of wine. And I could not find wine anywhere! So I eventually Googled it and found out that you have to go to the liquor store. They literally just started selling full-strength beer in grocery stores in January of 2019. But as for wine, you have to go to the liquor store. But on the plus side, liquor stores are open on Sundays.
- You can basically find a craft brewery on every corner. As I’m sure you know, craft beer is HUGE in Colorado. Seriously though, you can probably throw a stone in any direction and you’ll hit a brewery! According to brewersassociation.org, there are over 400 breweries in just Colorado, second only to California. And it’s growing every year! Since beer is everywhere here, you’ll often see it or some kind of alcoholic beverage with any meal while eating out. Which is good with me, because I love a mimosa with my brunch!
- Many Coloradans can drive in the snow, but don’t like to drive in the rain. And when I say “can”, I really just mean they feel more comfortable driving in the snow rather than a heavy downpour. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t pass several cars on the side of the road who lost control from going way too fast on a wintery day. Because yeah, that happens. But when it comes to rain, it seems like cars tend to drive slower.
- There are not many thunderstorms in Colorado. I mean those all-night long, house-shaking thunder storms that result in several inches of rain that we get in the south. Marcus and I thought it was the weirdest thing when we hadn’t had a storm in so long. It does rain, especially in the spring and summer. But you’ll get random 15 minute afternoon downpours that just come and go so quickly. Although it really is sunny most days in Colorado, Marcus and I are convinced that the reason they say you get 300 sunny days a year in Colorado is that they just count if it’s sunny at some point of the day, even if it’s cloudy later.
- Snow gets old after a while. Coming from Texas, I had never really experienced a “real” snow before, well at least that I remember (I was a baby, ha!). So the first “real” snow was very exciting! But then, you get the 2nd snow, then the 15th snow and so on. And it’s really just cold!! And since the weather is so crazy here, I’ve seen snow as early as October here and as late as May. It even snowed in June this year in the mountains! Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy snow, but after months of scraping your windshield, shoveling the driveway (shout out to my awesome hubby for this!) and driving on icy roads, yeah I’m ready for summer.
- Driving in the mountains takes forever! We moved from Texas, so I understand long car rides. That was just a part of living there. So when we first moved to Colorado, I didn’t understand why it took so long to get places when it was only a few miles away. Well, we soon learned it’s because driving up a mountain takes time, especially in the winter. So it may only take you like 20 – 30 minutes to drive to the base of the mountain, but then you spent almost an equal amount of time trying to drive up the mountain.
- Sooo many Subarus…. literally so many!! We figured this one out when we first visited and were looking for a house. And it’s one of those things that you can’t unsee. Once you realize it, you just see Subarus everywhere! Then we wondered why so many? We found out that Subarus come standard with All-wheel drive, something that really comes in handy during these Colorado winter months.
- Hiking is a social activity. I was used to people going to the movies, having an outdoor BBQ, spending the day at the lake or hanging out at a bar, which people still do here, it’s just after a hike. Here, people go hiking as a family, like the whole family. Even babies in carriers. Or hiking with their friends. You’ll often see several families hiking together. College students will even go for hikes to hang out. Obviously, you still see people doing normal activities, but more often than not, if it’s a nice day, everyone will be hiking.
- It’s very rare to see grass right against buildings. I didn’t know this one until we were looking to buy a house. Marcus started noticing at all the houses we were looking at that everyone had some sort of rocks in their landscaping and that the grass was never right next to the house. Our realtor explained that the soil in Colorado has lots of Bentonite or other water-absorbing minerals. When over saturated, Bentonite will rapidly expand causing the foundation of your house to shift. So to avoid that, people will use rocks (no moisture) right up against their foundation instead of grass, which obviously needs moisture.
- There are low-quality air days called Ozone Action Days. I first heard this on the news, and I was like what the heck is that? Isn’t Colorado with all it’s great outdoors supposed to have fresh mountain air? Yeah… nope! On low-quality air days near Denver, they recommend those with respiratory issues should stay indoors and keep physical activity to a minimum. They even suggest on those days that you bike or carpool to work so you don’t make the problem worse. Crazy, right?!
We’ve experienced so many new and exciting things since moving to Colorado. But we are loving every minute of living here and enjoy learning about our new home. I can’t wait to add more things to this list as we immerse ourselves even more into Colorado life!