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I was working for another company, but was fortunate enough to have the 4th of July weekend off and my friend Sean asked if I wanted to go hiking and camping. My answer was a resounding YES! Hiking is one of my favorite outdoor activities but I had never hiked a 14er before and Sean promised that we would hike three over the weekend...I was psyched!!! The plan was to hike Mt. Antero first and then we would go camping about an hour away in Crested Butte with some of his kayaking friends and then on Sunday we would hike two more 14ers, Mt. Shavano which connects to Tabeguache Peak, allowing you to hit two in one hike. It sounded like a great plan. So first things first we hiked Mt. Antero and this is me pictured at 14,269'.
After the hike we headed to Crested Butte and had a great time camping on Friday July 4th, watching the fireworks in town from the campsite. The next day we hung out by the river,
I watched as the rest of the group kayaked down the river (and yes this is them going over a waterfall!!!) and had a really great time over the course of two days. During our second day of camping however, it started to rain, so the group decided that instead of cooking out we'd just go into town that night for dinner. We went to what seemed to be "the hot spot" in town, a pizza joint with great beers on draft. Now after two days of not showering, having hiked a 14er and camped in a rather muddy campsite, I felt that going into a public bathroom, I should probably take advantage of the running water and at least wash off my exposed 
limbs. While I was at the sink washing off, myself and another woman were laughing about being dirty from camping and she was doing the same thing. We got to talking and she asked where I lived and what I did. I told her I lived in Boulder and I was in retail sales. She said she too lived in Boulder and told me that she was co-owner of a tea company in Boulder. I had never heard about it, but as we were walking out the door she handed me her card and said that they might be looking to hire later in the summer and told me to contact her if I was interested. This interesting, outdoorsy, fun woman was our one and only Tea Spot Chef, Karen Harbour. Was it fate!? A coincidence!? A part of the great plan!?
Who knows. But I went on my merry way: ate some pizza, drank some beer, hiked a few more 14ers Mt. Shavano at 14,229' and Tabeguache Peak at 14,155' the next day(shown here), and headed back to Boulder. 
Over the next couple of months I continued to work at my retail job, but stayed in touch with Karen, came in to learn about the company and interview in September and by October 1st was offered a position to work at The Tea Spot. So that's the story! All I was doing was hiking and camping, minding my own business and a crossroads unexpectedly fell into my lap! Now that we're approaching a year from the first time that I met Karen in Crested Butte, I think back to where I was a year ago, and all that I've done since then and how I got to be such an intergral part of this company. I've come a long way baby!! And wouldn't you know, I'm going back with other friends to hike Mt. Shavano and Karen is headed back to Crested Butte, full circle :)
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