I grew up just outside of Boulder, Colorado. Going to school in the Pacific Northwest is great and all, but it’s nothing compared to the variety of the Centennial State. This list may be pretty specific to Boulder, but there’s still a special rectangle-shaped spot in my heart for the whole state I love most.

1. The Flatirons

I love my Flatties. Every time I go home I get close to tears when I drive up over the hill going into Boulder on 36.

2. The mountains in general

This is different from the Flatirons, I promise. If the Flatirons are Colorado’s beautiful face, the mountains are her personality. I love being able to drive for an hour or two and be deep into the Rockies. It makes spontaneous adventures so much more interesting.

3. Damn good green chili

People from outside Colorado just don’t really get this one. We put it on everything because it deserves to be on everything.

4. Pearl Street Mall

It's full of quirky shops, fantastic restaurants, and bizarre street performances. I can never resist a trip down Pearl Street to sit on the weird animal statues. The snail’s always been my favorite.

5. Sunsets

Holy cow these rock. I have yet to find a place anywhere with sunsets that compare to Colorado’s.

6. Water

It’s weird, we’re all water snobs in Colorado. Maybe it’s because it’s all mountain runoff goodness, but everywhere else just doesn’t have water that tastes as good.

7. Illegal Pete’s

…And Cosmo’s pizza and Snooze breakfast and basically every other local restaurant in the Boulder surrounding area. Even Casa Bonita gets to be in this category. And on that note…

8. Spicy Ranch from Cosmo’s

There’s really only one spicy ranch. All other spicy ranches just don’t compare. It's so good that they sell it in jars in grocery stores. You’ve never truly lived until you’ve ate a massive slice of pizza dipped in spicy ranch at midnight on a Tuesday.

9. Free hiking

You (pretty much) have to pay to hike in Washington. I just can’t get over that.

10. University of Colorado

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy with my college choice. But nothing beats walking down the Hill after a Buffs game and hearing the CU fight song every 30 seconds.

11. The weirdness

Frozen Dead Guy Days? Who else has a festival for that? My friend’s neighborhood just had a sit-in protesting the decision to develop on a plot of open space, holding signs reading “Prairie Dog Lives Matter.” Boulder in general is just about the weirdest city I’ve ever been in. Yeah, I said it, Portland.

12. Sunshine

Spokane doesn’t have the same rainy reputation as Seattle, but it’s still pretty dang gray all through January. Colorado boasts 300 days of sunshine for a reason – I need my vitamin D. But at the same time…

13. The crazy weather

People like to say Washington is bipolar because it’ll rain even when it’s not in the forecast. Coloradans just chuckle at this and pat them on the head and say “Oh sonny, you don’t know any better.” You can almost always count on snow in October and April, but it could very well be 60 in December. This picture spans 4 hours.

14. The irony of the welcome sign

This one’s kind of specific and I might be the only one who finds this funny. But on the border between Colorado and Wyoming on I-25 is this welcome sign, and I laugh every time because the last thing you think when you look at it is “wow, this is a really colorful state.” Get to the middle of the state, folks. You’ll find the color in there.

15. Laid back vibes

Colorado is so ~chill.~ People are just collectively in a good mood in Colorado. Some may say this has to do with the recent legalization of a certain substance, but I think it’s the altitude that’s got everyone so high on life.

16. Everyone carrying around their water bottles

My water bottle is my baby. I’m very proud of its weird Nalgene-CamelBak hybrid and the stickers I’ve collected over the past seven years. And when I’m in Colorado, I’m not the only one obsessed with my water bottle – everyone else carries theirs around with me.

17. Being able to talk about how awesome Colorado is

When I’m in Washington (or anywhere else) people get a little annoyed with how much I talk about Colorado. People say “Why is everyone from Colorado obsessed with their flag? Why won’t people from Colorado stop talking about their state?” The truth is, you can’t live in Colorado and not be obsessed. When I’m home, I can talk about how great it is and everyone else looks at me and says “Yeah, this is the best state in the US, you’re totally right.”