Okay, it takes forever to write travel entries. First I have to download the photos from my camera. Then I have to edit them. Then I have to size them for the upload. Then upload them all, copy the HTML and then finally write the entry. So though I�ve been home for 2 days, today is the first posting post-trip.
So, this is what Denver looks like from up in them thar hills:
Which hills? Them thar hills:
My plane landed about 2:30, Danny met me at the airport and then we went to his cousins for Thanksgiving dinner. I played poker! I actually won 3 fairly large pots but then got reckless at the end. Oh well. Not bad considering that was my first time playing poker.
After that, we went back to Danny's. By then the sun had set and it was sooooo cold. Wow! I don't think I want to live somewhere where it is that cold. We pretty much just crashed at that point.
The next day, we went to Hammond�s Candy for a tour and got to see them making candy canes and stuff like that. They make these gourmet candy canes that have been featured in Williams-Sonoma and on Oprah.
The stuff on the bottom left that looks brown and white striped is actually red and white striped. This will be wrapped around the pink glob that the candy guy is kneading in the upper right of the picture. The whole thing is about a 2 foot by 2 foot glob, which is then �extruded� into candy canes. The whole thing is done primarily by hand. It�s amazing.
Okay, they weren�t actually making candy canes that day but candy straws but the process is exactly the same except the straws have chocolate in the middle and don�t have a crook at the end.
We also did a few other things that day, such as ate breakfast, faked some after Christmas shopping, drove through a cemetery to look at old graves, ate dinner, went to WalSmart, baked cookies and made things with Lego�s at the miniature museum:
Saturday, we drove to Manitou Springs and took a train up to the top of Pike�s Peak (14,110 elevation). After about 12,000 feet, you get above the tree line so the mountain is not very pretty, just rocks and dirt. But you can see all of Colorado, into Kansas, down into New Mexico and over the other side of the mountains in to the west too. Here are some pictures from the train ride:
Once we got to the top of the mountain, we tried to walk around and look at the sights but it was frightenly cold. It was as if all the moisture in your cells was freezing. Turns out, it was 14 degrees but with the wind chill it was Minus 31 degrees. Sheeyat people, I'm from California, it was 90 degrees when I left. And now some pictures from the top.
After that, we went to the Garden of the Gods. The pictures say it all.
After we went back to Danny's, we played this game called The Settlers of Catan which was really cool. It's kind of a strategy game, maybe similar to Risk and kind of like Monopoly but you don't move any pieces around. I really liked it. Plus, each game lasts about 45 minutes so it's not overwhelming. After the game, we worked on a puzzle.
Sunday, it was supposed to snow so we weren't sure if we were going to stay in and do puzzles/play games, or go out. We slept in and then took our time in the morning, relaxing and finishing the puzzle. It turned out to be a nice day (though cold) so we picked up my cousin's soon-to-be-ex husband and went to this place called the 16th Street Mall. It's basically a street mall in downtown Denver, but the buildings are all old and the street is closed off to traffic. There's a trolley/bus that goes up and down and so we took that to one end, walked around to see the capitol building, then took it to the other end to go to a bookstore and have coffee, then took it back to our car. After that we drove to a place called Lookout Mountain where we could look down over Denver.
We had dinner at this place. which had amazing atmosphere but the food just wasn't very good. Maybe we're just spoiled living in Southern California with all the authentic Mexican food. But they did have cliffdivers. That�s right, inside the restaurant, cliffdivers:
Monday, we went to the Denver Mint, which was interesting but could have been a lot cooler if we had a better tour guide. Then we went to the Coors Factory for a tour. After the tour, you get to try 3 of their beers on tap for free. And they are not small little tasters, but regular sized beers. I'm not really a beer drinker, but it was free so I tried their Winter Brew, which was a dark beer, not too bad. I also tried this one called Blue Moon, which is their microbrewery beer, it was pretty good too (for beer). Then, they also make Zima and they had several flavors that were frozen and like slushes so I had Orange frozen Zima. We drove through the town of Golden (where the Coors Factory is) and it's a cool old west style town.
After that, we just sort of �chilled� (which is easy to do in Colorado in November � Ha! I�m so funny) and I packed and we did puzzles and spent time together and all that smarmy crapola.
I have one last picture. I named it �dunno� because I �dunno� where I took it and I �dunno� why but I really like it.
I would say that of the places I have been recently, Denver seemed to have the least to do, because most of the attraction there is the skiing. It's not a real touristy town. But it was a nice mix of doing stuff and then hanging out and relaxing and I really needed that. My last two trips have been so full just trying to fit as much into a few days as possible. So it was nice to be able to hang out, play games, do puzzles, etc. And of course, it was good to see Danny.
But it was also nice to sleep in my own bed when I got back.
Of course, my journey home was not without its own issues. It took almost an hour to get my luggage. I have never waited more than a few minutes for luggage. We all just stood there for about 30 minutes before even 1 piece of luggage appeared, then one batch came through and a few people took their luggage and left. It took another 30 minutes for my bags to appear. Slowest. Luggage. Movers. Ever.
Home I am now (and Yoda I am now as well). I think I will not be taking any major trips for a while (except Vegas for you Carrie ) because Danny and I are going to try to do a Europe trip in 2007.
That�s really all I�ve got for now. My mood fluctuates between very happy and optimistic and then totally down, lonely and hopeless. This is all within the space of about 20 minutes. It�s maddening. I hate it. And Christmas? I could give a fuck about Christmas this year.
