First off, thanks to all veterans and their families for their sacrifices. Where would we be without what you all did for us?
Okay, now for an unvarnished opinion: Denver is a great place! The climate is typical desert, it gets warm in the day but cools down nicely at night. Had dinner outside Friday night, and there were no bugs! For someone who grew up in the South, this was truly wonderful, eating without gnat-sauce. My niece and I went to Boulder, which is just to the north of Denver, and saw the Pearl Street shopping district. Felt like a 70’s flashback! A counterculture colony surviving in the 21st Century! Saturday was a day off, in preparation for Sunday.
On Sunday, my niece, her boyfriend and his son and I drove up into the Rockies, where we enjoyed the breathtaking sight of: clouds. Rain clouds. Fog. Mist. Water droplets suspended in air. And the occasional glimpse of rocks. Supposedly there were mountains within the clouds, and we definitely climbed up very high, but most of the mountains were hidden. We went up over the continental divide, up Trail Ridge road, and found it only recently opened. Huge drifts of snow on either side of the road, and when we got to the top, we were higher than trees grow. Of course, since we’re human beings, we had to go to places where most life intelligently refuses to go!
It was interesting, especially when my flatlander breathing instincts started to fail me at 12,500 feet. At sea level, it’s okay to breath only every so often. When the air is half as thin, you have to breath more often! At the visitor’s center near the top, I started getting dizzy and short of breath, just standing still! This was just plain wierd, and I never got used to it. We came down the other side, and had an excellent lunch/dinner at a small restaurant in Grand Lake. Excellently prepared food, which was delicious until the downpour started! We got to experience rain until we got nearly to my niece’s home, when the sun came out and it became warm.
This is apparently typical for this time of year, so it wasn’t too disappointing. I got to see parts of the world I’ve only flown over, before, so it was a net gain for me. Plus spending time with my niece, who I’ve promised for years to visit. We were all completely exhausted when we got back home, and we spent today just hanging out at the pool and relaxing.
Soon, Nerd Tour 2003 continues, on to Kansas and Texas!