Downtime In Denver

Just got back from breakfast with a lovely couple who live Maine & currently chillin’ at Lake St.George…but more on that later. Back to Denver!

*Our stay in Denver was mostly about spending time with family & catching up on the blog so there wasn’t a ton of sightseeing, just hanging out, & I loved it! There was a lot of much-needed downtime & therefore not as much to write about like normal but what follows is how we spent our time.

Day 54: Naturally, we slept in, then had oatmeal & coffee for breakfast, followed by a lot of reading & blogging. In the afternoon I went for a run with Sam & was immediately aware of A) how out-of-shape my running game has gotten, & B) how powerful elevation is again. Despite that, it still felt great to run. I’ve missed it a lot. After a shower we all walked downtown for dinner at Thai Monkey Club. Really delicious food here. On our walk back, a homeless guy asked for my leftovers so I happily handed it over. I hope he enjoyed it; I certainly did! We stopped at the 1up bar for a drink & arcade games. That was fun 🙂 Back to the apartment, a little chit-chat, then off to bed.

Day 55: For the morning, we slept in, had a veggie egg scrambler & coffee for breakfast, read, & blogged. In the afternoon, we took our bikes to a shop for a quick tuneup, I went for another run, which ended at a bar/restaurant where I met Ben for a drink & tasty nachos. Once Sam was back we picked up a few groceries, hopped on the bus & went to Fred’s house for dinner (Sam’s brother, who also lives in Denver). This was such a nice night: time with family (an awesome family!), great food (Greek salad, grilled burgers & dogs, watermelon, & fresh chocolate chip cookies!), & a beautiful night on the back patio. Fred’s girlfriend (now fiancè!), Kayla, joined us later. She’s so sweet. We hung out for a long time, catching up, then Fred dropped us all off. Great day.

Day 56: Slept in, veggie egg scrambler & coffee again, Ben toured the capitol while I did more blogging, then I met Sam for a mani-pedi. That was fun! I never get those because I usually do it myself but it was nice to be pampered a little. On the way back we picked up more groceries & made alfredo for dinner. More blogging & just chillin’ for the night.

Day 57: After sleeping in, Ben & I wandered down a few blocks to Jelly Cafe for breakfast. Good food here, fun atmosphere. On the way back, we stopped in a used bookstore, Kilgore Books. We had both finished our current books & needed a new story to dive into. Per an employee’s recommendation, I went with City Of Thieves by David Benioff (co-creator of Game of Thrones), & Ben picked out a compilation of short suspense stories. Back to the apartment for blogging all day, a break for a movie at the downtown United Artists theater (Jurrasic World-entertaining enough), then back “home” for more blogging before bed.

Day 58: I went for a morning run & Ben had a veggie scrambler & coffee ready when I got back 🙂 After a few days off & at school, Sam was back on the night shift at the University of Colorado Hospital, & therefore needed to nap during the day so we tried to lay low all day. I blogged for a bit, then we walked downtown & explored for a while. We took a tour & had lunch at Wynkoop Brewery. The tour guide was pretty funny. They had good food & beer. Back to the apartment when we knew Sam would be awake before work. I made a quinoa stir fry dinner for all of us. It felt so good to cook again…in a kitchen, not over a camp stove. After Sam left for work, Ben tuned her bike & we set up the TV she’s been meaning to get around to but hasn’t had the time for. With that up & running we rented the movie The 15:17 to Paris (a true story). The acting isn’t the best but the actors are the real-life individuals that the movie is about, which is pretty neat. A little more blogging & reading, then off to bed.

Day 59: Ben & I walked a few blocks to Spices for breakfast. Good food, nice patio. After that we took a tour of Molly Brown’s house (the ‘unsinkable’ Molly from The Titanic). That was pretty interesting. She was quite a woman. Once Sam was off to work we degreased & cleaned our bikes. Aaah, nice & fresh. I squeezed in one last ran in the park, then we walked a few blocks to Liks for ice cream. Yum! Back to the apartment for blogging & movie binging. In honor of Molly Brown we just had to watch Titanic, & for nostalgia’s sake we also watched Sweet Home Alabama. As it was our last night in Denver we organized our gear again – ready to hit the road.

Day 60: No time for sleeping in today. We were up when Sam got home from work to say our goodbyes before she crashed into bed. We made eggs & coffee, packed up & were gone by 8:30am. Just a 20 mile ride for the morning to Kayla’s horse ranch in Aurora, past the movie theater where the 2012 shooting happened during The Dark Knight Rises. Kayla trains & shows horses for a living so Fred met us there & we all went for a ride. It was so much fun! I was a little nervous at times but everything went well & it was a blast. We did a little crash-course in the barn, learning how to communicate with the horses & how to get in a rythym with their gait to make it feel smoother & less bouncy. Once we got the hang of things we took them out for a ride in the field. My horse was a little antsy so Fred & I switched halfway through. It was a beautiful day to be outside, try something fun I haven’t done in a long time, & be with family. It was an exciting experience, I learned a lot, & Kayla was a great teacher.

After riding, we went to Chipotle for lunch (thanks, Fred!), then back on the road we went. We saw more prairie dogs, had a pretty narrow shoulder to ride on, & got yelled at by a guy in a truck. Quick stop at Subway for water, a cookie, & scouting out potential spots for stealth camping in the city we’d end up in (Byers), using Google satellite. We went with some land behind a church & rode the remaining miles into town, arriving well before sunset.

Not even 5 minutes after we rolled into the church parking lot & were poking around the building looking for outlets, a truck pulled up. At first we thought surveillance cameras had tipped someone off, but turns out it was just the maintenance man, Frank. We explained our trip & that we were just looking for a safe place to pitch our tent so he called the pastor who said we could definitely stay behind the church. Thanks! There was even a faucet back there too! We chatted with Frank for a while. Really nice guy. He’s really active so it was neat hearing about all the different ways he stays in shape. Around to the back, we pitched our tent, had Chipotle leftovers for dinner, washed dishes, cleaned ourselves up a bit, did laundry, read, & fell asleep in no time. Busy day = early to bed.

Reflections

1. I was pleasantly surprised by a sign on the table at Jelly Cafe: “Straws by request only”. Yay, finally! It always bothers me when a drink automatically comes with a straw, already unwrapped, & placed in the glass. You never even have a chance to decline & save the waste. If you really want one, just ask. So simple.

2. I have such a hard time picking a book out in a bookstore unless I have a personal recommendation of what to get. How do you not literally judge a book by its cover? If I don’t know what I’m looking for I’m automatically drawn to “pretty”, colorful book covers, & am probably missing out on a lot of great books just because they have a boring cover. I always ask an employee for a recommendation & can’t tell if they love or hate the task. Luckily, in Denver, he seemed delighted.

3. Horses are so big, I feel like they could crush me in a heartbeat. I’m too timid with animals to “show them who’s boss”. I didn’t have it in me to control my horse the way it should’ve been. I was afraid of hurting it. Fred’s horse was a little tamer, but I’m pretty sure any horse I rode would’ve been able to have it’s way with me. I’m a little soft when it comes to controlling animals. If they want to veer off course to check something out or go faster than I’m supposed to let them…who am I (a little human on the back of a giant, majestic beast) to tell them otherwise? 🙂 I know why I’m supposed to control them but my feminist, independent, free-spirit part of my brain says “run wild, don’t let me tell you what to do!”. The moral of this story is I’d be a horrible horse trainer, but Kayla is awesome. She’s sweet, smart, confident & kind & the horses are in good hands with her. That’s all I care about.

Even though our journey is ending soon I’m going to see this blog through to the end. I hate unfinished business & it won’t be that hard since I journaled the entire trip – this hasn’t all been from memory. Plus, it’s fun to look back already & relive earlier parts of the trip. Well, we splurged on a motel tonight on account of rain & Hunger Games just came on. I wheelie want to watch it so I’m signing off for now. Until next time!

Whitney

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