2002 Cross-Country Roadtrip
Day 28, Denver, CO August 13th 11:23pm
Aaah, Q-tips! We’ve had a busy last few days which have culminated in a nice ear cleaning here at my college roommate’s house in Denver. Here is what we’ve done in the last few days. We arrived in Chicago Friday night and spent the weekend with our high school friend Melanie and her boyfriend Ray (and their dog, Sophie, who is very cute). Melanie rose to the task of putting more food than we could possibly fit in our stomachs (it is like we all had some kind of trick stomachs). Saturday morning we had delicious, American, diner food. After fighting off the strong urge to nap (oh, wait, I lost that fight) we braved the heat and hit the street for the Market Days fair in Melanie’s neighborhood. This fair has a gay and lesbian focus, as well as lots of interesting foods which we passed by because we were still recovering from breakfast. The fair was hot, fun and “colorful” to say the least. We gathered our resolve and sampled a cheese steak from Philly’s Best, which was delicious. Next we sauntered down to Star of India (walking the 1.5 blocks I almost burned off 100 of the precious 3000 calories I had packed into my gullet, but quickly topped off my reserve with yummy Indian food). After this we returned home (carefully avoiding burning calories) and watched the movie Amelie, which was really good. I definitely recommend it. The next morning we went to brunch at a Swedish restaurant, which had delicious cinnamon rolls. Melanie, Cedar and I then went to see the Mariners play the White Sox. Sadly we lost 5-6, but the game was pretty exciting. McLemore continues to be my favorite player as he had this sweet layout catch (I think they call them something stupid like “diving catch” in baseball). After the game we went to a tapas restaurant and had various and sundry items including dates wrapped in bacon (yummy), baked cheese stuff, mozarrella and tomatoes and other deliciosos. And Sangria. So then we meandered on home and watched Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, both movies by Christopher Guest. These movies are funny like you wouldn’t believe. What makes them so great is that the dialogue is mostly improvisational. See both of them, for sure.
We took our leave of Chicago (why is it always hot when we’re in big cities? Are we cursed?) and started on the long journey to Denver. Monday we got as far as Lake Anita State park in Iowa, rolling in just as a thunder storm hit. At about 1 in the morning the storm really picked up pace and became one of the most intense thunderstorms I’ve ever been in. For about 15 minutes there was a lightning strike about once a second, and they were all between a mile and and 3 miles away. And it was raining for a long time. The tent leaked a little from the top, but we stayed dry as the sleeping bags absorbed the small amount that got through. The next morning we broke camp and started our day. We got to Denver at about 6pm (the total time from Chicago to Denver was 17 hours) and hung out and chatted with Michelle and Brian. We met their cute little dog Taz (a pomeranian), who had to run as he had a hot date with a red ball. We had a delicious salad and salmon for dinner. I’m tuckered and am going to pack it in now.
Quote of the day: “We both like soup.” Charlene (I think that is her name) in Best in Show about the things she and her 90 year old husband have in common.
