A busy weekend

So this weekend has been non stop. It started on Friday, when Zach called me around 5:30 to tell me to meet him and some of his coworkers at the Rio Grande for some margaritas. Then we went to another bar called B low. One of Zach's coworkers told us that half the night's profits were going to a charity, so we simply had to go. It was very interesting; it had a sort of vampire vibe to it. You had to go down an alley, then into a basement to get to the bar. Inside it had a very dark, Gothic decor. And it played the most awesome 80's music. Not that pop stuff, but bands like the Smiths.

So we hung out for a while on Friday night, meeting new people, and then came home fairly early. Saturday was pretty boring, but today was again fantastic. We got up early and drove down to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods. It was absolutely lovely! Zach got some wonderful pictures that we'll post later. Unfortunately, he takes his pictures raw, so they're too big to post until we reformat them. It was perfect weather, with clear skies and mild temperatures. The only real complaint I had was that there were too many people. It wasn't really a hiking adventure...more of a leisurely stroll on paved paths. But it was still amazing to see all the rock formations. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant in Manitou Springs, right outside of Garden of the Gods and then drove through Colorado Springs for a little bit.

After we got home we decided to take the light rail down to a mall in southern Denver. It was my first time using the light rail system in Denver. It was kind of nice being able to just sit back and watch the city without having to worry about when to turn off or where to merge. It took longer to get there on a Sunday afternoon than it would have driving, but during rush hour I think it would actually be a shorter trip. I can see why so many people commute here. And Denver just keeps increasing its public transport system. They recently passed this huge initiative to expand the light rail system to some of the suburbs. I can't wait until we can just hop on a train to Boulder and do some shopping. For now I guess we'll just have to depend on the express bus.

So those were this weekend's adventures. I'm sorry I haven't posted lately, but I didn't think anybody was reading. However, I learned the error of my ways when I received a variety of commands from my loyal readers, demanding that I create new posts. Well, perhaps if you would all comment and let me know that I'm not alone in this wide world I might post more frequently. Consider that you need to click the little link that says "comment" next time you wish to hear more from me. But enough lecturing. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, and I'll try very hard to post more updates this week.

Outdoor Experiences

So today was our first real outdoor experience in Colorado. Zach and I took a trip down the Arkansas River via the American Adventure Expeditions. It was fantastic. it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there, and then we had to wait about an hour before the trip started. Zach and I rented wet suits ( they were only about $5.00 extra) and they kept us perfectly warm. The water was freezing, but with the wet suits we were fine. It was so much fun. The water was much higher than usual; it was higher than it's been in about 20 years. So they had to change our route a little. But it was so much fun. We left here about 9:30, got there around noon, and the trip began at 1:00. We saw some beautiful mountains during the trip down river. I wish we had a water proof camera; we could have taken the most gorgeous pictures.

By the time we got home, it was about 6:30. We showered and then went out to find some dinner. We found a fantastic Irish bar where we were able to listen to Irish rock and drink local (organic) beers while we ate some salads and appetizers.

By the way, let me take a moment to mention how wonderful satellite radio is. We lost regular radio about a half an hour out of Denver. With the satellite radio in the car, though, we were able to listen to NPR the whole way out. After an episode of Car Talk (where they validated my theory that turning on the air conditioner DOES help to defrost windows) we were able to catch up on some world news via the BBC and some local news via CNN. Let no one try to tell me that satellite radio isn't worth its money. It is entirely useful when driving through captivating mountains that block out typical radio waves.

On the same tangent, the Tomtom is the best present that I have ever gotten Zach. We do not leave the apartment (driving, at least) without it. I never have to worry about getting lost with our GPS at my side. And trust me...knowing that the mountains are always to the west will only go so far. You can still get lost in Denver pretty easily. There are a set of roads that go conveniently north/south and east/west. But then there are those roads that go at an angle. These are the ones that confuse me. Thus, the satellite radio consistently leads me to my destination.

In conclusion, our new life in Denver is fantastic. The lifestyle is beautiful; we can spend the morning and afternoon rafting on the Colorado rivers and then come home in the evenings for a drink at an Irish pub and a late dinner downtown. If I could only find a job, I'd be the happiest I've been in years. But that is a topic for another blog...

Update and New Pictures

It will soon be a week since we arrived in Denver, and a lot has happened. I finished putting the apartment together by Friday, and Zach and I finished putting up our art work today. During our daily wanderings we've learned a few things about life in Denver.

First of all, Urban Outfitters is the coolest store ever. I know they have them in Columbus, but it never fit with our 130-year-old house. Now it fits perfectly. I've found awesome ways of organizing my massive costume jewelry collection, gorgeous art, and nifty clothing.

Secondly, Denver is something like the microbrewery capital of the U.S. What does this mean? Pretty much every restaurant has its own beer or a beer of a local brewery on tap. Tuesday Zach and I went to a cute little pizzeria called Il Vicino. Not only was it delicious, it had the best beers. Supper yummy. And a really good price, too. Rock Bottom Brewery is equally delicious, and they have a chocolate creme brulee to die for.

Thirdly, it is fantastic being able to walk everywhere. Technically we can't walk to the store for any major shopping. But it is only ten blocks away. If we just wanted to grab a few things, it's not that bad, and it's just a short jaunt in the car.

I'm sure we've learned many more lessons that we could impart on all of you (for example, the opener for the door into our underground garage is only for coming in...the door opens automatically if you are going out, thus explaining why every time we used the door opener we ended up leaving through the wrong door...) but I think our time could be better spent showing pictures. You can click on the album to the left and it should open a slide show of pictures for you. Please note: the large empty wall beside the couch is reserved for a giant urban mural of some sort. Zach hasn't found the right one yet. And we know that the office is rather bare. We're working on it. You would think that a house full of art would suffice to decorate a simple apartment, but it has not been the case. Please send comments and tell us what you think!

Pictures!

I know you have been waiting with bated breath for a new update. Well, I can't promise anything too long and involved...I AM still unpacking, you know. But I can provide some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Please excuse the mess; we are currently under construction.

First off, here's the floor plan again so you can see where everything is in relation to everything else.




















Here is a picture of the kitchen. You can see we have stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. In the background you can see the entrance hall. To the right of the kitchen you can almost see the entry into the office space. There is a ton of counter space and lots of room to move around.














Here's a picture of the family room taken from the kitchen. On the left is a fireplace (you can't really see it from this picture), and straight ahead is our balcony. We will probably sell our dining room set to open up more space. The counter functions as a bar on the other side, and that will serve just fine until we can find a smaller table.














Next up is the view. The following pictures show the view from our balcony from left to right. Yes, that's the baseball stadium in the far left. If we sit on the balcony and listen, we can faintly hear the announcements from the game. Otherwise, the noise is not a problem at all.








































Here's a picture of our huge bathroom. As you can see, again there are granite counters and light wood cabinets. You can't really see from this picture, but the floors are a kind of slate material. The tub is around the corner, and it is a large oval soaking tub.














Here's the master bedroom. Isn't the view awesome? Again sorry for the mess. Today I'm organizing the closet and everything is spread out all over the place. No, the bike will probably not remain in the bedroom.














Finally, so you can visualize me as I blog, here is the office. My desk would be the one with the iMac. My chair is actually facing a closet in this picture, which is full of random storage. Including our Christmas tree that Zach thought would never find a home. Take that, Zach! I knew I could find a place for it.














Well there you have it. I hope this will keep you satisfied for a little longer until I'm able to write more.

Road Trip, Part 2

Well, that last blog was written about 4 hours ago. Things have since gotten better. After passing through a series of heavy storms, we've hit smooth sailing...err...driving for a while. We are currently passing through Omaha, and we should get to the border of Colorado by 9:00 our time, leaving us a three and one half hour drive tomorrow to our new home. I'll try to post an update tonight when we get to our hotel. You won't believe some of the pictures I took of the flooding! Byebye for now.

Road Trip, Part 1

So it has been an interesting trip so far. We have driven about fifteen hours and only made 10 hours of progress. It started off well enough; Zach and I piled all our belongings from the hotel into the car, I sat Josephine (our cat) on my lap, and we drove over to the Budget rental office. I left Zach there while I went to Ariel and Craigs to start getting our stuff out of their basement. When Zach showed up with the truck, we threw everything in (not literally) and left for the storage unit.

By this point, Josephine had worked herself into a veritable frenzy, yowling loudly and clawing the cage. We left her in the cage on the passenger seat of the truck with the window down while the rest of us packed up the truck. This also went well, with everything easily fitting in place with room left over. Several times I went to the front of the truck to check on Jo. It was during one of these breaks that I noticed that the top of her cage, which comes open to allow easier access to its inhabitants, was open. And the window of the truck was open. And there was no cat to be found. Ariel, Craig, Zach, and I had to traverse the expanses of the storage complex, which ended in a large field and a salt silo, searching for the damn escaped cat. After several minutes I saw her walking across the parking lot a distance away. I ran after her and cornered her into a fenced dead end. By the time I got there, though, she had disappeared. We finally found her crammed into a tiny corner under the fence. When we dragged her out, she was panting heavily and even more worked up. Have you ever seen a cat pant? I haven’t. I gave in and shoved half a cat tranquilizer down her throat, and she relaxed within minutes.

After this adventure, things began to go smoothly again. We left Columbus with no problems, moved through Dayton, and continued along 70 through Indianapolis. At this point we noticed signs saying “70 closed ahead, take 74.” Hmm…doesn’t look promising…maybe we should check the Indiana transportation department. Using my trusty computer, wired into my cell phone’s data plan, I combed through a variety of websites. Nothing. No mention of problems on 70 or anywhere else in Indiana. We found the same silence when we turned on Indiana’s traffic and weather station. And given the fact that 74 slowly branches more and more away from 70, we decided to ignore the warnings and moved along at a steady pace for a while until, suddenly, we came to a stop. Not heavy traffic, not 30 mph. A stop. In two and a half hours we went maybe 10 miles. Finally we were routed off of 70 and we went north to 40. We figured, hey…it goes parallel. Eventually we can just hop back on 70 and continue on our merry way. Until we stopped again, of course. Yup. We drove maybe half an hour before we hit the same wall again. We wasted another two and a half hours going 20 miles until we finally decided to turn around, drive an hour north to 74, and completely reroute ourselves. It turns out there was a huge flooding problem in Indiana. Terra Haute was in a state of emergency and was being evacuated. By the time we found a hotel right by the entrance to 74, it was 9:00. We had left at noon, had made maybe three hours of legitimate progress, and it had been nine hours. What a complete waste.

All these complaints don’t include a variety of other problems we encountered. Our roof leaks…right onto my head. The transmission is located right under our feet, and this makes the floor (and everything resting on it) terribly hot. This includes our cat carrier. It took us a little while to figure out that she was really over heated and not just complaining about being in a cage for hours. But we finally made it to a hotel, where annoying drunk people ran through the halls yelling until 3:00 am.

Today has been much better. The worst that has happened was a little accident with Jo. We tranquilized her before we left this morning, but she woke up about an hour into the trip and was really restless and uncomfortable. I finally figured out that she was pawing the floor of her cage like a litterbox and crying. Unfortunately, I figured it out too late. She peed all over and then got it all over my sweater when I picked her up. She was more comfortable, I was far less. Oh well. It has now been 7 hours, we have 9 more to go today, and the worst problem we’ve had is a little cat pee. Of course, we’re driving through Iowa on our way to Des Moines and the fields have become lakes that come a little close to encroaching on the highway. But hopefully the waters will stay at bay and we’ll be able to drive through this mess. Meanwhile, Zach and I are trying to keep ourselves occupied listening to endless episodes of This American Life, Car Talk, All Music Considered, and a variety of other NPR gems. And we have, of course, been keeping track of license plates. We purchased a little magnetic tin from Target that has all the state license plates that we can position as we see them. We’re only half way there and we’ve already found thirty-three states. Oooo…In fact, Zach just got two in one (Washington and Oregon) when he spotted a semi who’s rig had a different license. We despair of completing all fifty states since we’ve left the more common thoroughfare of 70, but one never knows.