Goodnight Bush...

So we're two days into the DNC and it just keeps getting better (crazier). If you've been reading the news, you should know that there has been a series of protests, some of which have ended in arrests. There is a huge police presence on the mall and around the city. Here's a pic from Sunday evening.
















As you can see, they are in total riot gear. And they hang out in groups of 10-15. There are also tons of cops on horses and in normal outfitting. It all seems a little extreme. They mostly sit around talking to people.

But there are also really cool things on the mall. For example, today I was walking down the mall after work to meet Zach for dinner and I heard band music playing. As I kept walking I could see horns moving through the crowd. The guys and girls below were marching down the street playing fantastic, upbeat music. Their shirts said "New Orleans for Obama."
















After dinner, Zach and I decided to head to Tattered Cover. Outside was a small choir singing the text of Goodnight Bush. If you don't know about this hilarious book, it's a parody of the children's classic Goodnight Moon. Here's an exerpt from the product descripton "Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody is a hilarious and poignant visual requiem for the Bush administration. In it we see a childlike George W. Bush tucked safely away in the confines of his own room with all of the toys he's willfully destroyed, abused, or defaced. Complete with a quiet Dick Cheney whispering "hush," this bedtime story lets us finally say goodnight to the disaster that was the last eight years." So this group was singing it, and they did a fantastic job. Below the pic is a small clip of the performance.




















On a non-DNC related note, Zach and I headed out to Union Chute on Sunday to do some kayaking. Unfortunately, the rapids were extremely low. So we just kind of hung out in the water. The pic below is of me sitting in the middle of the rapid. That's as deep as it got. As you can see, not nearly enough water. Below the pic is a video of Zach trying (and failing) to take the "rapid" on his back. Good stuff...

A Trip to Turquoise Lake

Zach and I took a drive up into the mountains today to Leadville. It's an old mining town, one of the original ones. We had lunch at Rosie's Brewpub, the highest brewpub in the United States. We of course had to sample the wares, and we both had a wheat beer. Then we went out to Turquoise Lake and drove around. A storm was coming in, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It rained lightly occasionally, but mostly it was just overcast with lightning flashing in the distance. It gave the whole place a kind of surreal feeling. We got out of the car at one point by a small waterfall and went wandering in the woods. It was very rocky terrain, and we played a game in which we each tried to get to different points without touching ground, only jumping from rock to rock. I got some great pictures with my phone (see below) and a funny video of Zach trying to jump to a big rock. He never made it, though he tried valiently. All in all it was a lovely day.

Let the DNC begin

So this weekend was the start of the DNC. True, it doesn't actually start until Monday. But the masses have already begun to descend on Denver. Check out the Denver Post to read about the start of the DNC. Zach and I got to go to the Pepsi Center (DNC central) on Friday for a tour. It was amazing inside. And an aboslute madhouse outside. Here are some pics from my phone.

Let's start with CNN headquarters. They've taken over this building across the street from the Pepsi Center. Awesome, huh?














Here's the media room in the Pepsi Center. They've taken over the gift shop and transformed it into the tech wonder you see below.















Here's the main floor. You'll probably be seeing quite a bit of it if you watch the proceedings. Illinois and Colorado get the best seats in the house, of course.














Pictured below you see one of the massive bundles of wires that run all through the Center. Zach and I were amazed at the amount of planning that must have been required to wire the whole center.















This is the front of the Pepsi Center all decked out for the convention.
















Some graffiti from the sidewalks around the Pepsi Center. They were totally covered with similar markings. There are tons of protesters coming in for next week. They run the gamut of every possible thing you can protest. I'm trying to start a group that protests Zach. So far there aren't many members...














Here's FOX news' headquarters down the street from the center.















Here's one of the temporary buildings that has been set up around town.














Finally, here's one of the bike stations that you can find all around Denver. You can borrow a bike here, ride it around as needed, and drop it off at any other station. It's supposed to help with the traffic around town during the convention. We get to keep a certain amount of the bikes and stations after teh convention is over.














Well, there you go. The DNC is about to descend and I'll update you as we find out more.

City Park Fountain

So last night Zach and I went on a quest. “A quest?” you ask. Yes. A quest. For yarn. As the evenings get cooler and we get sporadic 60 degree afternoons in between our 80-90 degree days, I’ve decided to take up knitting again. And I’m going to begin with a retro-style afghan. So of course we had to go looking for the perfect yarn. Well, I went looking and Zach graciously went along. He even helped pick out colors, which was nice because he’ll have to look at this afghan spread out on our couch for the foreseeable future. We wandered around to four different stores (two Joanns’, one Michaels’, and one independent little store) before deciding on Vanna’s yarn. Yup, you heard right. Vanna White is endorsing yarn these days.

After our quest had been accomplished, we headed out to City Park for the relighting of the Prismatic Electric Fountain. It was first built in 1908 for the original Democratic National Convention. It is a fountain in the center of City Park’s lake that uses lights to create magnificent displays. It fell into disrepair over the years, and was finally shut down in the 90’s. Denver has invested close to 3 million in repairs, and last night was the unveiling of the new working fountain. It was spectacular to watch. The picture below was taken from the Denver Post, by the way. I can claim no credit.

Zach and I find that there is always something to do here. Even on a Tuesday night in the middle of August there is some event to go to, something new to see. And if there isn’t, then there is always an evening drive. The view still continues to amaze me. Last night we watched the sun set over the mountains, turning the entire sky this fantastic shade of orange. Zach and I are in love with our city, and while we miss our friends and family back east, I can’t see us returning to Ohio in the near future. Except to visit, of course…

Our Fabulously Full Weekend

So last weekend was an exciting and packed weekend. It started on Friday night with Chris and Steve (from Zach’s work) coming over, along with Steve’s wife Beth and their baby Nevada. We all hung out and watched the opening ceremony for the Olympic games in all their HD glory. That is, until a huge storm hit, affecting NBC’s local studio. They had to drop the HD for a large portion of the broadcast in the middle, and they occasionally lost picture and/or sound completely. It didn’t matter, though. We still had a blast.

Saturday started out with breakfast at Snooze (an incredible breakfast place across the street from our apartment) and then moved on to some kayaking at Union Chute. Zach did more rafting than I did. I spent half the time sunning on some rocks that were right by a rapid. If I placed myself on certain rocks, the shallow part of the rapid ran over my legs and arms. It wasn’t quite strong enough to pull me with force, but the current felt lovely on a hot morning.

Afterwards we took the light rail down to Littleton and went to my new favorite store…Savory Spice. Savory has every type of spice you could ever imagine. I got some good curry and some ginger and nutmeg. There’s a Savory closer to our apartment, but this one was fun to go to because Littleton is such a cute little town.

After dinner at a wings place, we went out to Lakeside. Lakeside is an amusement park that just celebrated its 100 year anniversary. It has retained most of its old rides and signage, and it is a fascinating place to visit. It’s only a few dollars to get in, and you have to pay for each ride. Zach and I went on their original roller coaster-an old wooden one with peeling paint and jerky turns. It was a little nerve-wracking, but it was still fun. We also hit up the bumper cars and the Ferris wheel. We were home in time to catch the re-airing of my favorite show, Psych. Ahh, the joys of Denver.

Sunday proved to be fairly eventful as well. We woke up with the intention of heading out to St. Mary’s Glacier. It’s located about 40 miles west of here, and it’s an honest-to-goodness real glacier that you can hike to. Unfortunately, we never made it. We followed the directions in my guide book, but ended up wandering around looking for the entrance to the trail. Eventually two other women came up, also looking for the trailhead. Interestingly enough, they were from Ohio and were huge Buckeye fans. one of them (Heather) informed us that there was a Buckeye bar located on Market Street (just 6 blocks from our apartment) that aired the games. The four of us wandered through woods for about an hour, repeatedly thinking we had found the trail, and repeatedly being disappointed. Finally, we returned to our cars and Heather waved down another car. We were informed that we should head up the road another half a mile. Upon following the driver’s directions we found that the trailhead was quite obvious once you passed a bend in the road. Furthermore, it was terribly crowded. We decided to head home and attempt trail another time, possibly on a weeknight.

Our whole weekend was full, which has become typical of our free time here. For once, there is too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. And that is a problem I am happy to have…

The Wilhelms Visit the Mile High City

So yes, it has been a while since I last posted. And I DID promise update the blog more frequently. Oh well; you know what they say about the best laid plans…Anyways, on to my parents’ visit. Mom, dad, and Rebecca came to visit the weekend after Ariel and Craig left. They stayed in an apartment in the building that was set aside for guests. It was perfect…two bedrooms, two full baths, a family room and kitchen. It was the same size and general layout as our own apartment. Mom and dad are coming back in November for Thanksgiving, and they’re bringing Lindsay and Grandma Dot. It will be a blast.

We did many of the same things with the as we had done with our friends from C-bus. But there were a few differences. First off, we were able to (finally) go to a Rockies game. It was a perfect night for it. The temperature was upper 70’s, the sky was clear and full of sunshine, and the Rockies totally kicked the Pirates’ asses. Zach, Rebecca, and I were able to have a Blue Moon from the restaurant where it was first brewed. And Zach and I were able to sit a few rows ahead in empty seats, allow me to avoid obnoxious tall people. Afterward, we came home and mom and dad played pool at the tables in the game room of our apartment building.

The other highlight of my parents’ trip was the trip the Buckhorn Exchange. This restaurant is one of the oldest in Denver, and it boasts the first liquor license of the city. It was originally a place for miners to come and spend their hard-earned money drinking. The food was absolutely wonderful. We started out with appetizers of rattlesnake (mixed in this cheese sauce for dipping) and alligator. Between all of us there was a variety of main courses, including buffalo steak, elk, quail, salmon, and (regular) steak. It was all fantastically delicious. And the atmosphere was interesting. We sat in the Buffalo Bill room, surrounded by buffalo heads and stuffed ducks. We did a variety of other activities, including going to the Colorado History Museum and hitting up an art festival in Boulder. All in all, it was an enjoyable weekend with the family. I can’t wait till they come with Lindsay and Grandma Dot at Thanksgiving.

Ariel and Craig do Denver

So technically the first person to visit us at our new abode was Hallie (Zach’s best friend from college and one of my bridesmaids). But she only stayed for dinner and we had a much longer visit later with both Hallie and her husband, so I’ll talk about her later. Ariel and Craig were really the first to visit us for any period of time. I met Ariel while teaching last year in Delaware; she was a first year English teacher full of promise and hopeful expectations…and while she might have lost some of her naiveté after a year with some truly horrid youngsters, she still remains an awesomely creative and brilliant teacher.

Ari and Craig (who just graduated from the same master’s program that I went through and who will further be teaching Spanish in Worthington this year) arrived in Denver on July 10th. I picked them up from the airport and brought them back to see the glories of our apartment and the 16th Street Mall. By that time Zach was back and we were able to begin our weekend. It included a trip to Red Rocks, a Ducky trip down the Platte River, adventures in gold mining, dinner at Casa Bonita, and the discovery of the Silver Linings.
Before I can really explain everything that occurred that weekend, I feel I must admit that I had recently gotten a case of food poisoning. It wasn’t terrible, but it was annoying. For most of the time that Craig and Ariel were with us I was unable to eat much without feeling nauseous—which was horrible because we went to so many excellent restaurants. But getting back to the enjoyable parts of the visit…

We started with a morning trip to Red Rocks. When there isn’t a concert, you can explore the amphitheater and the surrounding area as a park. We hiked up a small, rather sandy hill so we could see the whole amphitheater. This little adventure was particularly amusing for two reasons. First, there was an abundance of crickets. They swarmed around us, landing on any part of our bodies that they could find a purchase. For some reason, this particularly disturbed Craig, who would jump back in startlement every time a cloud of crickets appeared. I know I shouldn’t make fun of him, but it really was funny to see a grown, rather serious man trying to avoid harmless little crickets. And then there was Ariel. Poor, sweet Ariel who did not bring a sensible pair of tennis shoes. The sandy hill that we climbed up provided great difficulty to Ari, who kept sliding backward with every step up. I had to hold her hand during most of the ascent, and sometimes shove her forcibly upward. But we eventually made it, surveyed our surroundings, and then decided it was time to move on.

Next we went to Idaho Springs and the Phoenix mine, where we were able to take a tour. It was not only interesting to see a working mine, it was also quite a bit cooler in there, providing us a respite from the 90 degree weather. After lunch at Idaho Springs we headed back to Denver.
The next day we all took a 3 hour Ducky tour down the Platte River. A Ducky is a kind of inflatable kayak. It can go down rapids and looks like a miniature, inflatable canoe. The benefit of it is that it is much more stable than a traditional kayak, and thus easier to control for those new to the sport. The trip was a ton of fun, highlighted by Craig falling out of his kayak when he tried to take a mini rapid standing up.

That night we wandered around the mall listening to the various street performers. Eventually we came across two guys playing in a little courtyard. They had set up microphones and such, and they gave a terrific performance. They were called the Silver Linings, and supposedly they will be on iTunes soon. I certainly hope so.

The finale was on Sunday night when we all went to Casa Bonita. If you want a quick highlight of what Casa Bonita is like, go to YouTube and type in “Casa Bonita South Park.” Even if you’re not a fan of the show, they do a pretty good homage to the experience of this restaurant. It is a winding maze of a restaurant that includes mines, a ghost tour, a lagoon with divers, and much more. It is a very interesting experience that was tons of fun.

Well, I’ve rambled for a ridiculously long time. I hope you’ve stuck with me throughout this post. And I hope you enjoy my future posts detailing such adventures as: “The Parents Arrive!” “Beer Festival with a Pregnant Woman” and “Where Exactly IS Saint Mary’s Glacier?” Tata for now!


Here's Ari and Craig asleep on our way back from Idaho Springs. Aren't they cute?
















Here's Ari at the Molly Brown Museum trying on some period headware.















And here is the always adorable Meghan trying on another hat.