Finally getting around to reality
Yup yup, Marc and I are back from beautiful, snowy Colorado, and with many adventures and memories to relate. Behind the cut, you will find a rather long-ish account of the good times had by all while away, and other amusing happenings that occured along the way. So grab a drink, get comfy, and tuck in, for you are about to enter
The drive to Colorado was relatively uneventful - no accidents, no major slow-downs... pretty easygoing, really. However, Marc did come up with an idea of where tumbleweeds originate from. Supposedly, there is a Tumbleweed Farm, where sticks are gathered together and made into balls. Intermittently throughout the day, they are released into the wild, where they tumble through fields, around mountains, and past roads, for the travelers' viewing pleasure. I was actually really curious as to how tumbleweeds started, so I decided to check it out - go figure, there truly is a tumbleweed farm...
Along the way, we passed many interesting cars, RVs, and trailers. One particularly interesting RV was named El Capitan, and Marc decided that he wanted to be named El Capitan as well. However, every time I hear those words, I think of the immigrant lady in the movie Titanic, who is asking for Captain Smith's advice as the ship is sinking. Oh well.
Another fun car that we passed a few times on the way up was an SUV with the license plate GEEKY. The one lone guy driving it did appear to be slightly dorky, but at least he's proud of it.
Did you know that on the way to and from Colorado, there are now things called Safety Corridors? They must be a recent addition to the highways, because neither Marc nor I had ever seen them before. They're certain stretches of road where you're supposed to turn on your lights for safety, and traffic fines are doubled. Pointless, much? Yes, I thought so too.
Marc seems to get the most random ideas while he's driving (yes, he gets random ideas while he's not driving, too, but I think that being behind the wheel sets his brain even more in motion). After a slightly prolonged period of silence, Marc just started going off on how it would be a really awesome idea to re-open Alcatraz, but to put sharks around it so that if any inmates tried to escape, they would have to go swimming with the sharks. I don't know where he comes up with these things, but at least it gives me something to laugh at while we're on the road.
Marc got to see a nice sight as we were going through one of the many small towns along the way - in a place called Clarendon, Texas, with probably no more than 500 people, they have Mustang GT customized police cars. He nearly had a fit that some place would have such cool cop cars, as I merely sat in the passenger seat and watched the dust go by. We also saw the same car on the way home, which made Marc doubly happy.
All I have to say about Sunday night - totally awesome. Part of what contributed to the greatness was going to a Texas Roadhouse restaraunt, and eating the best steak I've ever had. The rolls were also wonderful, but the atmostphere just didn't have that Texas touch. They were trying to be like Texas, but for some reason, it just wasn't working. Maybe it was because there weren't people everywhere saying "howdy y'all," and "ain't." Either way, though, the steak got my seal of approval.
Monday, Marc's mom and step-dad decided to take us to a 50's style diner with yummy burgers called Gunther Toody's. Marc couldn't say the name of the place without laughing, and for a while, couldn't even hear it without cracking up. He's gotten better, but if you ask him to say Gunther Toody with a straight face - he still can't do it!
Next, we decided to drive up to Estes Park with the hopes of getting to play around in the snow, but alas, it has been so warm up there this season that all the snow had already melted! It was a very beautiful and scenic drive up there, however, so we enjoyed that. We stopped up there to take a break before returning to Marc's mom's house, and bought a whole lot of super-delicious chocolate. I got mint chocolate chip fudge - Mmmm Mmmm!!
Tuesday was our day to drive around Denver, go through downtown, and just enjoy the sights of the area. As we were going through downtown, we saw a few interesting sights. Unlike here in Dallas, there are a lot of bums on the street corners of Denver. They will write almost anything on their pieces of cardboard to collect a bit of money from drivers-by, but one guy was definitely the funniest and most creative bum - "Running for president, need campaign funds. And God bless America!" Yup, that was a new one. Another thing that we don't see down here in Texas are manholes in the street, with smoke coming out the tops of them! Marc and I were completely amazed at the phenomenon. We can't help it if we're from Texas! And one more thing that we probably do have in Texas, but not that I've ever seen - there was a man walking down the street in downtown Denver, wearing a full Scottish kilt get-up, complete with tassled socks, hat, and a bag that could have passed for bagpipes. Just taking a little stroll down the road... *shrug*
After driving around for a while, Marc and I weren't exactly sure what to do, but I just so happened to notice a sign for a place called Ocean Journey. I'm a big ocean freak, so I thought it sounded interesting, so after a few twists and turns, Marc found the way to the building. It turned out to be the coolest accidental adventure!! Ocean Journey is a big aquarium with two different kinds of exhibits - one called Indonesia Journey and the other Colorado Journey. In each, there were hundreds of different fish from all over the world, and even a tiger! But the coolest part were the sharks!! Several different kinds of sharks just swimming around right above your head in a walk through tunnel kind of thing - awesome!! There was also a place to watch sea otters, touch rays, and see the biggest crabs I have ever seen in my life. Way cool.
(I'm getting tired of writing now... and I'm only on day 3!)
Tuesday evening, Marc's little brother had a school play that was a good way to finish off our fish adventures. It was titled "Sounds A Little Fishy To Me," and was all about creatures of the ocean. CJ couldn't stop singing one particular part of a song from his program for the rest of the night, even while he was in the bathroom. I now have it stuck in my head. We're not sure what the real words are, but CJ sang it this way - School's in China-na-na-na-na, that's the way it is... Sounds like a #1 hit to me!
I can't do this anymore... consider this installment numero uno. More to come later!
PS - I still hate my father. He's a jackass.
The drive to Colorado was relatively uneventful - no accidents, no major slow-downs... pretty easygoing, really. However, Marc did come up with an idea of where tumbleweeds originate from. Supposedly, there is a Tumbleweed Farm, where sticks are gathered together and made into balls. Intermittently throughout the day, they are released into the wild, where they tumble through fields, around mountains, and past roads, for the travelers' viewing pleasure. I was actually really curious as to how tumbleweeds started, so I decided to check it out - go figure, there truly is a tumbleweed farm...
Along the way, we passed many interesting cars, RVs, and trailers. One particularly interesting RV was named El Capitan, and Marc decided that he wanted to be named El Capitan as well. However, every time I hear those words, I think of the immigrant lady in the movie Titanic, who is asking for Captain Smith's advice as the ship is sinking. Oh well.
Another fun car that we passed a few times on the way up was an SUV with the license plate GEEKY. The one lone guy driving it did appear to be slightly dorky, but at least he's proud of it.
Did you know that on the way to and from Colorado, there are now things called Safety Corridors? They must be a recent addition to the highways, because neither Marc nor I had ever seen them before. They're certain stretches of road where you're supposed to turn on your lights for safety, and traffic fines are doubled. Pointless, much? Yes, I thought so too.
Marc seems to get the most random ideas while he's driving (yes, he gets random ideas while he's not driving, too, but I think that being behind the wheel sets his brain even more in motion). After a slightly prolonged period of silence, Marc just started going off on how it would be a really awesome idea to re-open Alcatraz, but to put sharks around it so that if any inmates tried to escape, they would have to go swimming with the sharks. I don't know where he comes up with these things, but at least it gives me something to laugh at while we're on the road.
Marc got to see a nice sight as we were going through one of the many small towns along the way - in a place called Clarendon, Texas, with probably no more than 500 people, they have Mustang GT customized police cars. He nearly had a fit that some place would have such cool cop cars, as I merely sat in the passenger seat and watched the dust go by. We also saw the same car on the way home, which made Marc doubly happy.
All I have to say about Sunday night - totally awesome. Part of what contributed to the greatness was going to a Texas Roadhouse restaraunt, and eating the best steak I've ever had. The rolls were also wonderful, but the atmostphere just didn't have that Texas touch. They were trying to be like Texas, but for some reason, it just wasn't working. Maybe it was because there weren't people everywhere saying "howdy y'all," and "ain't." Either way, though, the steak got my seal of approval.
Monday, Marc's mom and step-dad decided to take us to a 50's style diner with yummy burgers called Gunther Toody's. Marc couldn't say the name of the place without laughing, and for a while, couldn't even hear it without cracking up. He's gotten better, but if you ask him to say Gunther Toody with a straight face - he still can't do it!
Next, we decided to drive up to Estes Park with the hopes of getting to play around in the snow, but alas, it has been so warm up there this season that all the snow had already melted! It was a very beautiful and scenic drive up there, however, so we enjoyed that. We stopped up there to take a break before returning to Marc's mom's house, and bought a whole lot of super-delicious chocolate. I got mint chocolate chip fudge - Mmmm Mmmm!!
Tuesday was our day to drive around Denver, go through downtown, and just enjoy the sights of the area. As we were going through downtown, we saw a few interesting sights. Unlike here in Dallas, there are a lot of bums on the street corners of Denver. They will write almost anything on their pieces of cardboard to collect a bit of money from drivers-by, but one guy was definitely the funniest and most creative bum - "Running for president, need campaign funds. And God bless America!" Yup, that was a new one. Another thing that we don't see down here in Texas are manholes in the street, with smoke coming out the tops of them! Marc and I were completely amazed at the phenomenon. We can't help it if we're from Texas! And one more thing that we probably do have in Texas, but not that I've ever seen - there was a man walking down the street in downtown Denver, wearing a full Scottish kilt get-up, complete with tassled socks, hat, and a bag that could have passed for bagpipes. Just taking a little stroll down the road... *shrug*
After driving around for a while, Marc and I weren't exactly sure what to do, but I just so happened to notice a sign for a place called Ocean Journey. I'm a big ocean freak, so I thought it sounded interesting, so after a few twists and turns, Marc found the way to the building. It turned out to be the coolest accidental adventure!! Ocean Journey is a big aquarium with two different kinds of exhibits - one called Indonesia Journey and the other Colorado Journey. In each, there were hundreds of different fish from all over the world, and even a tiger! But the coolest part were the sharks!! Several different kinds of sharks just swimming around right above your head in a walk through tunnel kind of thing - awesome!! There was also a place to watch sea otters, touch rays, and see the biggest crabs I have ever seen in my life. Way cool.
(I'm getting tired of writing now... and I'm only on day 3!)
Tuesday evening, Marc's little brother had a school play that was a good way to finish off our fish adventures. It was titled "Sounds A Little Fishy To Me," and was all about creatures of the ocean. CJ couldn't stop singing one particular part of a song from his program for the rest of the night, even while he was in the bathroom. I now have it stuck in my head. We're not sure what the real words are, but CJ sang it this way - School's in China-na-na-na-na, that's the way it is... Sounds like a #1 hit to me!
I can't do this anymore... consider this installment numero uno. More to come later!
PS - I still hate my father. He's a jackass.