COLORADO WAS AWESOME! (Wednesday)
Oh, that was fun. I really don’t like getting up at 5 am. And yet I did on Wednesday so that i could be ready to have Ben and Kristin and Luke pick me up. I did wake up with enough time to get in a shower. That made me feel a little bit better about my morning. No time to eat, though; who has time to eat? Finished getting my beauty stuff packed and was waiting outside by 6 am!
Since we were flying out of Madison, Ben and Kristin and Luke and I were carpooling together to the airport. Going through security was easy enough and boring. I picked up a cinnamon bun while I waited. Mmm, breakfast. We boarded the plane at 7:30, and got into Denver at 9:20 am. At baggage check (maybe before), I received the email from Enterprise telling me how to get to the rental car area. Thankfully, that was a quick pickup; they had a lot of employees working. We picked up a silver Venture, which was a pretty nice car but without a lot of get-up and go. It was also an interesting checkout, since they lead me to the car and filled out the paperwork on an iPad. After the employee drove the car over the the area, everyone got in and we picked up the actual paperwork at a booth as we were leaving. Ben drove.
We finally ate lunch in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. I really don’t like the suburbia look or the mass of same/similar houses. However, the non-local (to us) chain we went to was very good. We ate at Rumbi (?), a ocean, seaside chain! I had a Rumbi Beach Burger with Rumbi fries. It had lettuce and tomato and onion, and 1000 island dressing. Also, we went to Walgreens for some sunscreen, and over to a Barnes & Noble. I picked up Scrabble Catchphrase! I really like it.
Finally we were off to Manitou Springs! The city/town(?) reminds me of Door County, Wisconsin, a lot. There is a similar mix of unique, quaint shops as well as many hotels and motels. It’s definitely a tourist destination.
We arrived at our hotel (Comfort Inn) a little too early to check in. We took a walk nearby, but it was not a pedestrian-friendly rout. However we did manage to hit up an Old Colorado City trail on the way back, so that was actually quite nice.
And, oh, thin air! How I despise you! It really annoys me to be out of breath just walking down the street. Argh!
It didn’t kill me, just slowed me down. And then we got into the hotel around 2. We checked in, and I briefly read my Torchwood book on Luke’s balcony as our room didn’t have one. He was crazy enough to go for a run. After about an hour, I went back to my room. and napped. Oxygen deprivation! Or cuz I got up at 5 and didn’t get to sleep til too late. Also, I really like 2 hour naps.
For dinner we (Ben and Kristin and Luke, and I?) went to Marilyn’s cafe. We had a brief discussion between there and the Ancient Mariner’s next door. Then when we went in, we realized they are owned by the same people and one can order from both menus. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a pitcher of beer. Still it was good food (pizza! with mushrooms and green peppers!) and fun decor; yep, it was decorated in photographs of Marilyn Monroe.
We met up with Melissa and John and some of their relatives at the quarter arcade. Oh, that was fun. I played Skeeball, horse-racing Skeeball, pool, lightning lights (think Simon Says on a wall), and PacMan Battle Royale!! It was $5 very well spent.
We stopped at Chocolate & Ice Cream afterward with Melissa and John. I was still full from everything else. However, I got a great picture of Ben on a tiny bench!! He looks ginormous!! Lovely. Also we went to the Swirl Wine Bar. I had a 2 oz. wine of the light rose (rose with the accent that I cannot make on this). It was delicious.
And then we went back to the hotel. I met Joanna finally, and she was very cool. She is a good choice for a roommate. I hope we continue talking.