My sister Karen and her husband Matt (and my lovely niece Claire) happened to be in Telluride, CO, because Matt and his colleague Brandon had been invited to attend the 2011 American Conference on Theoretical Chemistry, which was being hosted in town. Tricia and I happened to visit the conference one night during a poster presentation session, but with projects like "Calculating the Spectral Shift for Phthalocyanine in Helium Droplets from Path Integral Monte Carlo" lining the walls, we had little chance at understanding anything and we left feeling like cavemen.
As we entered the quaint vacation home town on what seemed like the only access road, we noticed a sign that read "Icy Conditions Ahead," except someone had spray-painted "PR" before the word "Icy." It was an expensive area indeed, just as the delinquent had astutely warned, but the best thing in Telluride was free: the gondola (or as Claire liked to call it, the "weeee!"). Claire loved it, and rightly so; it was a fun form of transportation and a great way to experience breathtaking views of Telluride and Mountain Village from the mountain in between.
A slightly unnerving sign on top of the mountain:
A view of Telluride from the top of the mountain:
A statue in Mountain Village:
We left Telluride behind after a one-night visit and headed to Denver to stay with Tricia's cousin Jessie and her friend Emily.
Here's a sunset we saw at a gas station shortly before we were hit with some nasty storms along the windy mountain roads:
In a spur of the moment decision, we went to see a Rockies game at Coors Field the next afternoon, and we were lucky enough to have my friend Caroline join us yet again. The first great thing we learned about Coors Field is that you could bring your own food through the gate. So instead of paying $50 for a ballpark hot dog, you could pay $2.50 for a hot dog at Mile High Vienna (only two blocks away) and take it into the park.
The second great thing we learned about Coors Field was that Rockpile tickets (seats in an elevated section in center field) were only $4 or $5. This was mind-blowing to a pair of Chicago sports fans accustomed to watching Bears games on TV due to the cost of Soldier Field tickets being roughly equivalent to a kidney sale on the black market.
The only problem was that Rockpile tickets had sold out just before the first pitch. With our hot dogs in hand, we approached the scalpers across the street and they immediately clamored toward us like the dismembered playthings emerging from underneath Sid's bed in Toy Story. Within seconds, we were surrounded by boisterous men shoving tickets in our faces, and the negotiating began. "C'mon, 15 dollars!? Are you crazy!?" I said, knowing full well it'd be a steal at Wrigley or US Cellular. I was excited by the prospect of continuing to talk them down, but the game was already underway, so we settled on $10 a ticket.
The Rockies lost.
Like San Francisco, Denver is home to legalized medical marijuana. As you can see in the picture below, the dispensaries don't look shady from the outside at all!
Even buildings are nice in Denver.
Later that evening, we tried to go see Caroline's friend Dan play a show at an experimental music festival, but we were a bit too late for that, so Tricia and I stopped for appetizers at a place called The Hornet before sharing a sundae down the street at Sweet Action. The flatbread at The Hornet was absolutely delish, and the ice cream could've been the same, but I managed to pick out a fairly horrendous combination of flavors.
That night, we met up with Caroline and her friends to play some shuffleboard before returning to our wonderful hosts' house for a well-deserved good night's sleep.
Driving Music:
Radiohead - The Bends
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Rachele Eve - Daytrotter Session
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Ween - The Mollusk
Via Audio - Say Something
My Morning Jacket - Circuital
Battles - EP B
Various Artists - Dark Was the Night Discs 1 & 2
Wye Oak - Civilian
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Anais Mitchell - Hadestown
Iron & Wine/Calexico - In the Reins EP
Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman
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