First off...I know some of my family have been wondering how my recovery is going...I'd say its been colorful! This was a couple days ago...today its mostly John Deere colors. I can live with that:)
I've really debated posting more about Denver...it sort of seems like a 'had to be there' deal. We DID write a trip log…its 8 typed pages long…and the first edition left my mom a little speechless. In the end I decided that NOT blogging at least some of it would be to leave one of the funnest weeks of my life off my 'journal'...so I compromised and this will be the sweetened-condensed version ;).
July 8, 2010
As usual we were running, Michelle showed up and we had 15 minutes to throw my stuff in the car and get across town to drop Mack off at his sitter’s.
After that it was off to the border! Let’s just say we hadn’t seen each other since May, we had A LOT of girl talk to catch up on:)!
The border…well Michelle gets “chatty” when she’s nervous, I was pretty sure we were going to get strip searched…we just HAD to tell them how we were taking pictures at the border. That’s a no-no. The border guards were also a little worried for us when they saw ALL the service lights in Shelley’s car were on. Somehow we convinced them we weren’t a risk to national security and they let us through. We rocked on to Great Falls where we spent the night.
July 9, 2010
Woke up hungry…needed some toast STAT!
We weren’t in a rush, only had to make it to Denver by Saturday noon, so we drove, and we shopped, and then we drove some more. Michelle slept…or so she said, she was awake enough to laugh at what a bad singer I am!
We were pretty torn over what we should do that night. Michelle had her heart set on playing in Wyoming; however we also had an invite to a stockyard party in Greeley, Colorado via text. Finally we (very wisely) decided to stay in Wyoming. We rented a room in a motel across the street from our playground of choice; coincidentally it was the last room…it was almost like it was meant to be! We got ourselves cleaned up…and proceeded to show Cheyenne, Wyoming that Alberta girls really do have more fun ;). Although did you know American chicks line-dance? I’m STILL impressed.
I've really debated posting more about Denver...it sort of seems like a 'had to be there' deal. We DID write a trip log…its 8 typed pages long…and the first edition left my mom a little speechless. In the end I decided that NOT blogging at least some of it would be to leave one of the funnest weeks of my life off my 'journal'...so I compromised and this will be the sweetened-condensed version ;).
July 8, 2010
As usual we were running, Michelle showed up and we had 15 minutes to throw my stuff in the car and get across town to drop Mack off at his sitter’s.
After that it was off to the border! Let’s just say we hadn’t seen each other since May, we had A LOT of girl talk to catch up on:)!
The border…well Michelle gets “chatty” when she’s nervous, I was pretty sure we were going to get strip searched…we just HAD to tell them how we were taking pictures at the border. That’s a no-no. The border guards were also a little worried for us when they saw ALL the service lights in Shelley’s car were on. Somehow we convinced them we weren’t a risk to national security and they let us through. We rocked on to Great Falls where we spent the night.
July 9, 2010
Woke up hungry…needed some toast STAT!
We weren’t in a rush, only had to make it to Denver by Saturday noon, so we drove, and we shopped, and then we drove some more. Michelle slept…or so she said, she was awake enough to laugh at what a bad singer I am!
We were pretty torn over what we should do that night. Michelle had her heart set on playing in Wyoming; however we also had an invite to a stockyard party in Greeley, Colorado via text. Finally we (very wisely) decided to stay in Wyoming. We rented a room in a motel across the street from our playground of choice; coincidentally it was the last room…it was almost like it was meant to be! We got ourselves cleaned up…and proceeded to show Cheyenne, Wyoming that Alberta girls really do have more fun ;). Although did you know American chicks line-dance? I’m STILL impressed.
July 10, 2010
We woke up giggling at our adventures. It was awesome!
Denver bound...little did we know that Left Turn (aka. the GPS) was set to avoid freeways, we were following the directions and suddenly we are cruising through suburban Denver. I might of…ok I did get a little cranky because it didn’t feel right…and sure enough guess where we ended up? Back on the freeway!
We made it to the hotel, got ready for our white water rafting trip and headed to the meeting place. It would have been handy if Left Turn could give us directions to the nearest parking. Caught the bus and passed the trip to the rafting location by chatting with the tour guide and deciding we should start introducing ourselves as “Al” and “Berta”. The rafting trip…well it just didn’t really cut it for this adrenaline junkie…but we made best of it lol!
That night we attended a student mixer at a lounge in downtown Denver. Turned out from the rooftop patio we could see the Coors Stadium where the Rockies were playing…in was really beautiful in the evening light. The organizer of the mixer had also hired a couple of country dance instructors to give lessons to those who wanted. They were fantastic dancers, never seen anything like it!
After the mixer, we decided to practise our moves at an establishment next door where we continued to mingle and met this 43 year old grandma who I seriously thought was my age. She was from Greeley where they ‘kill cows’. Still giggling about that one.
July 11, 2010
Michelle woke up feeling like hell this morning, I felt fantastic…even showed her my new ‘line dancing’ moves. I think she wanted to kill me.
We headed to the conference center to register, grabbed our conference packages and decided to do a little downtown touring. We ended up at this awesome pet store where I was able to get the collar I wanted for Neena. SO excited!
Stopped for lunch at this burger place…was delicious! Later we took in a movie (Grown Ups) and some shuffleboard at a David & Buster’s. Us gals are surprisingly good at shuffle board…
July 12, 2010
This morning Michelle let me sleep (left me a love note saying she couldn’t wake my “pretty face”) and headed to the conference to present her poster. Temple Grandin stopped to talk to her about her research…pretty cool!
Plan A that night was…well it’s a super long story…essentially we crashed an alumni event and got accused of ‘browsing’. It was both VERY embarrassing and VERY funny. And to top it off, for a door prize we won Texas A&M POULTRY tee’s…*nose wrinkle*.
So instead…as Michelle puts it, we “took in the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Denver, Colorado, United States of America”.
The night started out kind of slow…at one point Michelle wanted to leave…I convinced her we just had to “ride it out”. And we did. Alberta Girl Style!!!
On a side note…this is how sheltered my little life has been…until this trip, I had no clue what beer pong was. Fun game…especially when you have a gal pal who will always bail you out!
To Be Continued....
