Mile High City.

Ahoy, mateys!

I just got back from Denver, CO. Here was my extended Memorial Day weekend in review.

Thursday:

We left Nebraska at 10am, Central Time. We made one stop in Ogallala for some food at the Denny's there... And it just so happened that the only two people I know from Ogallala were working there! It was a magical happenstance, since I haven't seen them since I met them at All-State Jazz Choir last summer, so it was really cool to catch up. There's a picture on Facebook.

We arrived in beautiful Denver at 5:30, Mountain Time, to 68 degrees and sunny weather. We made reservations at Maggiano's (which I'm now finding out Omaha has, too) in Englewood, and had a lovely dinner around 7:30. And by lovely, I mean gorging on fantastic Italian food. It was delicious. We came back to our hotel and enjoyed our fantastic lodgings.

A word about said lodgings, my mom managed to get us a hotel room with a living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, a full size fridge, and a kitchen. For 50 dollars. Total. For four days. Needless to say, it was nice to stay in such luxury for so stinkin' cheap.

After that, we were all pretty tired from driving and full bellies, so we went to bed.

Friday:

We woke up around 9 and went to a golf store with my brother and dad, where we also bought dad's birthday gifts. Then, we went back to the hotel, and tried to decide what to do... Then came up with Six Flags and shopping! I got to fall from about 200 feet in a harness which was pretty cool. Then we went downtown and did some shopping, so now I'm even more broke after a trip to H&M, my favorite clothing store. Oh well, it was very worth it. After a long day, we went back to the hotel, watched TV, and spent a relaxing night bumming around. It was fantastic.

Saturday:

This was May 26th, my Dad's 54th birthday. So another belated happy birthday, Dad! We went whitewater rafting, and my mom almost sunk the boat after we hit this huge rock in the river... Whoops. It was pretty funny though. After that, my dad, brother, and I went ziplining. Seriously one of the most awesome experiences of my life, and, to have a dad who goes ziplining when he turns 54 is pretty awesome. He was the oldest guy in our group, but that's ok.

After that, we went to a sushi place (his, my mom's, and my favorite food) called Sushi Den. We pigged out on some of the best sushi any of us have ever eaten, with great service from a waiter named Joe who looked like my uncle Joe, which was pretty funny.

We dropped the boys off at the hotel and my mom and I made a quick hour-long trip to the HUGE Ikea next to our hotel, where I got a coffee table for my dorm, a floor lamp, etc etc...

That night, we played a competitive but friendly game of pitch, our favorite card game. We played 7 and 10 point until past midnight, then went to bed. This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip.

Sunday:
Our last day in the Mile High City. We slept in and saw Dark Shadows around 2, which I really enjoyed (mostly because I love Tim Burton), then dropped my dad off at the hotel since he wanted a nap. My brother, mom, and I returned to Ikea (making it my second time ever being there), and I got more room/college stuff, which was awesome. We had Bdubs for dinner, and watched a Criminal Minds marathon until we fell asleep.

Monday:
Got up at 10am Mountain time, had an uneventful drive home, and arrived in Columbus around 6pm Central time. We were all family-ed out, so I spent the night out with some of my best friends. We were all pretty tired though, and threw in the towel around 1am instead of staying out at all hours like we usually do when we're together.

So there you have it! The chronicles of our family vacation to Denver. I'd go again in a heartbeat, it was a great time.

Song of the day:
And it Spread by The Avett Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj54C_CWx5w

Thanks for reading!
With love,
Gilmore