So, I went to Denver

Wednesday, my husband and I flew out to Denver to go to his brother's wedding. 

It's been a while since my feet touched the ground in Colorado.  I was nervous.  Colorado has a ton of memories for me, and I get mixed up and emotional sometimes, thinking about the time I spent there and stuff.

So seriously, I felt nauseous all day while we were traveling.  Alex and I were not seated seated next to each other.  I ended up sitting next to a guy who I immediately picked out as a person from Colorado.  Very chill, easy going and friendly.  He did a lot of talking to me though, like a really lot.  And he was a low talker so I had to like, listen really hard to hear what he was saying.  And he seemed very interested in hearing about the music I was listening to on my ipod.  By the time we landed, I could feel myself loosening up a bit though.

I love Colorado.

We stayed in a pretty nice hotel in downtown Denver just a block or two from the 16th Street Mall, which is a really cool street that is closed off to cars -- lots of stores, restaurants, bars and a very fast trolley thing, which I didn't remember being there.  Tons of people milling about, even late at night mid week.

The night we flew in, we mosied on down to 16th Street at about 11 pm because we hadn't eaten pretty much all day, and Alex might have been so hungry he could eat my arm.  We went to this really cool bar, the Appaloosa Grill, and we got lucky because an awesome band was playing.  I love live music.  I extra love bar bands.  And this band had the best drummer I may have ever heard.  And a sick trumpet.  Great stuff.

So we had a few drinks and ate some good bar food -- and of course had some awesome music playing. 

Thursday, the day of the wedding, Alex and I pretty much just met up with some family for breakfast and then had enjoyed a lazy day, ambling around the city.  I promised my kids that I would bring them home presents, so I had to find some stuff that would make them happy.  I had my eyes out for some authentic western stuff.

The wedding was at a lodge in Evergreen.  Really rustic-y and cool, right on a lake.  The drive there made me happy, just looking at the mountains.  It was sort of cloudy and overcast, but pretty anyway.

The wedding started almost as soon as we got there.  They were pretty concerned about the rain because the ceremony was being held outside, so it went pretty quickly.  The sun came out for the vows, then went back behind the clouds pretty quick.  It was a really nice ceremony, I got a bunch of great pictures. Erik looked very happy, and his wife Stephanie looked great. 

The reception was a lot of fun -- great food, great music, super cool atmosphere.  My brother-in-law Jonathan gave an awesomely funny best man's speech.  He almost stole the show. 

The next day, we met the family for a BBQ at a park in Arvada.  It was nice, mostly just disc golf, food and chatting.  Then Alex and I went off and explored a bit.  Erik actually got us rather lost, so we ended up going past my old development, close by my old school.  THings looked really different and I didn't remember it all.  Just parts, like passing certain streets, going down certain highways.  Later we ended up going out to Boulder, through Estes Park and to the Rocky Mtn National Park.  Pretty cool to still see some snow up there.  Alex kept trying to see a moose but ended up only seeing an elk.  My brother-in-law was skiing in shorts right before his wedding. Funny.

We got a bite to eat at a bar that I would consider an Irish Hooters.  The waitresses were wearing the skimpiest uniform things I have ever seen.  I would not have let my daughter work there, let me tell you.  Very Britney Spears school-girlish.  And the food was only so-so, but it was fun either way. 

Anyway, we left early the next afternoon.  I missed it as soon as the plane lifted.

I can't wait to go back.