Getting Out

One of the best things about having my bro and SIL here (other than getting to harass them in person on a daily basis instead of via text messages) is that I've been able to step out of the oppressive daily routine and explore CO with them.

Yesterday we started with a walking tour of Red Rocks. They loved everything except the lack of oxygen. I remember that feeling.

Then we hiked Dinosaur Ridge and looked at the bones, fossils, and footprints along the side of the mountain. This is one of my favorite things to do in this area; it just blows my mind to be walking along and see a bunch of dinosaur stuff! That is so surreal!

A view of Red Rocks from Dinosaur Ridge.

See the big circular rock lodged in the sediment? Apparently it formed like that 1,298,345,987 years ago or something.

Look closely at the next series of pictures. Pretend that you are underneath the bottom of a creek bed. You can see enormous dinosaur footprints preserved in the rock. In the picture below, look at the round section in the middle. That's a footprint!

In the picture below, there are two footprints: the big white blob, and the cone-shaped brown section of rock in the lower left.

It was a beautiful Colorado day and we walked around outside for hours. My body was like, this is what we're talking about. No writing. No reading. No grading. Only the teensiest bit of teaching before dashing off campus to have fun all day. This is the kind of life I should be living. Someone needs to do something about that.

We spent the afternoon meandering around Cherry Creek Mall (read: Haagen Dazs ice cream for DAYZ) and then took the most refreshing nap before G got home from work and we schlepped across town to:

CASA BONITA!

My SIL had never had the ... shall we say, experience, of Casa Bonita, so it was 100% necessary that we make a trip. We took a series of selfies out front, but right before he snapped each one, G would say something totally inappropriate about the food and we would die laughing. This is the one that turned out best:

I like this picture below. It looks like the streets of Mexico or something, but it's the middle of a colossal restaurant. It's like Taco Bell meets Vegas.

We were gonna cap off the experience with a trip to VooDoo Donuts on Colfax, but it was 4/20. In Denver. So, you know, no. Some other time maybe.

It's so great to have them here. And not just because I get a break from all the work. :) Or, at least, that's what I keep telling myself. :)