Started in: Bald Mountain, CO (possibly Boulder)
Ended in: Denver, CO
Total Distance: Driving: 41 miles
Today felt like a very nice Sunday. We woke up early to check out of the house and went with Pat and Kara (and Laurance and Brooke, but they were riding with us all day) to see Lauren Craft. I don't want to seem like I'm playing favorites with her kids, but Elizabeth really stole the show. I found this two-year-old to be the most precious and precocious two-year-old I've ever met. She was also very reasonable and convinced us to hang out a little afterward for a short dance party to "Can't Stop the Feeling." This capped off a fine morning of checking out a farmer's market (and unfortunately getting fleeced at the peach stand) and grabbing a coffee.
We then bade farewell to Pat and Kara and Lauren and the Crafts and met with Darion at Sunny's for breakfast. One Hipster Sunny (like a variant on an Eggs Benedict dish), I was pretty satisfied. I also had a bite of Laurance's Reese's pancake. So delicious.
We spent some time looking around the city, getting caught in traffic, and picking up spikes to replace the bent ones for our tent. Laurance had a late night flight and Brooke had an early morning flight, so I napped hard.
We then went to City Park Jazz with a blanket, our chairs, some cheese and crackers from the local King Soopers and some cans of wine. That and the ample nearby food trucks meant for just an amazing evening. It was interesting to eavesdrop on people around the food trucks. One older man was talking to some people about how different Denver is from his home of St. Louis in terms of violence. Darion mentioned that in St. Louis (where he's from), you'd never see gatherings as diverse as City Park Jazz. We also talked about how this impacts students here. To say nothing of the fact that with decriminalized marijuana, many young scholars who would be imprisoned in Cook County are still free to go to school. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed by my old home town and have many more questions. I know from conversations with Niket that teaching here is no walk in the park, but I'd love to spend some time in schools nonetheless.
The day ends with a late night run of Laurance to the airport, back to DC and hopefully a good night's sleep, soon to be followed by an early morning trip to the terminal with Brooke. I have loved this trip so much, but truly this weekend was the highlight. I love these people so much and it's been great to get so much quality time with them.