Denver

So, Justin has a new billet (job) with the Navy.  It's with a unit that supports Africa and drills from the Buckely Air Force Base in Denver, CO.  Which means, he'll be traveling to Denver every month for his drill weekends.  This weekend was his first time, and between the Navy and Oracle (he also has a new job back in Sales with Oracle) he was there all week and I joined him Friday night.

Thanks to the Lafeens for taking the kids for the whole weekend, and the kids had a blast and I didn't worry about them at all!

I have a good friend, Taft, from high school that moved to the area a few years ago and when I contacted him for good places to eat and do in the area we decided to try and have dinner together on Friday.  I think we were all glad that we did, because we had a fun time at dinner.  I felt a little bad because they just had a baby three weeks ago, but Lesha even managed to get a break for a few minutes because some (slightly crazy?) lady at another table asked to hold her for a while.  Seriously?  Who asks a stranger to hold their baby at a restaurant?

Anyway, good food and good company Friday night and we headed back to the hotel, about 15 minutes away from the base.

Justin had to be on base by 6:30, so we drove over there and I went to the gym right after.  It was a really nice facility and I decided to try and find a Farmers Market close by to get breakfast from.  Easier said then done. The short version is, I got to see a lot of downtown Denver and a couple of the suburbs and it was a nice drive.  The long version includes lots of turns, beautiful tree-lined streets, and a stop at Target to get a phone charger because using your map app for 3 hours straight can really drain a battery.

I was determined to get something delicious for breakfast, even though it was closer to lunch, so I made one more out of the way drive to a place Taft had told me about, Snooze.  I asked for a spot at the bar and was fully prepared to eat by myself and bring a to-go order for Justin's lunch.  However, they grossly misjudged the wait time.  I waited for about 30 minutes and by the time they seated me I started to worry about getting back to the base during Justin's lunch.  I sat there another 20-30 minutes before asking for both orders to be to-go and I ate my OMG French Toast with Justin.  It was worth the wait!

I finally made it back to the hotel, showered for the day, and we got ready for the Rockies game with Justin's new unit.  It was a fun night, we had another great meal at the park, and got to talk of guys from his unit.  We were a little away from all the action, which made it hard to follow much of the game.  But, I'm happy to report my major league track record remains intact.  Every single major league game I've ever attended, the home team has won.  All three of them.

Sunday morning was a lot of the same.  Took Justin on base, went and worked out.  This time I hurried back to the hotel and back to base to get a new military ID.  My previous ID picture was taken about 2 weeks after having Kate.  If anyone thinks their drivers license picture is bad, I can say, without a doubt, my photo was worse.  Seriously, it was REALLY bad.  I was happy to get another one.

When I mentioned my failure at finding a Farmers Market Taft suggested one and he and his family met me there for lunch.  It was a cute market, with a bunch of food trucks and produce.  I was a little sad that I couldn't take any home with me.  And dogs.  There were so many dogs!  Taft and Lesha warned me that their kids had to pet every dog they saw.  They weren't kidding.  Those kids (asked permission and) played with every single dog there.  It was adorable.  Made me want a dog even more than I do (which is a lot).

I had a couple of hours before Justin was done and found a movie that worked with the time I had.  It was pretty bad.  Some high school football movie.  How do you screw up a high school football movie?  The fact that no one was in the theatre when I got there (and only 2 other people showed up) should have been a clue on how bad it was going to be.

That's it.  I picked up Justin and we went to the airport.  Hung out in the USO for a while (Leather recliners, free snacks and computers, toys for the kids) and came home.

I noticed a few things about Denver:
*Every one goes the speed limit.  It was weird.
*Lots of construction on the freeways.  Just like home a few years ago.
*I thought I'd see more prius' and Subaru's.  (I was assured that they had their fair share)
*I saw 2 Whole Foods, a Trader Joes, and a Sprouts before I saw a Wal Mart.  Awesome.
*The Rockies have a great stadium.  But, it's no Fenway!