Denver

It was time to head home. Well not home home. Just the USA. My friend Brian was getting married and I was headed to the wedding. All along I wanted to go, but I knew that my traveling could prevent it. It would have been harder to make it happen if I was still in Asia. But everything worked out timing wise and since I was in Australia at the beginning of the year, I went ahead and booked a ticket to Denver. It was official. I was going to experience a real winter.

I got up early, but not so early and made my way to the Melbourne airport. Robbie was great and dropped me off close to the station where I was catching my bus to the airport. There was a slight hiccup before we actually left. We were asked to get off the bus (after it was fully loaded) and board a new bus. The reason why, became apparent as were getting off. Some guy was trying to get on the bus and they were not allowing it. Since he was causing a scene, I assumed they just wanted to avoid anything major and we switched buses. It turns out that we was trying to use a invalid ticket to get on the bus. And instead of just owning up to it, he still tried to get on the bus. It was kind of harmless, but at the same time, he could have just let it go. 

We were were finally on our way to the airport. An older gentleman sat down next to me and chatted with me the entire ride. I actually almost missed my stop at the international airport. The ride went by fairly quickly and it was nice to hear all of his travel adventures. It's good to see older people still traveling. I got through security pretty quickly and planted myself near to my gate to get one last drink with my remaining Australian dollars. This time it was some local bubbly.

Heading back to the USA.

I boarded the plane and got comfortable. Then a stewardess came up to and asked to check my ticket. I was hopeful that I was getting upgraded. I wasn't. Apparently I was supposed to go through some extra security screening and had to get off the plane. I went back up to the gate area and got a pat down while they went through my bags. This was supposed to be random, but later I would question if that was in fact the case. I was back on the plane and got comfortable again. I settled in to watch some movies and eat some lunch. We gradually caught up to the night before. It was 11:30am when I left Melbourne, and when it got dark outside, I knew we caught up to the previous day. I continued to watch movies and wait for my dinner. It never came. I finally had to ask when our next meal was after over 6 hours of getting the last one. Not for another 3 hours. Seriously. They gave me a couple of snacks, but that's wasn't dinner. I feel like they can't not feed us for almost 10 hours. Yes, I could buy snacks, but I had snacks. I wanted a proper meal. You would figure you'd get 3 meals on a 14-hour flight. I finally get fed again right before we landed at LAX, but it was breakfast. At least it was some sort of meal. That would be United for you. 

We finally landed at LAX and I officially went back in time. It was now 6am the same day that I left Melbourne. I felt like Marty McFly. After going through immigration, which is somewhat of a blur right now, I got my standard "welcome home" and headed to the domestic terminal for my flight to Denver. It was the furthest terminal of course. But it was nice to go for a long walk after being on the plane for so long. Once I got through security again, I made some calls. I was back in the US and didn't have to rely on wifi. Woo hoo. So I spent some time catching up with family before my flight. After a relatively short flight from LA to Denver, and some amazing views, I finally made it. When we landed, they announced the temperature and I thought it was Celsius at first, but knew that 35 Celsius was way to hot for Denver. And there was snow everywhere. I saw snow in New Zealand, but at the top of mountains. This was everywhere. You know, because it's winter.

Somewhere between California and Colorado.

I grabbed the bus to take me downtown and finally at around 4pm in the afternoon, I made it to the hotel. I was excited to have my own room with a king size bed. With a view. Big spender. I didn't necessarily want to spend this much money on a room since I'm in the middle of my trip, and unemployed. But it was for Brian's wedding, and I wanted to be near everyone. I was going to take advantage of that big bed and sleep a ton. 

King size bed. Whoop.

Although when I tried to take a short nap later on, after a shower of course, it was hard. I was meeting everyone for pre-wedding drinks and knew I would get tired. Let's be real, I was already tired. I didn't really sleep and got myself ready to go out into the cold in my thrown together outfit that was not appropriate for Denver in the middle of winter. The temperature was down in the teens at that point. I just put on a lot of layers and went to Wynkoop Brewing Company to celebrate Brian and Jenny, and catch up with old friends. It was great seeing everyone. I was a little out of it and I wasn't used to seeing people I knew. But it was almost like no time had passed. It was a relatively early night (considering it was a wedding weekend) and my eyes were killing me. I had to get to bed. Although I was too wired to sleep. I had gone past a night's sleep and was on the next day, Australia time. 

I got a decent night's sleep, that is until housekeeping woke me up. Not sure why they were making the rounds at 9am. Unfortunately I couldn't really fall back sleep. I wanted to get another coupe of hours, but that didn't really happen. I met up with my friend Erica at noon and we went for a run. Since it was afternoon at this point, the weather had warmed up a bit. I did have one winter running outfit that would work, so I was covered. We knocked out 5 miles at elevation and caught up the entire way. Since the Super Bowl was the following day, we ran to the Broncos stadium in celebration. 

Running to the Broncos stadium.

After our run, we grabbed some lunch nearby with another friend of mine who now lives in Denver. I studied with Meredith in Dublin years ago and since I was visiting, we wanted to meet up. We had  good food and some local beer. Time was flying by as we caught with running and traveling. 

Old study abroad friend.

Before I knew it, it was 3:30. I had to go. The pre-ceremony festivities were starting at 5pm. I ran to grab a card and water, and went back to the hotel. But I ran into another friend and realized I also meant to get some tea to wake up. So I accompanied Jen and her fiancee to Starbucks. We had a few minutes to catch up before I had to get back to the hotel and shower. I had gotten my dress and heels from my friend Emily the day before (she brought them from NYC), so I just needed to hurry. I met Emily and Ari, and we headed to the wedding.

We arrived too late and missed the Tisch, but then they proceeded with some other traditions. I wasn't familiar with most of it. Ok, all of it. Mostly because I'm not Jewish. And the two Jewish weddings I've been to, were slightly different. So I stood there, smiled, and sort of sang along when the verses seemed to be repetitive. Afterwards, it was time for the actually ceremony. The wedding was in an art gallery, a good setting for a wedding. The ceremony was very beautiful. Yes, I feel like I say that for every wedding. But it's generally true.

Brian and Jenny.

The rest of the wedding flew by. We ate, we drank, and we danced. We got our obligatory UR alumni photo and took some photos in the photo booth. Before we knew it, we were back at the hotel. We grabbed a drink up at the hotel Peaks Lounge. Oh and then we had pizza. We were all pretty hungry again by then. So after devouring that, we went to bed. What a fun night. Oh I actually also had an edible. You know, because we were in Colorado. I don't think it hit me until right before bed. I was watching TV, and I definitely felt something. I wasn't sure if my wine was hitting me or the edible. Regardless, I decided it was time to close my eyes and go to bed. 

UR alumni.

I tried to sleep in the following morning, but was again was slightly unsuccessful. I got a late checkout and went for a run. I figured the cold air would help my slight hangover, and I needed to move a bit. After a few miles, I packed up my things, and met another friend, Cori, and her husband at Snooze for brunch, after getting a mimosa at Station bar. My first one in months. Union Station is actually quite nice. It's so nice, it doesn't look like many people travel through there.

Mimosa time.

After brunch, I headed to the Yard House to meet everyone to watch the Broncos play the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Yup, I was in Denver and the Broncos were in it. And yes, I was rooting for them. Why not. It was a pretty good game, and the Broncos pulled it in for the win, even though at certain points, I knew fans were a little nervous. Since we were in a bar (and it's been a long time since I watched in a bar), it was hard to catch some of the commercials. Good thing for YouTube. After a celebratory drink at the hotel bar, it was time to make my way to Erica's, where I was staying a couple of nights before leaving the country. 

The Broncos win.

Since the Broncos won, the city was busy celebrating. Erica and Eric couldn't make there way into the city to pick me up. After unsuccessfully finding a cab, I went to grab the bus, which was also unsuccessful. Although I did see some of the celebrations first hand. People were driving by, hanging out windows, honking horns and just plain happy. The police were out in full force to prevent anything crazy. I know they were being prepared, but it seemed pretty tame to me. Although at one point, I'm pretty sure I got tear gas in my throat. I just started coughing all of a sudden, after the police shot out something out of their guns. Again, it wasn't major, but I was definitely getting tired and was ready to leave. 

The police are out in full force.

I finally got a cab and got myself to Erica. I tried to sleep in the next morning, but really couldn't. Erica's appointment was cancelled, so we spent the morning doing a few things. I had some flights to book and she had work to do. I of course realized that my flight to Chile was the following day, not Wednesday like I had thought. When I was in Australia, everything was a day ahead, so my flight was in fact on Tuesday. I didn't get to do much else in Denver, but got a few errands done and Erica and I got lunch at a cute spot in Arvada. And of course I loved the globes. 

Off to the next part of the world.

We got some beer afterwards at a local spot, and headed back to her place to have a low-key night. I had gotten rid of some things since I sent a package home, but then had to make room for my new hiking boots. I made everything fit. The following morning, Eric gave me a ride to the airport, and I headed out for the next part of my trip.

Local beer.

Of course not before I got selected for a TSA check. So I had that extra security check in Melbourne and now I had a security check in Denver. I must be flagged for all of my travels. I'm pretty sure it wasn't random like they said. Fortunately my flight was delayed, but they took their time thoroughly checking me and my bags. I mean thoroughly. It took quite some time, but finally got through the process. I was finally on my way to Atlanta, where I had a stopover before flying to Chile.