Post by brittanydyan
September 24, 2009 at 11:19 pm
After four days back in the humid, swamp that is the DC area, I REALLY miss the dry, clean air of Colorado.
I always have a hard time coming up with an introductory sentence for blog posts. Will suggested: “Once again I abandoned Will and the cat.”
Well, I wouldn’t call it abandonment, I did head out west for a long weekend to visit my pal Mal, who has been living in Denver for the past year and a half. I haven’t seen her in as much time, so we were in need of some major hang out time. Plus, I have never been west of the Mississippi (except for Texas and Mexico). I’m am not very well-traveled, but I’m trying to remedy that!
On Friday morning, I flew out to Denver on Frontier Airlines. Yes–it’s the airline with the wildlife plastered all over the planes. The seats were so comfy that I might just fly west again (they are based in Denver) in order to fly Frontier.
One of the first things Mal and I did in Denver was eat good vegetarian food. We share a love for vegetarian cuisine (especially our dearest Athens restaurant mentioned more than once on this blog). The food was great–in fact, it was great all weekend, which kind of surprised me. Not that I thought Denver would have crap food. It’s just that Will and I have been generally disappointed with DC/MD dining out. The great restaurants in DC are usually pretty pricey for our budget, but fantastic, locally grown, great tasting food could be had for downright cheap in Denver.
We enjoyed the rest of the day at nearby Wash Park and then watched a movie– for which I fell asleep during the first 10 minutes. I did wake up at 3:30am Mountain time that morning after all.
On Saturday, we spent the day at Rocky Mountain National Park. We took a guided horseback ride for a couple hours and then drove up into the mountains. The landscape and views were just beautiful. The temperature dropped nearly 30 degrees as we drove nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. After a full day of elk sitings, we ate dinner at the intricate Tea House in Boulder, which was again–yummy.
Mal took me to a local farmers market, followed by a tour of Denver on Sunday. In the afternoon, we headed to Red Rocks and then drove for a couple of hours out to some of the ski towns. We had a lot of great chat-time. Between catching up with one of my best friends and exploring an amazing part of our country, the weekend was incredibly memorable and relaxing.
Pics! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I had to buy one of the old school disposable ones. Thank goodness the digital photos look a ton better than the prints I got from CVS.
Taken while waiting in line for entrance into Rocky Mountain National Park.
Mal waiting for our horses.
This is my favorite. We are probably 10,000 feet above sea level, and you can see how the environment is treeless at this point.
On the steps of the Capital Building, one mile above sea level.
Post by Will
September 14, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Americans are obsessed with lists that commemorate “The Best of …”, “The Worst of …”, “The Painfully Mediocre”, etc.
Admittedly, I am always caught up, usually in conversation, compiling lists of my own.
I’m particularly fond of trying to determine who will be the next acquaintance to be preggers. An old favorite was to ascertain who was going to get married next but admittedly, that season of life, in regards to most of my close friends, has mostly passed us by (I’m looking at you Trice). Another good one, which was spawned sitting around at Allgood one summer night with the Clayton Calamity, was the Top 5 States You Would Hate to Live In (Sorry, Idaho).
Normally, this blog has been used to update the few of you who actually take your time to read our esteemed web space on our nominal cycles in our somewhat average day-to-day happenings. In doing so, I’m encouraged to frequently check the thesaurus to add a little verbal spice to the drivel I post on here (for fun, guess, in the previous sentences, which words I based as synonyms).
Some blogs like to post little features where they interject their opinions. For example, our “brother” blog, Hero Inc., usually gives insightful movie reviews. Normally, we haven’t done that as Brittany is usually the “Timely Round-Up” and I’m the “Topical Scatterbrain“.
So, here’s to adding something a little different.
It’s football season. Admittedly, it’s weird to have so many cultural interests and still get hung up on the sport. Reminiscing about some old games the other day got me thinking about some of the most memorable, not necessarily the greatest, sporting events I’ve attended. So, in no particular order, I give you five.
1. The Atlanta Olympic Games (1996)
Yeah, so maybe it’s not completely fair to lump all of the events into one single entity, but the Olympic experience is not something I will ever forget. Stand out moments for me included witnessing Carl Lewis capture a gold in the long jump, Michael Johnson take the 400m (he later took the 200m) at what is now Turner Field, Nigeria take gold in Sanford Stadium, and who could forget this guy?
2. Braves Storm Back and Beat Phillies (September 5th, 1992)
I’ve been to a lot of Braves games but this one really stands out to me. It was just me and my Dad and we had seats down the first base line, right past the dugout, but before where they usually keep the tarp (you know, where fans tend to fall out of their seats to try to grab foul balls or something like that). This was the somewhat of the Golden Age of baseball for me. When guys like Otis Nixon and David Justice prowled the outfield and Jeff Blauser and Mark Lemke were working the 6-4-3. Brian Hunter came up in the bottom on the 9th and hit a pinch-hit, two run home run to give the Braves a come-from-behind win. Out of all of the games I’ve been to with my Dad, this one really stands out as I can vividly recall Dan’s celebration and being a little freaked out how excited he was. Contrast to your modern day Braves fan, and well, we’ve certainly regressed.
3. First UGA Game (November 4th, 1989)
The Dawgs were taking on cupcake Temple. We were sitting up in the nosebleeds on the east end and me and my brother were wearing matching t-shirts (and Members Only jackets). I have vague recollections of the game, mainly being embarrassed standing up against the railing getting our picture taken, but there truly is nothing like being in the stands on game day. Thus, a new love was born and bred. Being a third generation Dawg, I guess you could say it’s in my blood.
4. USMNT Qualify for ’02 World Cup (October 7, 2001)
My dad and I had planned for the longest time to fly up to Boston and skip over to Foxboro to watch what would be the clinching qualifier for one of the more successful World Cups for the Men’s National side. Then September 11th happened and things changed. I remember it was up in the air if we were actually going to go. We made the game time decision and went. Travel with National Guardsman armed to the teeth at every point is something that you don’t easily forget. An aside to the actual game, we took in a Thrashers/Bruins game (another tradition my Dad and I would partake in, hockey once a season, before I moved) and also watched the Dawgs step on the Vols’ faces with a hobnail boot (look who you can see at the 26 second mark). Joe Max-Moore tallied two, enough to outpace Jamaica. At the half, I recall to much cheer, it was announced the U.S. had launched an attack on Afghanistan. Little did we know we’d still be there almost eight years later.
5. UGA Clinches Spot in 2002 SEC Championship Game (November 16th, 2002)
Another classic game, another vintage call. 70-X Takeoff will forever be lodged into my mind along with P-44 Haynes. I was lucky to be there, in a very loud, very intimidating atmosphere housed in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The UGA / Auburn game is a little bit special since there has been a homegrown, personal rivalry with a childhood friend. Did I mention I had to wear Auburn apparel to school once (thanks, Ben Leard). 2002 was a revitalization of sorts for the UGA football program. Not to mentioned, it priced out my Dad on season tickets. A few weeks later, we were at the Dome watching the Dawgs crush Matt Jones and the Hogs.
