usa: indiana: bloomington

Every time I come back to the States, of course I spend time in my hometown. This ended up being the longest visit in quite a while. I think the total time was 9 days?

Dad picked me up at the airport, and we stopped for food on the way back to Bloomington. Since the portion was American sized, I took home at least half of my food.

When we got home I brought my bags up to my room and went about figuring out everything I would need in my Russian work visa application.

(I already knew I should've had this figured out, and sent off as much as a week earlier, but I didn't get my act together.) I called the visa company at least twice.

We drove to Kinkos/FedEx so I could print something and mail everything, it all went smoothly. From there we drove to the mall and stopped in a couple stores. Then we drove home.

After getting home, I called my sister to figure out when we could hang out. In the middle of the conversation I somehow realized I had forgotten to sign the dotted line on my application. Eeek.

I knew my application would be denied for forgetting that, so I started running to Dad to ask if I could borrow the car to get back to FedEx.

I rushed around, and in my haste, tripped and fell down the stairs. Immediately I knew something was wrong. It was the same feeling I'd had when I'd tripped over nothing in particular a bit over a year ago in Kyiv. Something felt like it had popped, and my foot HURT. Dad helped me stand up, and I was able to walk (not easily, but it was possible,) so I knew it wasn't broken.

That didn't solve my signature problem though, so instead of me driving the car, Dad drove me while I put a bag of frozen vegetables on my foot. Even with the frozen vegetables, I hopped from the car to the store, rather than walk. (I could walk, but it hurt, soooo...)

It turned out I had just missed the chance to catch my packet, so I had to print out the page of the application once more, and pay for another envelope to be sent. Argh. After this disaster we went to the supermarket to get another bag of frozen vegetables, and an ankle brace.

When I got home I propped my ankle up on pillows (it had already swollen quite a bit) and stayed there the rest of the night.

The next morning Dad dropped me off at my sister's house. I got to hang out with her all day, and my nephew. He is awesome, of course. I always love spending time with my sister, I wish it got to happen more often.

For dinner that night I met up with more Gappers. They're everywhere! Kristy is originally from Indiana, though we didn't know each other in the States.

She married a guy she met there, this was the first time I met him. We had good food, and more importantly, good conversation. I love gappers, I'll never get tired of saying that, or with meeting up with them.

The next day Dad had a rotary club something or another, so I went with him to campus, then walked around while he had his meeting. My ankle was still swollen, but I wanted to do some walking.

I went through parts of the Union, looking for a specific spot to take a photo. I'd seen it in other photos, and wanted my own photo.

I found it, but there were people studying there, and I didn't think it would be cool to say 'hey, can you move so I can take a photo?' Studying definitely takes priority.

I also walked through parts of the building that used to be known as HPER. (In my head that's how it will always be known, but the powers that be changed the name.) The intramural basketball courts were empty, which seemed strange. I'm used to there always being a pickup game or two going on. Royer Pool was empty (not just of people, of water too,) so I"m assuming repairs are being done.

This pool is where the science and sport of swimming as we know it today were invented.

Next to HPER is the fine arts museum, which apparently is closed for a while due to more renovation work.

From there I walked next to the 'new' global/international something or other building, which did not exist when I was a student at IU. Given my life now, maybe I should've had a major along those lines? I also walked through the arboretum, which is a lovely green space on a campus full of green spaces. I still find it hard to believe a sports stadium used to be there.

After meeting back up with Dad we drove to another side of town to visit a coffee shop I love. Needmore Coffee is owned by a friend, who does all the roasting herself. She sources her beans from ethical, organic farms in Central America. Someone complained to me once that the place is expensive, and my answers were that you pay the same amount at Starbucks, and this is a local business. The only way you get cheaper coffee drinks is to make them yourself at home. I will always support a local business, even more so when I know the owner!

Dad and I went home for a few hours, I'm sure he did something productive with the time. I'm pretty sure I took a nap, or browsed social media sites. That night we went to dinner at Janko's, a steak place in town. I've loved it for years; they aren't fancy, but the steaks are great. Dessert was at an ice cream place. No, I did not need dessert, but it's soooo hard to resist.

On the way home we stopped by the gridiron (football,) stadium because the lighting was fantastic and I noticed I would be able to take a photo without any cars or people in the photo. I grew up going to games at this stadium, and though the team hasn't been very good for years, it still brings back heaps of good memories.

The next morning I had breakfast with my old boss KGB at a local place called the Village Deli. They're known for the ridiculous size of their pancakes, and generally having good breakfast food. It's always good to have a catchup with KGB, and to hear what the latest plans are for Rec Sports at IU.

The Village Deli is close to campus, so that's where I walked next. I figured it was early enough in the morning to find that spot in the Union and hope no one was there. I was right, I was the only one, so I took my photo and left.

From there I walked to the office of another old boss and dropped by for a chat. Another good catchup, and this one wasn't even expected!

I walked to the law school to check out their library, as libraries can often be really photogenic. For some reason I thought there was a specific reading room there, but either I didn't find it or it isn't there. Oh well. Not surprisingly, the law library was super quiet.

On the way home I passed the observatory, which always strikes me as really small. How does anyone see anything at night? It's the same height or shorter than other buildings all around.

I walked home, which had me dripping with sweat pretty much the entire way. It wasn't far, at least not by my standards, I just wish I hadn't felt like I was in a sauna the whole time. I walked on the wrong side of one road nearly the entire way because that side had shade, and the proper side didn't. I had no desire to pass out just because I was on the right side of the road for pedestrians.

That night I met up with a couple twins who were also high school classmates. Non stop laughing and smiling for the next several hours. I swam with Julie and had gym class with Jennifer. I'd just missed my 20^th high school reunion, I guess this was a mini reunion of sorts. Jennifer also brought some amazing chocolate, I could've eaten my weight of the chocolate, yum.

We went to a local microbrewery and had fried pickles, which were amazing. There is definitely an art to getting the right ratio of breading to pickle. Too much breading and they're no good. We also had huge burgers, yum. The beers the girls drank smelled good. Our dessert (after the pre meal dessert I'd already had) was from a food truck. Yum! I can't wait until the Chocolate Moose opens again.

The next day was a day trip to West Baden Springs Hotel with Dad. 

Sunday morning we went to church. This was the service where the church officially decommissioned the organ, which we've had for decades. I'm glad I was lucky enough to appreciate the amazing music and musicians with my church.

Who knows if it was originally commissioned or not, but it brought a lot of amazing music into the church for years.

That evening I went to the house of my high school swim coach for dinner. Her husband was there, as well as three other coaches/former bosses of mine. It was great to see everyone, and to hear the stories they all have to tell. They've all been in swimming in the area for a long time, so they know all the gossip, old and new. They were all big influences in my life, whether they'll admit it or not.

The next day I went with Dad to the monthly meeting of the Press Club. It was interesting to meet some of the other attendees, most of whom are older/retired. After lunch we walked through campus to get to the library parking lot, and took a picture of Hoagy Carmichael at a piano on the way. The song 'Stardust' is fairly well known, as is Hoagy, but not as many people know he is from Indiana.

That afternoon and evening I went to Mom's flat, and hung out with her for several hours. After dinner she drove me back to Dad's house.

The next day my sister and I did a road trip to Columbus, Indiana.

Wednesday, 26 July was a day of stress relief. My passport was delivered, with a Russian work visa inside. Getting the passport back meant two things: I was going to Russia, and I was going to Cuba with the tickets I'd already booked. (I was afraid the passport wouldn't come back on time and I'd be forced to postpone/cancel Cuba.)

I'd made plans to meet up with a couple more friends that afternoon. We're the same age, but they went to a different high school, not too far from mine. I hadn't seen Katie and Krista in five years, I think. We met up at 1500, and I managed to do a whole lot of nothing earlier in the day. More good conversation, and I really wish we could see each other more often.

Krista drove me to Mom's flat, she and I went shopping then out to dinner. Mom isn't very good at sitting around and chatting, though she is good at sitting by herself. When she and I hang out I've discovered it's a good idea to be doing something.

Thursday was my last day in Bloomington. I started the day by meeting with a financial advisor, which was surprisingly interesting. Then I met up for coffee with the man who has what sounds like an ideal job to me: planning travel for IU alumni. Totally awesome.

From there I walked up the street and met up for lunch with another of my high school classmates. I don't think I'd seen Mahala since high school, so this was pretty awesome. Who knew the Trojan Horse has such good key lime cheesecake? I definitely could've eaten more. Another really good catchup, and we definitely won't wait another 20 years to do it again.

After getting home from lunch I borrowed Dad's car to do a couple last minute errands, then packed up all my stuff. Dad drove me up to Indianapolis, and checked me into a hotel. Almost across the street was a nice place to have dinner. The reason for the hotel was the timing of my first flight the next morning: at 0525.

After dinner Dad drove back to Bloomington and I tried to get some sleep. It didn't really work, but it never does when I have something really really early in the morning.

Bloomington, I will always come back as long as I know people living there.  

usa: indiana: west baden springs and columbus

The next day was Saturday. We didn't have anything specific planned, but Dad was up for my idea of a day trip to West Baden Springs hotel. I'd never been there, but I knew he had, as had other family members. Every photo I'd of the place looked pretty amazing.

We stopped for lunch at a fast food place along the way, nothing exciting. As we drove I made note of the petrol prices, as they were considerably lower than what was available in Bloomington. (I hate the way people in Bloomington pay higher prices for rent, mortgage, petrol, etc... because we're a captive audience.)

Indiana is mostly made up of small towns, we drove through a number of them. Life in rural towns isn't great economically these days, and you can see that when you drive through. What I also noticed was that petrol prices were considerably cheaper than in Bloomington.

West Baden Springs hotel was built when you could take a train from Chicago all the way to southern Indiana. I'm pretty sure that isn't possible anymore. The town of West Baden Springs was originally developed by Germans (hence the name) and was known for natural springs.

The hotel itself is pretty amazing. The grounds are huge, no matter which approach you use. The atrium you walk into is stunning. The roof of the atrium is giant, and the whole thing is a skylight. The hotel was originally built at the beginning of the 20^th century, and after a while fell into disrepair. At some point Jesuits used it as a monastery, and darn them they capped off the springs. I think renovations started in the late 80s or 90s, something like that? The renovations were done really well, the place looks fantastic, and looks just the old photos from way back.

We walked through the atrium, unable to miss the GIANT skylight letting in a huge amount of natural light to the room. The engineering of the whole thing is really impressive. There are couches and chairs set in groups throughout the room, it's a great place to hang out with your friends and family.
We also walked through the hallway that encircles the atrium. We also checked out the porch, which had plenty of rocking chairs. If it hadn't felt like a sauna outside I would've been super keen to sit on one of the chairs and read for a couple hours.
The last area we explored was an area of landscaped gardens. Two of the old springs (also capped by the Jesuits when they 'owned' the property, argh,) were on the edge of these gardens. A pretty area, but too darn hot to dawdle in the sun.

Even though I'd brought water with me, and grabbed a couple bottles from a cooler, I was still feeling the heat. Instead of going to another sight in southern Indiana I told Dad I was ready to go home. We got home mid evening, so it was probably good that we didn't go anywhere else.

Of course, if we'd planned the day ahead of time and gotten moving a bit earlier, we could've done more. Oh well.
Three days later, I did a road trip with my sister.
Just like everyone else in my immediate family, my sister has lived abroad at least twice. Though she now lives in Bloomington, she and her husband (and now my nephew) still travel, but it's domestic travel. They've done an amazing job of finding places in and around Indiana, places I didn't know anything about before receiving a postcard from Hana.

We wanted to spend time together again, and decided to do it by going on a day long road trip, to a nearby city called Columbus, Indiana.
On the way there I asked her to stop so I could take a photo of myself with the city sign for Gnaw Bone. Yes, there is a town called Gnaw Bone in Indiana. Not surprisingly, it is not a giant metropolis.

I'd been to Columbus more times than I can count or remember, but every previous visit was while I was a competitive swimmer. I remember many an early morning driving through the quiet streets of Columbus, not really knowing the city at all.

There are two high schools in the city, I've swum at both of them. There is also a swim club that had a summer meet and a winter meet, adding to the number of Columbus visits every year. This time I wanted to see what Columbus is known for, it's architecture. Buildings all around the city are unique.

We started by going to the visitors center. I was excited when Hana told me the glass sculptures were made by Chihuly, because I've seen photos of those sculptures from around the country and they're always beautiful. It was a really nice visitors center.

From there we walked. I suppose that's all we did, but it was nice. The weather was reasonable, which made a huge difference.

I took a lot of photos, of course. I took one of the old armory. I took one of a church. I took several of various sculptures. I took several inside the play area inside a mall.
I took pictures of the bridge you are likely to cross if you're coming in from Bloomington. I took pictures of the courthouse, and the nearby veterans memorial.
I took more than a few pictures of my nephew as he took in the world around him.

I did not take a picture of lunch, as it wasn't anything to get excited about. After the main part of lunch (soup, salad, sandwich,) we stopped into an old time ice cream shop. It looked great, they've done a good job staying with the style of places back then. The ice cream was so so, I doubt I would go back for more.

After eating, we drove a little, to Mill Race Park. There is a nice walking trail around the park, and the best part is the covered bridge. Cars still drive through the covered bridge, so when I convinced Hana to take a photo with me, we had to keep an eye out for any traffic.

We probably would've walked through more of the park, but the weather wasn't so pleasant anymore, becoming more and more humid. It's not much fun to walk around when you feel like you're in a sauna.

After the park we felt like we were done for a while. I can always walk around any town for hours, but my nephew was done for the day, and we had one more stop to make.

There is a series of outlet stores in a town called Edinburgh, not far from Columbus. Hana likes one of them in particular, so we went shopping.

I found one thing I liked, but it looked awful on me, so my wallet was spared, hee hee.

My nephew was tired of course, but like most babies, did not want to go to sleep. He screamed for a while, then fell asleep, just as we knew he would.

I love spending time with my sister.  

usa: colorado: colorado springs

When I'd been looking at flights to and from Colorado Springs, the way back was going to be heaps cheaper if I left on Tuesday instead of Sunday or Monday. Since I knew Layna lived in Colorado Springs I asked her if I could stay with her those two nights. She was at most of the reunion in the house, leaving only occasionally to take care of her kids.

After saying goodbye to everyone after brunch, I drove to the Garden of the Gods. I'd visited the area once before, with another gapper, and I was happy to return. It's free, has a number of walking and hiking areas, and is really photogenic.

The way the rocks come out of the ground is just stunning.

Finding parking was a bit of a hassle, but it happened soon enough. I walked a number of the trails, climbed a bunch of rocks, and generally enjoyed myself. I was surprised at the number of people who were there but seemed afraid of heights. It's not a high place, but why come here if you don't want to climb even a little?

After a couple hours, I drove to Layna's flat. She'd left a sign on the front door telling me where she was, so I walked and found her.

It was nice to finally meet her kids, as I'd seen a few photos over the years. It was also nice to finally meet her boyfriend, who I'd been hearing about for even longer.

Since Layna and I did our tour of Asia together, we had even more to catch up on. Despite having talked for the whole weekend already, we still had plenty to say. I love Garmischers.

The next morning I got moving slowly, so did everyone else in the flat. Layna drove the kids to school a bit later than normal, but these things happen.

Then she and I figured out a plan for the day. I wanted to hang out with her, and I wanted to see something new in the city. One of my travel apps told me about the US Olympic Training Center, which wasn't far away. There was also a cemetery listed, as well as a lake, and just walking through downtown Old Colorado City.

The training center offers tours every half hour, and if you're paying with a credit or debit card, it has to be a Visa. I'm pretty sure Visa is one of their sponsors, otherwise they'd take more cards.

The tour started with a 15 minute video about several athletes, their typical day, and a basic description of what they have available at the training center. After the video we left the visitors building and started walking through the campus.

We got to see the weight room, which is huge, of course. We got to see one of the physical therapy rooms, which had a couple anti gravity treadmills. Somehow those get rid of 80% of the feel of gravity, so athletes who are injured can continue running while healing at the same time. Amazing.

We got to see the wrestling area, which is actually the home of USA Wrestling. We got to see the pool, though many of the swimmers were away in Budapest, at the world competition. We got to see the indoor shooting range and the gymnasium in which a gymnastics competition had just been held. We got to see the front of the building in which the dining hall is located, which is not the kitchen.

We also got to see part of the kitchen where the science of food takes place. It doesn't always come to mind first, but for an athlete to perform their best they have to be taking in the best food.

Each athlete has a different diet, based on how they need to perform best in their sport. The food available varies a lot around the world, so if someone is preparing to compete internationally, they're probably going to be eating some of what is available in that location. That way their bodies will already be used to the difference, and won't react badly.

After the tour we were 'released' and everyone wandered through the rest of the visitors center. There is a gift shop, with all kinds of Team USA clothing (and other gear,) available.

I might have bought something if it had just said USA, but all of it said Team USA, and I feel like that is something that has to be earned, not just bought. There is also a media room, with a series of screens going around the room that show various Olympic athletes through the years. Its fun to see how many you recognize, and to note the changes in fashion. If you've paid attention to the Olympics over the years, you get chills when you see some of the iconic photos again. Amazing performances by amazing people. 

Out front I took photos of the statues in the garden, just because I could. 

After seeing everything we could, Layna and I drove around the city a bit. We drove through the cemetery, which felt pretty big to me. There were definitely different sections, I think some of them were military. Layna showed me the house in which she'd lived previously, it was right near a lake.

We drove through downtown Old Colorado City, then walked the main street. It's full of shops and restaurants, and is generally cute.

At some point one of us looked at a watch and realized it was time to pick up the kids.

Since we were driving my car they had quite a surprise when they came out of the school building. From there we went out to dinner at a pizza place. It's the kind of place where the staff are all wearing old school dresses and uniforms, and the arcade is relatively cheap. A nice fun evening.

I went to bed early that night, but didn't get any sleep. Amazingly enough, I was productive enough to pack everything the night before flying! My alarm went off at 0330, and I drove my car to a petrol station at 0345. Layna met me with her van after getting coffee, and she followed me to the care hire place.

I left my car there and dropped the keys in the box, then Layna took me to the airport.

Amazingly, both my flights were on time. Yay!!

It is always good to spend time with a Garmischer, anywhere and everywhere. It's even better when it's in a cool city.

the States: colorado: colorado springs

The drive from Crested Butte to Colorado Springs was just as beautiful in reverse. Maybe even more so because I didn't have to worry about rain or low clouds. It took a little longer to get to my destination in Colorado Springs because there was construction on one part of the highway, and I couldn't go around.

This next part of my travels was another reason I'd come to the States this summer: a full on Garmisch-Partenkirchen reunion with one set of friends. (Between Crested Butte and Colorado Springs I was in Colorado for about a week. I used the hashtag #garmischappreciationweek for all the photos of the week.)

A couple friends had taken it upon themselves to choose a weekend, choose a place, and choose accomodation. The rest of us simply sent in the money, and figured out how to get to Colorado Springs.

The rental house was huge, and absolutely perfect. It was on the edge of town, and had no close neighbors. I was one of the first to arrive, I got to pick my bed. Not too long after I arrived, others started showing up. Soooo many hugs and smiles and general happiness.

It's hard to describe the friendships that started in GaP. Back then we were all young and somewhat naive. We traveled together, partied together, worked and lived together. People from Garmisch are the last ones who saw me drink a beer. (I figured out near the end of my time there that I'm allergic.) Back then we all lived in the same building, so you never had to go far to find someone to hang out with. Of course, this also means everyone knew everything about everyone else, there were very few secrets.

Some of us hadn't seen each other since we lived in GaP, and yet it felt like no time had passed at all. We've all sortof grown up, and even though I hadn't seen these folks much since, I'd still trust them with everything.

The first few hours were filled with greetings as new people arrived, and general catching up. It had been 14 years since some of us saw each other, there was a lot to talk about. Lots of laughter, dancing, etc...

At some point meals were discussed, and it was decided that the professional chefs in the group (3 out of the 15 people were professional chefs, how awesome is that?) would be cooking dinner that night, and everyone would chip in for the food.

Since I love grocery shopping, I went with two of them. I don't know if you've ever shopped with people who know food, it's fun. They had all kinds of ideas, and were ready to buy out the entire store, hee hee. For each item we had to remember that there would be 15 people, so we needed more than it seemed. One carton of cream cheese wasn't going to be enough, nor was one bag of chips. Megan was almost exactly right about the total cost at checkout, even though she hadn't been writing prices down as we went along. Eric and I were totally impressed.

Since this was a reunion of people who can drink, we also had to go to the liquor store. Colorado has strange laws about alcohol; you can't buy it at a grocery store, you have to go to a liquor store. That part of the trip didn't take nearly as long as the food part.

The rest of the afternoon and evening continued with hanging out, catching up, making new memories, etc... Groups of people talking changed around, everyone moved around from time to time, life was good. At some point all three cooks started preparing dinner.

Since this was a real house, and there was a real dining table, it was set properly. It was neat to sit down to a family dinner all at once. The food was set up family style in the kitchen, we all served ourselves. Again, the conversation never stopped, with lots of laughter throughout the evening.

I suppose it sounds like nothing much happened that day, but it was amazing to see all those people after so long.

There was soooo much catching up to do, with all of them. I think I finally went to bed around midnight, but I don't really know.

The next morning some people were up earlier than others. Courtney actually went to work out! She was the only one of us that motivated, the rest of us felt pretty good about getting up before noon. Even though we were all awake early enough, it took a while for everyone to get showered and dressed and ready to go.

Just as everyone was ready to go somewhere, we looked at the clock and realized it was lunch. We had lunch food in the house, and that seemed like a much better idea (since it had already been paid for) than going out to a restaurant.

Two cars worth of people finally got out the door after noon sometime.

The destination for the day was the chapel on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy. (USAFA.) I'd seen it before, but it is really eye catching, and we all needed to get out of the house for a bit. The drive to the academy was easy, and the two cars were let in after quick checks of our drivers licenses.

We parked and walked through a platz like area (which I'm sure serves some purpose but I have no idea what it is) to get to the chapel. On the platz there are a couple memorials as well as some model airplanes.

I'm not terribly good at describing how things look, I'm hoping my photos will do the talking for me. The shape of the chapel is basically a giant triangle. It is divided into two levels; the top level has the Protestant Chapel, while the lower level has areas for Catholics, Buddhists, and Jews.

 The Protestant part of things is what usually gets all the attention, for several reasons. One, because it is the biggest, and the most cadets attending services here. Two, the interior is quite unique, it isn't like your average Protestant church. The stained glass lets in light and colour, and the whole thing is really geometric.

The bottom level is also beautiful but doesn't get as much attention. The Catholic chapel has walls of stained glass as well, I loved the colour and warmth. The Jewish and Buddhist areas are smaller, but still very nice. As far as I could tell, they didn't want visitors tromping through the Jewish and Buddhist areas, though the Protestant and Catholic areas are open.

After checking out the chapels we looked at the surrounding areas. I pointed out the dorms in which the cadets live, each of them for four years. We could see cadets rushing around with big trunks, maybe they were moving in before the start of the new year? We probably should've visited the visitors center and asked someone.

We could see dark storm clouds rolling in pretty fast, so we decided it was time to go. No one wanted to go back to the house just yet, so someone looked up a microbrewery close by, and that was our next stop. I went with raspberry lemonade, the rest of them went with something alcoholic. From the moment we'd all laid eyes on each other the day before, conversation had yet to stop.

After that we drove back to the house. It was early evening, so the cooks came together and figured out a plan for dinner that night.

The original plan had been to go out to a restaurant, but everyone had really enjoyed the family meal the night before and preferred to stay in. Plus, we had plenty of food left, no one wanted to waste it.

For the next few hours people hung out again, some in the hot tub, some in the living room, etc... At some point the cooks did their thing again, and put together another amazing meal. Eating as a group again was just as awesome.

Not long after dinner we gathered outside around the natural gas fire. Layna had prepared about 100 trivia questions about our time in Garmisch.

Some of the questions were about specific things that had happened, others were about the town itself, and still others asked for stories about our experiences.

We played in teams, which made it all really entertaining. Funny to find out who remembered what, and who had forgotten what. Heaps of laughter, and we all learned a bit as well.

In addition to the trivia questions Layna had put together a slide show of old photos. Watching all of those was hysterical. We were all really glad again that social media didn't exist when we lived in GaP. Or maybe we would've left our phones at home, who knows.

I don't know what the people who live there now do when they go out.

I finally went to bed around 0100, I think I was one of the earliest. How do people stay up so late?

The next morning we all got moving a bit faster than the day before, but not by much. We didn't have to officially check out until 1600, but everyone was ready to go long before that.

To get our deposit back we had to clean up of course, strip the beds, wash the dishes, that sort of thing. Since nearly all of us had spent at least a few minutes in housekeeping or waitstaff while in GaP this was easy enough to do.

Around 1215 everyone gathered out front for one last group photo. I love having a tripod.

Most of us went from there to brunch at a restaurant where Erik knows the owner, though some split off and drove back to Denver. Basically it was another hour and some for us to hang out with each other.

After that, it really was over. I'm soooo glad this weekend was planned, and happened. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 14 years to get together again!