r-e-l-a-x...

Tomorrow starts my big summer traveling extravaganza. Monday through Thursday we're having a work retreat in Scottsdale, AZ (think lots of time at the pool, pedicure, scrumptious food... aahhhh. Okay, and some meetings in-between). Then Laura and Mags are picking me up from the airport Thursday evening, which kicks off our 10-day road trip through the West Coast. Up to Oregon, down the PCH Highway (with a quick stop at the Red Woods), then to San Francisco, and further south to Carmel. We'll meet a Denver friend there who's visiting her parents back home, and eventually mosey our way back to Denver through Las Vegas and Utah. If my calculations are correct, the trip will total more than 3000 miles. Go little car, go!

I will be journaling our travel adventures and experiences along the way, then post them upon our return.

I love vacation.

freedom...

It has been an incredible past couple of days. Saturday evening I went on a police ride-along. Leading up to the adventure I was nervous, but really had no idea what I was getting myself into. The experience was intense - it went from 9pm until 7am Sunday morning. I spent almost ten hours that night with Officer Mike. He works the downtown district, one of the crazier locations, especially on the weekends at Lodo, the bar scene nearby. When I got in the car he said, "Okay, you're going to stick right by me through everything. You can either be behind me or beside me, but stay close, and never get in front of me. If a situation is an extreme safety hazard I'll have you stay in the car, but I doubt that will happen - you can pretty much stick with me the entire time. And I did.

Eye-opening does not begin to describe what I took from that night... the things the police force do to keep us safe is seriously amazing. Sometimes it's easy to get a bad taste in your mouth when the word cops or police are said, but the work they do and the crap they deal with is insane-o. And it's a job that you're constantly on, 100% alert, all the time. There is no slacking, no down time. We didn't stop for coffee. We didn't stop for snacks. We hardly stopped to pee. They work hard, often with little recognition or reward.

I truly encourage everyone to go on a ride-along sometime. See what it's all about. Witness a day (or preferably night) in the life of a cop. I guarantee the experience will leave an impact. A big one.

Another highly anticipated event was Laura's Birthday BBQ Bash yesterday. It was western themed, complete with cornbread, baked beans, cowboy hats and belt buckles. That night we had a bon fire... followed by dancing in the living room. There was a great turn out, and it was a beautiful evening for a party on the lawn.
Today's Fourth of July celebration was awesome too! Laura, Jen, and I drug ourselves out of bed this morning and headed to the park for a game of pick-up ultimate frisbee. In all my modesty I'll proudly note that I scored a few touchdowns, and some assists too. It just feels so good to finally be catching on! Okay, maybe not so humble of me to mention...

Tonight a bunch of us met at another park. There was a symphony orchestra playing until dark, and everyone was welcome to bring a picnic and blankets. We had plenty of food left from the party, so there were burgers and brats for all. Of course before chowing down we played more frisbee. And after the concert we played frisbee again. We played past dark, past the point of really even being able to see the frisbee. But no one wanted to quit. Until an unlucky player suffered a sprained ankle from an unmarked sprinkler head. Youch!

The picture above is of all those who are wearing matching shorts. We thought this was hilarious. There's just something about long, greenish-gray cargo shorts that screams Colorado. In fact, I can't wait to buy another pair. They're good for anything - a weekend hike, lazy days around town... shoot, you wouldn't even get a second look if you wore them to the bars. So versatile. Just another reason I love this beautiful state.