Denver via The California Zephyr

A good friend of mine recently moved to Denver, Colorado.  I had never been to Denver and I have yet to ride Amtrak’s California Zephyr.  I wasted no time in planning a trip from 11/18/10 through 11/22/10.

 

Drove to Osceola, Iowa in the dark of night.

Waiting patiently by the old ticket booth for a late running train.

My cozy room #9 aboard the California Zephyr.

Watched the sunrise over the Colorado plains as I ate breakfast in the Dining Car.

I arrived at Denver Union Station early Friday morning.

Later that day we hiked the trail at Red Rocks State Park.

And visited Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Friday night was spent eating out and visiting some clubs and Saturday we shopped at 16th Street Mall.

And saw the state capital building.

Saturday night we once again visited some clubs, one among them being the Denver Eagle.  I’m not really into the leather scene but we had a lot of fun there.  And some of the guys were hot, hot, hot!  Sunday we just pretty much hung out at the apartment.  I would have rather seen more of the city but I didn’t want to impose upon my hosts.  So later that evening I found myself back at Denver Union Station.

A beautiful building at night.

Soon I found myself on the Eastbound California Zephyr. My room, #13, was at the end of the hall on the left.

After breakfast I went to the back of the train to watch us race down the line out the dirty back window.

Entertained myself with the camera for a while.

Wasn't much to see in rural Iowa but I enjoyed it none the less.

Later that Monday morning I had detrained back in Osceola.

A couple hours later I was back at my apartment on Union Hill.

All in all it was a pretty good trip.  I think I’d like to return when the weather is warmer and go up into the mountains.  We talked a little bit about going to the top of Pikes Peak and going white water rafting this coming Spring/Summer.  Hopefully we will get the opportunity.  So until then, see ya later Denver.

Cindy McCain is a Hypocrite

I am now completely at a loss to even remotely understand Cindy McCain’s involvement with the NOH8 campaign after tweeting the following:

“I fully support NOH8 & all it stands for & am proud to be a part of it. But I stand by my husband’s stance on DADT.”

Maybe she just wanted to be one of the cool kids and get a pic taken with tape on her mouth.  She’s got some explaining to do if she wants to be any active part of NOH8.

From the lows to the highs

I was in the worst place when I wrote that last blogpost in October.  Its amazing how one can go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in a matter of weeks.  (and no, I’m not bi-polar, I don’t think so anyway).  This weekend has simply been amazing (as A would say, lol)

B (who lives in Philadelphia) and I met several years ago on Facebook back before it was such a huge website.  We wrote emails back and forth for probly a year before we finally talked on the phone.  I jokingly called him my internet facebook boyfriend and we continued to remain facebook friends for a very long time.  Then last year I got an opportunity to visit a friend in New York City.  When I mentioned my trip to B he said we should meet up as Philly was only a couple hours from NYC.  So we did, on Halloween night.  We went on a date that night and it was the most fun and unforgettable date I’ve ever had.  There’s nothing quite like having a date in NYC, eating at a wonderful “off the beaten path” restaurant, making friends with the bartender while having desert in a small wine bar, getting caught in the rain, trying to get on a subway that is packed full of people in Halloween costumes, walking with arms around each other squeezed together under a small umbrella down a New York City street at night, and enjoying a peaceful train with B’s head resting against my shoulder as we ride the last nightly train back to the Northern NYC suburbs.

Skip ahead almost one year to the day. . .  B is a professional singer and called me a couple weeks ago to tell me he had a choral concert planned for a venue just 15 minutes from my apartment.  He politely asked if he could stay at my place. Um. . . Hell yes I said.

So I pick up B this past Saturday after he spent the entire day rehearsing for his concert.  He was tired so we ran by the grocery store and picked up some nibbles and a movie and spent the evening lounging on the couch watching Toy Store 3.  Its been forever since I’ve had that kind of evening and I totally enjoyed it and especially B’s company.

Sunday we woke up and headed out to my favorite breakfast place and then B was off again to rehearsal.  Later in the afternoon I went to the venue and for the first time was able to hear B sing in a concert.  He has an amazing voice and although the music really isn’t my style, I throughly enjoyed the concert.  Ever since I first met B I had wanted to hear him sing in this type of setting.  That evening we again had a low key night even though we had planned to go out for drinks.  Spending quality time together was much more important that socializing since we had such limited time together.

Today we got up early and lounged around until we decided that B should have an abbreviated tour of KC.  I took him to all the usual tourist and historic areas around my place.  We had a great time taking pictures and quickly exploring all the sites.  After a great BBQ lunch we headed back to my place to talk and spend our last couple of hours together.  I took B to the airport around 4:30pm tonight and it was all I could do to keep my tears back.  We said our long goodbyes in the drop off lane and I watched as B walked into the Airport.

As I write this B is 33,000 feet in the air somewhere over Indiana.  The apartment is quiet and I miss his smile.  But its good.  And I’m happy.  Happy I not only got to spend time with my internet facebook boyfriend once, but twice.  Happy that we get along so well.  Happy knowing I’m still attractive to people (yes, I have poor self esteem. . . very poor)  Happy I spent a wonderful weekend with a wonderful person.

We’ve already talked about possibly meeting up in Chicago early next Spring or possibly me going to Philly for a visit.  I believe if its meant for us to meet again, it will happen.  But who knows what will be going on in our lives by then.  Its entirely possible that by then B may meet up with his one true love or maybe I could even do the same. (maybe we have) But even so, I’m sure we always remain friends and I’ll always have that special place in my heart for that special guy from Philly with the amazing voice.

Goodbye for now B, I look forward to seeing you again soon.