DAY 3: A Ridiculously Longwinded Scout Addendum

After leaving Loveland, escorted south by this beats dude, we zipped through Longmont for a final hang with Brian, our new best pal. I can't really describe him, except to say that I think I've known him for, oh, I don't know.... probably a million years or more, give or take a few. We did not snag a photograph with Brian, which I regret, but suffice to say, he's deep in our tribe. He takes the life experiment to a new and very intelligent level with no drama -- just an easy, confident smile. Many present and projected political discussions were had in record time with ease. He and Amy will visit us on the prairie before he retreats to Dallas for the winter. We'll post a photograph from that table. Meanwhile, he reminds me of Rutger Howard in Blade Runner. Nick -- thanks for insisting that we meet him.

We arrived at Gene & Michelle's house in Boulder about 5:15 for dinner and an overnight, after which they graciously gifted us their very comfortable bed. The moment we entered their house, we had known them all our lives (this was a theme for the Colorado Experience) and storytelling ensued. Gene is my beloved editor (www.mentalcontagion.com) who brought his entire family to the S&N wedding because they were "in the neighborhood" around August 13th 2005 -- meaning, we met in person for the first time for about 35 seconds. This dinner would prove to be a more auspicious and focused time spent in their company. We were joined by Dean Pajevic (awesome poet, also found on Mental Contagion), his wife Julie (a reporter for the local paper and a delightful force of nature) and daughter Melena (I hope I spelled her name correctly!) who also live in Boulder -- bon chance! Gene & Michelle served up a delicious vegetarian gumbo w/ sweet potato fries, good wine and ridiculously good company. The party then moved to the backyard whereupon a fire was made and romped around. Here are their deleriously delicious children....

Emma


.... and Cooper


(we apologize for not having a shot of Melena)

And here are the grown ups (minus Julie, who had to take a very-over-spent Melena home to bed) playing with a 60 second exposure. Check out how the Lumix handles the night sky. Impressive.


And let's not forget Buster, the Bun-Bun....

.... who was a perfect gentleman all night and all morning. Everyone agreed he took a special shine to me (twinkle!) having a series of manic thumping moments when I came near him .... probably because I was menstruating.

Emma knocked on the bedroom door early and I joined the family for breakfast. We all ate cereal and quietly went about our morning together. Gene even put a couple multi-vitamins on a plate for Brent & I. After Cooper went off to school, Gene piled us into his Toyota Prius hybrid (tooootally futuristic keyless car w/ a screen that previews the driveway when you back up) for a short but sweet hike on a trailhead that begins at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a landmark I. M. Pei-designed building on a mesa overlooking town. We Midwest-Plainers were feeling the altitude, but the scenery was worth the dizziness.


And just for the record, here is the tiny, device (barely visible atop the building) responsible for predicting the weather in St. Paul, MN. At least, this is Gene's claim. You can take it up with him, if you have misgivings. (This makes me laugh my ass off.... for some reason).


We were on the road by 10:30 leaving Michelle and Emma (who had a fever) in our wake.


It was hard to leave. I want these guys as neighbors. I mean.... c'mon! I want YOU ALL as neighbors. But that's a different conversation that will absolutely have to happen in the coming years. Just keep thinking..... COMPOUND.... or COMMUNE, whichever feels more cozy in the grey matter and the what-matters matter.

So... on the road to Salt Lake City....




.... and then we stopped at "Love's Truck Stop" for gas & water & stuff where, at the counter, I misremembered the total, passing a penny to the clerk, thinking we didn't need three pennies. She looked at it laying in her hand and queried, "...what is this for?" to which I responded.... "Oh, isn't the total $8.76?" She replied, "No, it's $8.73..." and then Brent turned to me and said, "Hey, Wendy! This is MY transaction!" in a moment of spontaneous assertiveness. I think she thought he was mad at me, for real, so she just forgave us the 2 cents after saying..."Well now.... well.... " and looking at me with concern, hoping that her donation would spare me a beating in the car.... only to return to THIS....parked next to us. AAAARRRRRGGGG!!!!


Later, there was this: Scout "Can you say 'oral fixation'? Navigator "With my mouth full?" Also, the realization that I have EIGHT pairs of glasses in my possession for this trip (and have apparently contracted an eye infection in the last 24 hours, probably due to the prior statement in punishment), all of which I am using in series. I won't explain... I've done enough for one night. Still.... still.... there is more.

Before I'm done, I'll say that Salt Lake City is beyond BIZARRE and we can't get out of here fast enough. I should have taken photographs of our perilous decent down the mountain to the city in a freaking deluge of hell-cat rain. We are lucky to have survived, and I'm really not kidding. And then, after driving around for an hour within the city limits, we entered a bar for a much needed cocktail and a looksee at the city map, only to find that we have to pay a $5 club membership fee at the bar to order a watered down drink (Jameson served from a bar gun!?!?) and still more meandering (at the direction of our stupid bartender) to check out seedy hotels down the 400th Street, followed by the Ruby River Steak House, an out-of-desperation-decision providing an educational discussion with a couple Hispanic dudes outside the restaurant (who needed a light) in town from California who validated our weirded-out vibe about SLC and then a semi-lame dinner (with an all-too-perky Kristin-server who granted us the phone number of a hotel across the street) and finally.... jezuz.... FINALLY.... a room.... A BELOVED ROOM AT ANY PRICE.... in a town where all the rooms are filled. Here's what we get for $119 in Salt Lake City.


Sleep well, babies. Sleep well. We're sure gonna! (sheesh)