Monday! My last mostly full day with Val and Carrie! I always try not to get sad when time together comes to an end (especially because Val and I had just booked our October trip), but I woke up feeling a bit bummed.

I got up at 6:00 and started packing just to get that out of the way, then Val text and offered to ride her bike with me while I ran and that cheered me up. I ran just over 5 miles, on a trail by her home. I could feel the elevation difference, but did great (oddly, I felt like I was spitting a lot more).

We ate breakfast with Carrie when we got back (bagels, fruit, and a chai) then we resined the rocks we had painted. Even though we were resining in the shade, the resin was curing so fast on my gloved hand. The UV must have been super high. They all turned out okay enough though (I will need to fix some ripples on a few of mine when I get back).

Our plan for the day was to paddle board. Val’s husband, Steve, is so sweet. He got his truck all ready with the paddle boards for us, and strapped everything down and showed us how to unstrap everything to use them, and how to deflate them when we were done (he also took the top off the Jeep the day before and put it back on Monday!).

We went to Chatfield State Park to paddle board on the lake there. Chatfield Reservoir is flooded and you could actually paddle board between the trees, which we were excited to check out (Val had been before and thought we’d think it was cool!).

We stopped for crunchwraps on the way

After we unloaded and started walking toward the water we realized it was super freaking windy. I got out on the water and couldn’t steer my paddle board to the right because the water was so choppy! I was worried it was going to be a bust, but once we got to the tree area, it was much calmer. We connected our three paddleboards for a bit and rode all together and really enjoyed it.

We stopped and hung out among the trees, and drink water and ate the snacks we brought, then paddled some more and headed back to the shore when we realized how thirsty we were (and out of water at that point). It ended up being so much fun, and deflating the boards and loading them back up was easy!

We stopped at Sonic (and waited for freaking ever) for drinks then drove back. Then it really was time to pack womp womp. I did a quick load of laundry, had Val and Carrie try the Lights! Caramel! Action! Dairy-Free Ben & Jerry’s (they loved it), got all cleaned up (Val braided my hair again!), and got all my crap together, and said goodbye to Steve (Val’s husband) and Ali (Val’s cat).

Carrie and I both absolutely loved staying at Val’s. We were so well taken care of, and her house is so comfortable. In the morning Val had asked me how I felt about going to work the next day and I said I just wanted to stay at her house! (Of course! But I felt fine about the work meeting – just hoped I could stay awake since we did so much!).

Val drove us to our hotel (she drove so much this weekend! We so appreciated it!) and we checked in, then Carrie went to meet a friend, and Val and I went to Runner’s Roost to look for Colorado running shirts (that was a bust), Goodrs (that was a success – I got a pair of aviators! I introduced Carrie to Goodr on this trip and she ordered some! So proud!), and gels. I also talked to the store clerk about running routes around the hotel.

Then Val and I went to dinner at Watercourse Foods – a vegan comfort food restaurant in Denver. It was SO SO good. She got a pumpkin gnocchi with mushrooms and I got fried cauliflower, a Caesar salad, and mac and cheese, and everything was AMAZING. I liked hers the best, because it tasted like fall. We also shared a strawberry cupcake and I got two cookies to go. It was a lovely dinner with great conversation.

After dinner we walked to the capitol building and around downtown Denver. This was my first time exploring downtown Denver, and it was neat to see it at night. We walked about 3 miles and chatted and goofed around and had a great time. Then Val drove me back to my hotel. I dropped off one of the cookies for Carrie, then I made the mistake of looking at work emails (ugh) before I stared on this blog post.

I feel so very lucky I have friends like this, and that I get to spend time with them in person. And that I got to sync it up with a work trip. I’m very grateful! Now it’s time to shift gears into work mode today! I do have one more hangout with Val and another rock painter planned, and I will see Carrie each day for the meetings and get to meet my coworkers and clients face-to-face. Woo hoo!