I was in Denver a long time for my marathon! What else did I get up to?

First, I should mention the reason I was able to stay for so long is because Val and Steve are wonderful hosts with a beautiful and welcoming home. Thanks for letting me crash for so long!

WEDNESDAY

I worked a half day, then flew out of Milwaukee around 2:00 pm CT and landed in Denver just before 4:00 pm MT. Flying out of MKE is so wonderfully easy. I’ll pick it every time I can afford it.

How many cats are in this photo?

Val and Steve picked me up and we hung around at the house for a minute then went to King Soopers to get food to make a stir fry for dinner. While we were there the most adorable elderly lady in a motorized shopping cart asked us for help finding the Hoisin sauce. I finally located it on the top shelf – she never would have found it! She was so sweet saying “thanks” and “I used to help little old ladies when I was your age, and now I’m a little old lady.” Ha.

It’s funny how I cook when I am at Val and Steve’s. I rarely cook at home!

We ended the evening with rock painting.

THURSDAY

I worked 6:30-12:30 on Thursday and it sucked. It was full of stressful meetings and new task assignments that feel out of my wheelhouse. I was so happy to be off at 12:30.

Val and I enjoyed a charcuterie board,

then we drove (well, I drove! Val lets me drive her Jeep) to the Anne U. White trail in Boulder. It’s a lovely trail along a babbling creek. We must have crossed the creek (on big stones) 12 or more times?

It was a beautiful day with the perfect amount of shade and lovely conversation.

We ducked a Jeep when we parked and when we got back we saw we got ducked. Val was so excited! She’s had her Jeep since 2020 and this is only her second time getting ducked! And the first time was a few weeks ago.

We decided ice cream was a necessity and went to a mall with a new-to-us ice cream place.

Then we stopped at King Soopers to get pizza ingredients and went back home and made pizzas, then…

painted! Val and I were giggling so so much over this rock:

FRIDAY

We started the day off with rock painting, went on a 3 mile run, then painted more and did a video call with Anita in the Netherlands. Oh! And Val made a pie and I licked the bowl and spoon. Ha. And she made more vegan banana bread.

Picture I took to show Steven my three drinks – water, water with Liquid IV, and a chai. 

We got chais from Allegro Coffee on our way to the expo.

Val got all of us these cute hats!!!

Then we went to Vegan Van. I got the breakfast sandwich and Val got the chalupa. We also got donuts from Pandemic Donuts but tried them later and they were meh (dry) so we threw them out.

Next up was the expo, which I talked about here. We ducked a Jeep on the way in:

I felt weird reaching into someone’s car! Hopefully they liked it.

I forgot to mention that people at the expo kept asking if we were from Maine. It was a fun conversation starter.

While at the expo I got the text from Steven that he passed his exam. Yay!!!! He called me on the ride back and told me all about the test. They pay attention to sections you don’t do well in and focus on those on your oral exam!!!! Jerks!

New Goodrs

We stopped at King Soopers (that’s 3 days in a row for those keeping track) to get a congrats balloon for Steven.

We went home and painted, then left around 7:00 for dinner at Aloy Thai. I got drunken noodles, which I thought I was getting for the first time, but it turns out they are the same thing as Pad Kee Mao, which I have had!

Then we headed to the airport to pick everyone up. Tiff and Trudy’s flight came in around 9:00 and Steven’s came in around 9:30 but they all landed early and came out minutes apart from each other. That couldn’t have gone better!

We drove back and were already being loud and cracking jokes in the Jeep. I loved it. When we got home we all had pie and made more ridiculous jokes, then called it a night.

SATURDAY

I really wanted to sleep in Saturday but was up at 6:00. GAH! I just could not get enough sleep on this trip. Making up for it now.

We had a slow morning of chatting, and eating a delish breakfast – hashbrowns, pancakes, and eggs. Everyone was really complimentary of my pancake recipe and that made me feel good (I mixed the batter – Steve cooked them all).

Obviously, we painted after breakfast. And look who joined us!

Oops, forgot to credit Steve for that photo.

It was Steven’s first ever time rock painting!

We got so into our painting that we were a little late for our appointment – we all got different ear piercings shortened. After that, we went to King Soopers (obviously) and got a bunch of avocados to make guac.

We made the guac, painted some more, then got so into painting again that we went to leave for a linner (not a typo) reservation and a few of us (including me!) almost forgot our phones! We were in the painting and chatting zone.

We went to Watercourse Foods, an entirely vegan place, and Steven got the cuban and I got the gyro. We were shocked when someone from Trudy’s high school (in Minnesota) worked at the restaurant and was there! She knew they lived in Denver, but still!

After that we walked to VooDoo to get some donuts, then drove home. We stopped for a group photo,

and a jumping photo!

When I got back I started prepping all my marathon stuff

then painted a bit and tried to go to bed!

SUNDAY

I ran the marathon. You can read about most of my day here!

Shortly after our late lunch, it was time to take Steven, Tiff, and Trudy to the airport. Tiff was trying out this quick weekend trip to see if she could get in more time with us during the year. Her schedule is tricky since she’s a teacher. She said she enjoyed it, and I did too, but I really needed some more Tiff time. Thankfully I will see her in just over 9 weeks.

On the way home I decided I needed to eat something other than pie so I got a burger from Burger King and ate it the slowest I have ever eaten a burger while I iced my legs.

Then I worked on a Shitterfly magnet order ($1 magnet day, y’all! Thanks for the tip Bobbi!), and painted. I had more dessert for dinner (not pictured: some potato chips),

then we painted some more! This was our earliest time calling it, around 8:30 pm. I talked to Steven on the phone for about 30 minutes then read and fell asleep. Then woke up at 3:00 am with sore legs and could not fall back asleep! UGH!

All my rocks as of Sunday evening

MONDAY

I was up early, again, but that’s okay – more time with Val and Steve! We went on a walk, ran an errand, and painted, then I was off to the airport at 10:30. I felt really sad being dropped off. Leftover marathon emotions and not wanting to go back to real world responsibilities.

I made myself sit down and eat real food at the airport:

Then I got a chai since my snis sent me a congrats note and a Starbucks giftcard. I really cut it close getting that and making it to boarding on time. That Starbucks was slooooow.

Of course they boarded late and I stood in the Southwest line chatting to people. I met a lady who does hound reiki and another lady who has cats. I ended up giving her a cat rock when I deboarded.

I wanted to sleep on the plane but worked on my marathon recap. I just couldn’t sleep!

I stopped for gas on the way home and was home by 5:30 and unpacked by 6:00! Steven made pasta for dinner (I still wasn’t hungry but knew I needed to eat) and we went to bed EARLY (asleep by 9:00). Perfect!

I love my time with Val and Tiff! Trudy, Steve, and Steven fit so well into our group. It’s such a nice escape to be fully present with your friends creating, laughing and being silly, sharing the hard stuff, working out together… I feel so grateful rock painting brought us together, and that these connections keep bringing more awesome people (Trudy and Leah!) into my life. I can’t wait to see Val and Tiff again this summer. Steven and I are going to Vail with Val and Steve in June, and Val and Steve, and Tiff and fam are all coming to the river in Iowa in July. They’ll be with me for my 40th!

Knowing we will see each other again soon really helps with the sadness after we part. Not the part of the sadness that has to do with going back to adulting though. UGH FML.