Onward and downward

We started our journey home today. Like geese flying south for the winter, we pulled together our belongings in tight formation and started our migration. Actually we went east across Colorado and Kansas before we turned south.

The weather was very accommodating and at the 75mph speed limit had us skimming across the heartland. We passed the two headed goat, 5 legged cow and largest prairie dog displays along the Kansas highway. I don't find the Kansas plains nearly as boring as some. My fellow spring breaker and I managed to get the gears meshing again. The audio book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams certainly helped.

Our little auto audio visual setup is quite the Rube Goldberg device. The GPS stuck to the windshield is connected via bluetooth to my phone, this allows me to take and place calls using the GPS as a cordless hands free device, the GPS is also connected to one of those cassette adapters via it's headphone jack. This transfers the sounds coming from the GPS to the car stereo, these sounds include the GPS directions, the phone calls and the MP3 player built into the GPS. Are you following me? Our books on tape are in MP3 format, so while we are listening to the book the GPS will pause the book to give us driving instructions, or handle an incoming phone call. It actually works quite well!

We stopped for dinner at "The most famous BBQ in Oklahoma" I am not sure if that's true but it is the only BBQ joint I have been to that serves popcorn with all it's meals and Tootsie Rolls for everyone for desert. Dinner was good but I must say not up to our Texas standards with or without popcorn.

Blinded by the light

It started pretty well. We had the "really good" complementary breakfast as usual. Then we started making plans for the rest of the day. Maybe it was 24/7 in close contact, altitude, cold, or maybe the way the stars were aligned. In any case, shall we say, we didn't exactly mesh like a well oiled machine.

We all have moments where things don't really work out the way we want. Perspective is at a premium. Arguments in these situations remind me a lot of songs from your youth, they sounded great at the time, really conveyed an emotion, but when you listen to it replayed with the advantage of time passed, the words can sound pretty goofy. You wonder how they seemed to fit so well at the time yet failed so miserably the test of time.

"Madman drummers bummers, Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older, I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin, the calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was...Blinded by the light . . ."
- Bruce Springsteen

The Pearl of Boulder

We skied again today, another bright and sunny today but it was pretty windy. The gusts sent up little snow tornadoes. If you got caught in one, it was sort of like being sand blasted with ice chips. We got in some good runs, with virtually no lift lines we were up and down the trails in no time.

We headed down mountain a little early. With our extra time, we went to the Pearl Street Mall. This is one of those center city shopping eating areas several blocks long, no cars allowed. But that is just the physical description. It is both quintessential Boulder with it's art stores, holistic tea houses and anti war protesters. But it's also the anti-Boulder with it's smoke shops, Asian Import stores and pregnant skateboard punks.

We took it all in, they guy playing the mini harp, the "Pink Ladys" accosting passers by and some very cool arts stores. Katie's favorite store by far was Into the Wind. They are known as a big time kite store but they also have all kinds of wind up toys, puzzles, flying objects and the kind of stuff that would keep an ADD kid (or adult) fascinated for hours. Katie settled on two purchases, a mechanical flying bird from her youth and a set of guitar ice cube molds

Dinner was at the Boulder Cafe one of the several eateries on Pearl St. that had a lively crowd sitting in and around the building. The food was good and the atmosphere pure Boulder.