Sunday, July 31, 2011

Denver: week 1 update

Since July 25, we've been living in Denver (technically we're a block into Aurora, so I suppose I should say the Denver metro area--whatever). It still feels like we're on vacation here.

Let's start from the beginning.

Thursday, July 21 was my last day of work in Chicago. It was definitely strange to walk out of the building, and take the Green Line for the last time. I got to see Mark and he bought me a big burger at Five Guys.

Friday was our 5th Anniversary. We went to lunch with Mark at Red Hen Bakery in Oak Park, dropped him off and went to see Midnight in Paris in the OP movie theater. It was the smallest theater screen I've ever seen but the film was good. Then we went downtown to eat at NoMI, a restaurant on the 7th floor of the Park Hyatt overlooking the Water Tower. It was a place that Brittany had always wanted to go and the first Michelin-star restaurant we'd ever been to. Honestly, the food was fine, but nothing special. We came back and finished our packing.

Saturday the 23rd we woke up and got the Penske 16' rental truck. Luckily the movers showed up earlier than our noon appointment, at 10:45. They started and we were worried that it wasn't all going to fit. But they were The Professionals and they did a hell of a job.

We were cleaning as they were moving it all out. By 1:30 we were locking up the place for the last time.

Around 5pm we pulled up the Olive Garden in Bloomington to meet my mom for dinner. And then we arrived in O-town by 9pm or so.

Sunday morning we hit the road, passing through St. Louis by 9am. I pulled into Gates BBQ on the Missouri side for lunch and got a double decker beef sandwich with fries. (A+ per usual). We had a reservation that night in Hays, KS. About 2:30 in between Topeka and Hays, we ran into one of the biggest storms I've ever seen. We later found out about tornado-level winds. But what I saw was massive rain to the point where I couldn't see 1 foot in front of the car. So I pulled over for 20 minutes (with a bunch of other cars) while the rain pounded us. Some semis rolled through and I was worried they might hit me on the side of the road. But we made it and it was very nice to get to Hays and settle in for the night.

Monday we woke up early, took a picture at the Colorado border and arrived at our apartment in Denver by 2pm. The Denver movers rocked as well, we got the washer dryer delivered from the landlord, and a new box spring delivered that night. I started unpacking in the kitchen. I think we had around 50 boxes to get through.

Tuesday morning I got up before 6am because I was so excited to put together our new TV stand from Ikea. More unpacking and setting up continued Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday I had my first day of work, mostly setup. Friday I got to start really working.

Saturday we went to Evergreen, saw some great mountains and got our patio setup with chairs, a table, and an outdoor rug.

Already this week I've gotten more sun and been active outside more than I had in the previous year. I've played basketball twice, tennis against a wall, and 18 holes of frisbee golf. I've had a couple trips to Chick-fil-A and got a great Colorado burger at Smashburger, plus pizza from Papou's. And I've had a bottle of Great Divide's Titan IPA.

Things are good and I'm excited to keep having new adventures.

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