Our New Office

That’s not true. At the moment I’m in a Starbucks in Denver, Colorado, but the other night we stayed in Wyoming in some town with the word “Rock” in it and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of that town. It doesn’t really matter since we were only there long enough to eat at an Applebee’s and sleep for eight hours, but still, it’s a little disheartening that I don’t even know where I am for large chunks of a day.

I guess this is just the beginning of that. At least I know what day it is. But wait…what day is it? I know it’s Wednesday but I’m not sure if its the 16th or 17th. Well, I guess we’ll never know. Time and space are irrelevant as long as I’m having fun and there is a WiFi connection. Check and check.

We’re in Denver until Friday (no idea what date that is), and then we’re in Ankeny, Iowa for two weeks. We’ll be wedding planning and working, I’m sure.

August 27, 2008. Today was supposed to be dedicated to getting a lot of little tasks done, but I would say we were only half-successful. We got an early enough start, but between traffic and poor planning (we forgot some things at my parents house when we visited yesterday), our morning was sort of shot. When a couple of our appointments were canceled later in the day, we ended up doing very few of our errands.

At least we’ve got 2 weeks in Tahoe to sort them all out – that’s our next destination.

Around lunchtime we drove past some of the convention festivities in downtown Denver. It was a mad house or sorts. Traffic was slow, and there were pedestrians and bicyclists everywhere. Our friend Matt told us last night that there were more members of the media at the convention than there were actual “conventioneers” (if that’s a word). We saw a large number of media members firsthand, and it seems sort of ridiculous. What can they all be reporting on? Aren’t a lot of the stories going to be the same?

Mark took some good videos and photos of some sights and sounds of the convention – check out Mark’s facebook page for some looks.

We did get some work done today at least – it was a good day for catching up.

August 26, 2008. Sara and I stayed in Atlanta last night with Sara’s friend Chrissy and we had a great time. Sara and Chrissy had a really good time, as they were up until about 3:30 in the morning (I was asleep by 1). The only problem was that our flight left at 9:00am, so when it was time to get up at 6:30, Sara was a little out of it (more than a little – her alarm went off for a few minutes before I woke her).

We were lucky to make our flight, in fact. It was raining quite a bit in Atlanta this morning (a real “frog strangler” as my friend Ben would say) so driving to the airport took a while. After we returned our rental car, got checked in, and walked to security, it was about 8:15. The security line was crazy long – we were worried about missing the flight for sure. Lucky for us, one of the security people told us we were on the wrong side of the airport. When we went to the right place, security was short and we had just enough time to get to our plane (and grab a quick bite too).

Sidebar: One of the amazing things about returning to the US is that our standards of kind customer service have changed. When the security person told us we were in the wrong place, it was said in a rude and abrupt manner. Yet Sara and I found ourselves quite happy that she went out of her way to tell us. In Aruba, the protocol is to watch tourists suffer. It’s the little things…

It’s always nice to see home – Denver is familiar and very comfortable. Since the Democratic National Convention is in town (it just started), Denver’s airport is well decorated. It’s also fairly “dead” – it seems that we missed the rush. I did however speak to a woman from Pennsylvania, and she said that she shared a flight with the mayor of Philly. Maybe, just as Sara predicted, everyone is avoiding Denver right now because of the convention.

After we landed, we hung out with my mom and sister for a while and just sort of re-grouped. The only downside to the day – we had to go through 3 weeks of mail. It’s a little depressing to open three weeks worth of bills and notices, but such is the life we’ve chosen.

After we ran a few errands, our friends Alex and Matt were gracious enough to let us crash at their house. It’s nice to have such good friends. Thanks to Chrissy and to Alex and Matt for putting us up.

It’s been awhile since either of us have written and that’s because we’ve been en route to somewhere or an event of some kind. It’s been a good week, but we are ready to stay put here in Tahoe. I’m sure we will work a lot more than we did in Aruba thanks to an abundance of Starbucks locations and colder temperatures.

Stay tuned for more details on:

Visiting Atlanta.
Mooching off our friends in Denver.
Finding Winnemucca, Nevada.
More tow truck tales.
Fun pictures and videos from Kim and Kevin’s Tahoe wedding.
A trip to Yosemite.
Hopefully a bear sighting or two.

August 1st, 2008. My good friend Mark is putting Sara and I up for the night tonight. He’s been very nice (as usual) and his house is beautiful.

While Mark’s hospitality was exceptional (Sara and I are truly appreciative), Mark DID make a critical error.

He’s loaned me a camera and I like it. Might be a while before he gets it back!

July 31st, 2008. After months and months of waiting, our condo at 909 Logan has sold. It’s been a challenge the last few weeks getting everything ready for the big move, but it’s finally here.

Perhaps more importantly, this is the starting point for our travels. Leaving most of our possessions behind in a Lakewood storage unit is an odd experience for me, but it’s tremendously exciting. No longer encumbered by a mortgage, we’re free to do as we please.

Leaving 909 Logan is a bittersweet moment, however, for yours truly. I bought the place when I was 23, and it’s been my home for nearly 7 years. Sliding my key under the door for the very last time was an odd feeling, and not withstanding Sara’s encouragement to cry (she said “you can cry – it’s OK”) it wasn’t too emotional. Perhaps when more time has gone by my feelings will change. At this point, I’m confident that there’s no point in looking back. The condo is behind me now.

Look at some pictures of the old 909 Logan – it was a very nice place to live for nearly 7 years. Congratulations to the new owner!