Day 3 - Brian's in Colorado Springs, CO

I originally was going to spend 2 nights in SLC, and then make the drive to Colorado Springs in one LONG day, but that wouldn't have given me much time to hang out with Brian, so I decided to leave on Saturday and split the trip.  THEN, Mapquest and GPS were telling me to go through Wyoming and then cut down to CO, which I was fine with since I've never been to Wyoming, but John said I should take the much prettier drive through the mountains in CO.  I am so glad I did - it was GORGEOUS!!  There were a few times where Hot Tamale was having a little bit of trouble getting up the hills, but it all worked out in the end.

Here are some pics that I took while I was driving -

OMG my windshield is dirty!!

Ok, so I wasn't driving for this one...

SNOW!!!  I had the top down, windows up, and heater on!

You're going to have to trust me, but my trip ticket says 1000m.  That's kind of sad, because that means I'm done with 1/7th of my driving.

Get to Colorado Springs, and GPS takes me through a neighborhood, and as soon as I turn in - WHAM!  There's a freakin' moose in the road!!  Ok, so Brian said it was probably a deer, but it was the biggest darn deer that I've ever seen.  And he wasn't skittish.  He just ambled off the phone while I fumbled for my phone.  Here's what I got -



I THINK this is the road, and then RIGHT OFF OF THE ROAD is the moose/deer.

 With the top down and sun shining in (AND being behind the wheel of a car) I often didn't know if I was getting the shot or not.  This time I obviously didn't.

Got to Brian's*.  It was good to see him.  I HATE to think how long it's been.  That's terrible.  Anyway, he lives in a house with two roommates, and I didn't know where I was staying that night, but Brian had cleaned his room and bathroom (which was apparently a big deal, but if he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known - they looked fine) and invited me to stay there, which I thought was super nice.

He and I go riding and sightseeing.  The first thing we did was go to Garden of the Gods, which are these AMAZING red rock formations.  Fabulous.  Got a shot of me -

OH NO!!!  Have I reached my limit of uploads per entry?!  Let's try a Day 3, Pt. 2 and see what happens...

Note the T-shirt.  That's important for later in the day.

Nevermind!!  It was me.  Surprised, I know.  So we went rock climbing :), then to his office.  Brian has the neatest, coolest job EVER.  Bottom line - and I know if he reads this blog he'll be ticked that this is all I'm able to say about it - he travels with celebrities (actors, athletes, etc.) to...oh, not PR functions...  Before I really screw this up - the best (in my mind) thing he does is travel with these people to meet the troops.  In my mind, that's all he needs to do, although he does LOTS more than that.  So their office is just COVERED with autographed pictures and jerseys and all sorts of stuff.  I can't imagine.

Then he took me to this place called Broadmoor.  It's a SUPER schwanky hotel/resort/golf course/etc.  We walked around the grounds a bit, and they were immaculate and beautifully landscaped and all of that, and then Brian decided we should go to the bar.  I normally don't care about being too dressed up or too dressed down (who am I kidding - I've NEVER been too dressed up!!), but I felt a little awkward here - I was the ONLY person in a t-shirt, let along a t-shirt with a goofy saying!!  I told myself that it was ok because the t-shirt implied that I had been to Czechoslovakia...  Had TWO fabulous local beers.

Back to the house, where we had dinner with the roommates and watched basketball.  It was apparently a big deal (seriously, it was the final game of the NBA championship).  I felt very comfortable with them and it was fun.

Slept like a baby until...3:31!!  I'm in a different time zone!  How does that still happen?!?

*Brian is a cousin.  He grew up in Pittsburgh, and Erich and I didn't, so we didn't get to hang out with them much.