Expect the Unexpected...

 

So this post is a complete and total re-write. When I first started it on Monday, I was highlighting the fact that I am a super-duper planner. Put that up against the fact that our trip to Colorado last week went almost completely NOT as planned. For some odd reason, I had even compiled a bulleted list of things that went wrong with the trip. Ya know what? It was pretty depressing. I stopped where I was and decided I just needed to scrap that post and start over. This is a long post... so beware. So, here we go!

FINALLY, we set off for our Colorado adventure (that had been planned for TWO other attempts!) Wednesday after Megan got off from work. I had gotten off a few hours before, and had completely packed up Maxine. Megan took the first leg of the trip and drove us to Amarillo, with a quick pit-stop in Elk City for some gourmet Sonic Drive-in for dinner. We topped off the tank in Amarillo and switched spots and I drove us the rest of the way to our first pit-stop in Trinidad, CO. The hotel wasn't the best, but at least it had a pretty comfy bed and that is ALL that mattered. We both wanted to get an early start the next morning, but our bodies woke us both up before we had originally intended to... so we got an even EARLIER start for the first full day of our journey. 

I thought it was adorable, the further north we went and as the mountains began to appear, Megan immediately started taking pics and "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" a lot. I would tell her those weren't even the real mountains yet! She didn't care. Instead of driving straight up 25 into Denver, I took a left at Pueblo and drove us through Canon City, with the intention of spending some time at the Royal Gorge Bridge. I had memories of stopping there as a child and remembered how awesome it was and thought Megan would really enjoy it. When we arrived, the surroundings had lots of picture-worthy scenery. We made the trek through the parking lot to the entry and found out that they charged... $30 PER PERSON!? I was totally bummed and prayed that was not a sign of things to come, but Megan still enjoyed it and took everything in stride. We decided to continue on to the next stop of our journey.

The closer we got to Breckenridge, the scenery truly got more and more beautiful. We had planned to hike this 2-mile trail that led to a waterfall, but decided to seek out lunch first. We drove the whole way into Breckenridge and saw that this WINTER ski-town was absolutely packed. Like, way more than it should've been. Apparently, everyone else and their dog had the same idea about vacationing up in the mountains. I began to get frustrated with the amount of people and the traffic. The Breckenridge Subway was impossible to get to, so we went ahead and drove into Silverthorne. After we ate, we decided that we were tired and basically just wanted to get to the hotel... but it was too soon for check-in. So, we decided to mark off one of the things on our "to do" list and hike to Sapphire Point Overlook. We accomplished the hike... but I swear I almost died on the way there. I truly realized how absolutely out of shape I was. I COULD blame it on the altitude or the smoke in the air from the fires out west, but I knew that the main reason was all this extra weight I'm carrying around my gut. But, we got there. The overlook was absolutely beautiful. Lots of pics, including a selfie, were taken and I Facetimed Mom to share the experience with her. We huffed and puffed our way back to the car and drove back down the mountain. We stopped at the lake and stuck our feet in the COOOOOOOLD water for a bit, then made it to the hotel.

The hotel. It had one working lamp. The hallway smelled like weed. The front desk people liked to play "hide and seek." But it was in a nice location and it had a comfy bed. So 2/5 ain't half bad. We crashed. Hard. Relaxed in the hotel for the rest of the night. Picked up Chipotle for dinner. Watched Big Brother and went night-night. The next morning, we had originally planned to hike a few more trails and spend most of the day in Silverthorne/Dillon/Breckenridge. We woke up to a super hazy atmosphere that made it to where you could barely see the mountains (and you're smack dab in the middle of them!) or breathe. We decided it was safer to make our way out of the mountains and down into Denver. We'd have to miss out on the trails and "Isak Heartstone," but made a promise to each other that we would get into shape and come back and try again.

My favorite thing in the whole world is the drive between Silverthorne and Denver. The mountains, the Clear Creek that runs next to the highway. It's windy and beautiful and just about as close to perfect as possible. It was cold... and smokey... I just wasn't happy with it. But, just like before, Megan seemed to enjoy it and was totally happy with the experience. We got down from the mountains and had PLENTY of time to kill before we were able to check in. I took her to experience the wonderful world of TATTERED COVER bookstore (we had to wait an hour until they opened)... we walked up and down (a little bit anyway) the 16th Street Mall. I took her for a ride on her first public transit bus. I drove her by the capitol building and the Denver Civic Center. Then, we literally drove around for like 6 hours. Luckily, the hotel let us check in like an hour early. The hotel was SO NICE. The staff was awesome, the hotel public spaces were so nice and our room was basically perfect. Such a comfy bed. So a big A+ from me! We went and crashed for a couple of hours.

For dinner, we got up and around and we went to the super delicious Gunther Toody's. Then we just kinda relaxed around until it was time to finally crash. Speaking of crashing... the next morning we decided to wake up early and go to VOODOO DOUGHNUTS for breakfast. What a fun place! We got a nice wide variety of interesting shaped donuts (lol). On the way there, I had an interesting ...experience... with a Denver native riding an electric scooter. But it all turned out okay. :-)  After gorging ourselves on explicitly-shaped baked goods, we spent a good portion of Saturday relaxing in the hotel room. We eventually did venture back out to indulge in one of the best burgers I think I've ever had, at CROWN BURGER. Initially, I thought Crown Burger was just a small chain that could be found in the Salt Lake City area, but I was (thankfully mistaken). We had accidentally found a lone Denver location while taking the long way back to the hotel from Voodoo earlier in the day. We picked up the burgs and drove up to the street to the pretty campus of Denver University. We came back to the hotel and started the depressing process of packing our bags to get ready to hit the road for home.

We got up pretty early and started packing up the car. We had leftover donuts for breakfast and got on the road. We didn't have to go far before we made a small detour to go through the "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado Springs to see some beautiful rock formations. We hit up their gift shop and then started the journey back home. Other than an A/C unit that was getting kinda wonky on us near the end and having to dodge some storms as we drove through Texas, the trip back home was just as safe and uneventful. We pulled into our garage on fumes. We were super tired, kinda glad to be back home, but kinda sad that this adventure we had been waiting on for YEARS was over. We are going back again. Soon, if I have any say! What adventure shall we plan for next?

So, it was far from the perfect trip, like I had previously mentioned. Lots of stuff got kinda sideways. But it was still a LOT of fun and Megan and I will be able to share these memories with each other for years to come. I'm grateful for the time that we got to spend together. She's a good little copilot, both in life AND in road trips. :-) 

Rocky Mountain Hiiiiiighh...

Just ask anyone who knows me relatively well, and they'd probably be able to tell you that my favorite city that I've visited would be Denver. If I had to move today, that would probably be my new "go-to" locale. I'm not sure what it is... it just seems to have so much fun "city" stuff, but is right there at the foot of the Rockies and can give you some of the most beautiful nature scenery that you've ever seen. You've never been? I highly, highly (was that a mountain joke? Or a legalized marijuana joke? Hmm...) recommend it!!!

The last trip I made to Denver seemingly ended as quick as it began. Mom and I flew in late one night, and we were home before the next night. It was a great trip that gave Mom a brief experience of mountain scenery and just whet my appetite just enough to make sure I would long to return as soon as possible. We did make some stops at some must-see Denver sites (Tattered Cover bookstore), but we spent most of our time up in the mountains. It was cold and wet, but otherwise a great trip.

A few years later, Megan and I planned to spend our first vacation together taking a road trip back to the Rocky Mountain State. Some car troubles 72-hours before we were scheduled to leave changed those plans and we wound up going to Dallas. It was a good trip... but no competition to a trip to Colorado. Ever since then, it has been at the top of our list. The next trip somehow took us to Lawton. Yeesh. We were FINALLY planning on going to Denver this spring, to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Spring semester and to enjoy some R and R before the chaotic Summer semester kicked off. Sadly, the 'rona interfered with that and we decided to postpone. Neither of us felt safe travelling with the pandemic AND we weren't sure on whether or not we should use up PTO that might need to be used for other things (like quarantining or something). The 'rona is still going strong, but the Summer semester was such a doozy that I decided that I HAD to get out of town for a bit. We made a few changes to Denver plans, which basically just means spending time in the mountains and/or away from people.

So... unless the car acts up within the next (under) 24 hours... Denver is FINALLY happening. We hit the road tomorrow. Wish us luck! I'll post another blog of our adventures soon!

1000 Days...

It has been 1000 days since I took my last drink. That's almost 33 months. 24,000 hours. You've read my other posts, so it's needless to say that my life has changed... a lot. The most sobriety I've ever claimed before was around 11 months, when in all honesty it was more like a couple of weeks or a handful of days. I've never made it far at all to really enjoy what sobriety had to offer and I most DEFINITELY did not believe what people were telling me when we would read "the promises" out of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Today, I can tell you they are TOTALLY true.

We are going to know a NEW freedom and a NEW happiness. 

We will not regret the past... nor wish to shut the door on it. 

We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know PEACE.

No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.

That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.

We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.

Self-seeking will slip away. 

Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will CHANGE!

Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us.

We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.

We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises?

I DEFINITELY THINK NOT!

One Step Closer...

I can TOTALLY relate to the picture of the runner above. Mentally and (somehow) physically exhausted. Stumbling, but falling across the finish line FACE FIRST. The third semester of my MSW is in the books, and it appears that I'll (miraculously) get to hold on to my 4.0 GPA! I would probably go as far to say that this has been my favorite semester, getting to experience my first practicum as well as going through a class in a subject matter that I had never really considered as possible career path... until now. I've been pretty focused on the idea of a career that, while giving myself other opportunities, mainly focuses on working with people struggling with substance abuse/addiction issues. The course I completed was "theory, practice and evaluation with families and groups." I wasn't too intrigued by the group portion, but I was surprisingly interested in the family portion and learned a lot. The professor was a total ball-buster, but she was absolutely amazing. I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I was her favorite. Toot toot.

OKC Metro Alliance and Firstep worked with me and they created an employment-based practicum where I was able to complete my practicum hours while staying on the job. It was SUPER nice because it made it possible where I wasn't having to "work" extra hours to get through practicum. It didn't seem like much at first, but I realized later how much I learned and accomplished through this semester's practicum work at Firstep. I was able to see a lot of different perspectives and angles on how a facility like this is run and how a facility like this COULD be run.

All in the meanwhile, the world continued to turn. I'd love to be able to say that our situation is exponentially better since I last posted in May... but it hasn't been. COVID still continues to rage. We had just turned a corner and started to maybe see the light at the end of the tunnel. Rather than pressing on and getting this pandemic behind us, people took that as a sign that we were all clear and should probably go ahead and open back up. In most areas of the country that numbers are just as bad, if not worse, as when this whole ordeal began. Dumb people around the world actually argue with scientists about the legitimacy of this pandemic, whether or not masks help (duh), and how we as a people should respond. So frustrating.

Shortly after my last post, there were a string of horrid incidents involving police brutality which ended in the needless murders of black people. When an unarmed George Floyd was handcuffed and basically suffocated, it seemed like that set off something that had been simmering under the surface for many years. "Black Lives Matter" became a household phrase. Protests erupted across the country, including several very uneasy protests here in Oklahoma City. People were angry. People demanded change. But this time seems different. Usually, when these things have happened in the past, there are protests and rallies... but eventually it kinda goes away. Here we are, three months later, and there are STILL protests across the country. People are still angry and they are still demanding change. Politicians and the people in power are slow to make that change it seems, and people are going to remember that come November. This topic deserves a post of its own, and I didn't make one, because I believe that I needed more to just sit back and learn. As a white male, I don't really need to jump the forefront and share my opinion. 

I continue to count my blessings as life at home throughout 2020 has been mostly positive. Lots of little bumps and what-not, but we've persevered. I've remained employed throughout this whole ordeal. Megan has too. We've continued to get settled into our new little house together and have a nice routine and way of life worked out. My parents have managed to stay healthy, albeit probably a little stir-crazy since they mainly quarantine to stay safe. Even though I already have everything turned in, my semester officially ends tomorrow. I'll have a nice two-week downtime in which Megan and I are planning on taking a MUCH needed vacation. We're going to take a road-trip up into Colorado. We'll spend SOME time in Denver, but a good portion of time will be spent up in the mountains, staying socially distant and enjoying the scenery. It'll hopefully be relaxing and a great time! I'll need it to fill up my emotional/spiritual/mental/physical "gas tank" before the next semester starts on August 24th! Maybe I can plop out a couple more post in between now and then!