The house that Elway built

I have been spending more time learning the bike trails around Denver.  Trails is a misnomer, more like mini-interstates for cyclists.  These are scenic arteries that one can ride without fear of getting t-boned by a SUV.  One route is beside a creek and is sunken in between two one-way streets.   Ironically, I am more wary of on-coming biker traffic than anything else.  This fear and the fact that I am the only joker (besides the most seriously mentally ill, homeless people) that doesn't wear a helmet, I have taken to protecting my melon in a brain basket.

On my last tour, I visited the house that Elway built, aka. Invesco Field.  For my non-sports enthusiast followers, this is the home field for the Denver Broncos.  I have driven past this stadium over a dozen times in a motor vehicle and have been itching to go down and take a closer look.  Yesterday I did exactly that.   The main entrance has statue figures of wild broncos stampeding up a stream towards the stadium.  To me this type of sculpture is high art.  It is breath taking to behold.  

If this isn't cool then I am a horse's...

In the Modeling Biz this look  is called 'Blue Steel'.  I learnt that from Zoolander.

Never has still art felt so alive to me.

At the top, Alpha Bronco and I practiced our conflict resolution skills

Musing by the waterfront near the stadium

Relocated or Dislocated

I successfully made the move a couple of nights ago to the new side of town.  I say successfully because I am here.  It was not efficient.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I anticipated having to stop frequently due to my radiator problems.  I did not anticipate how long a hot diesel engine takes to cool down when parked.  The ten mile trip only needed 3 stops but took 5 hours.   It takes about an hour and a half per stop for the engine temp to slip below 130 degrees, a temperature I felt good enough to continue.  I learned that the heat dissipates faster from around 200 degrees to 150 degrees than it does for it to go from 150 to 130.  I arrived at my destination at 4am.
Now I am in a new area and attempting to learn the area.  Locating places to get online, refill water and where to overnight.  Being closer to the city makes parking a little more challenging.  The upside is that there are more conveniences.  For example, the Starbucks,my favorite place to get online, stay open to 11pm versus 9pm at my previous location.  Finding a place to overnight will be an exercise in trial and error.
This is one of the things about my travels that I am thankful for, even when I am not always excited by the prospect.  It prevents me from becoming too comfortable by forcing me to continuously test myself.   It isn't that I have an allergy to being comfortable but I do have a phobia of complacency.
Now, to see what kind of interesting employment opportunities Denver has to offer.

On the Move

Ever since I have come to the Denver area I have been residing in the southern most side of town.  Tonight, I am moving.  My destination is an area more central in Denver.  The bus radiator issue has not been resolved yet.  Which will make the trip that much more interesting.  I can run the bus for maybe 15 minutes at a time before the temperature reaches critical levels.  I anticipate having to stop 2, maybe 3, times before I reach my new home.  I will wait until the wee hours of the morning when the temperature is the lowest and traffic at it's lightest.
This is a good move.  I will be within cycling distance of virtually everywhere I want to be downtown.  And speaking of cycling, that is my newest, favorite way to commute.  I haven't seriously ridden a bike since I was a kid.  Mainly, as one author noted  "because of growing up in the south where it was believed only pinko, commie, bedwetters traveled under their own propulsion, I risked decapitation by baseball bat from a moving pickup truck."  In Denver, you ain't nobody if you don't have at least one bike.  My bike came courtesy of Bryan, the guy whose house I stayed at in Eastern Colorado.  He picked it up at a yard sale for me.  It is the best gift I have received in some time.  I have been utilizing the light rail, which allows me to bring the bike onboard.  Then, I get off at the appropriate station and bike to where I want to be.  Besides the convenience factor, I can't help feel a little smug about the health benefits that my new mode of transportation provides.  Dan even gave me a lock to accessorize my bike.  Leanne tried to give me a helmet, but the helmet was nicer than the bike, and that just wouldn't do.  I may change my opinion in the future.  City cycling has some definite hazards that I never faced on backwoods trails as a kid.  Denver traffic.
So tonight I move and my commutes around town become easier.   I am still lovin' me some Denver.

Water balloon/Capture the Flag Battle

I find myself looking for any way to enjoy the outdoors in Colorado.  Even alternative ways.  After a day of playing volleyball in Wash Park a group of people told me about a water balloon fight that was to happen at another park at 8pm.  I was tired and sunburned but after main lining a caffeine infusion I decided that it might be fun.  It turned out to be great fun.  I channeled my 15 year old inner child and ran around the park carrying a man bag (yes, I am that secure with my manliness) filled with water balloons.  We played a version of capture the flag where you 'tag' the opposing team by pegging them with a water balloon.  My bag of balloons allowed my team to reload without running back 100 yards to where the bulk of our arsenal was kept at home base.  This proved to be a key strategic advantage as we implemented an offensive attack.  I can only imagine what visitors to the park that evening thought as they witnessed us lobbing water balloons at each other while wearing fashionable neon glow sticks around our necks, foreheads and limbs.  They probably thought we were gang affiliated, clearly a gang with ties to the underground rave scene.

The weapons cache

 Game face

 Armed and Dangerous

 My team

 Strategizing

A victory celebration

Group photo

I really do enjoy finding these spontaneous moments of simple pleasure.