Mom noticed that I haven’t updated for several days, and so I will update:

My new favorite place in Denver is the Sweet Action ice cream shop.  They have exciting flavors, like lemon ginger cookie (and things don’t get much better than lemon and ginger and cookies). Oh, and they have free stickers!

I tried slacklining for the first time yesterday. For those of you who don’t know (Mom), slacklining is when you strap some nylon webbing between two trees and try to walk across it, a skill that apparently takes a lot of practice.  Jessie, for example, could walk across it like it was nothing, while I and the rest of the first timers couldn’t even balance for more than a few seconds in one spot.  I am determined to master it!

There’s talk of attempting a 14er before the season’s over; I’d better keep running if I have any hope of not being the weakest link.

It wasn’t nearly as odd seeing Nick as I expected; we have a potential rock climbing rendezvous coming up.  He promises me we’ll go somewhere with a beginner’s level, but this is coming from the boy who cuts down trees when they’re on fire and rafts down class IV rapids straight toward hungry grizzlies. And lives to tell the tale.

Mom and Dad loved our sightseeing - they were in awe of Red Rocks, fascinated by Garden of the Gods.  I also believe they’ve been converted to die-hard fans of Noodles & Co.

They came with me to campus to help me move my stuff in (and thank goodness for that, since we’re on the third floor and the elevator is, of course, broken.)  They said goodbye (not before they got a parking ticket) and were on their merry way back to Davenport, Iowa.  I think it was an easier goodbye for everyone, compared to our many teary farewells at airport security.

It’s been exciting meeting all the other TLs; everybody’s got an interesting anecdote or knows someone I knew in my Corps year.  It’s not particularly easy for me to be social for so many hours straight, but it continually gets better.

Tomorrow will be another full day of meet and greets; a good night’s sleep is a must.

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”
- Confucius

Well, I finally made it to Denver!  It was a superb trip - Meadville, Cincinnati, Alton, and Omaha - complete with visits with some superb people.  Mom and Dad met up with me in Omaha; I think they’re having almost as much fun as I am.

We got up for the sunrise this morning; you can sit on a hill behind campus and watch the mountains light up as the sun comes up.  Dad decided to go for a run and see what it’s like at this altitude; I told him he should move here for a year to train for his next marathon.

Today we’re going to Red Rocks, Noodles & Co for lunch, then to Colorado Springs to meet up with my cousin Nick for dinner.  I haven’t seen him (or anyone from his nuclear family) for eight years.  Forgive me, Nick, if I treat you like you’re 12.