I arrived in Denver severely sleep deprived. 3 hours on Sunday morning, and a couple spent slumped over my bag at JFK on Monday morning before trying to sleep on the plane. Delta Airlines has quite nice planes, and due to taking off at 7am it was quite empty. After descending through the clouds I saw the snow covered fields around the airport and was definitely looking forward to a snowball fight or two. Claudia (Levi's mum) met me at the airport with one of those cool 'Mr .....' signs that visiting businessmen get along with their limo. Outside it was considerably colder that in New Jersey and there was at least 2 inches of snow on her car. First we dropped off my bags and then spent a while wandering the massive Flatiron shopping mall. Levi and Sarah (you may remember them as the two American's I went to see in Switzerland last July) were working so we could only chat briefly over lunch.

   On Tuesday I did little things around the house, like chop off broken tree branches and eat some of the left over enchiladas they had made the night before :-) I borrowed a mountain bike (with a seat clearly not made for me) and rode down town and out the other side to Boulder Creek Canyon. Along the way I passed Colorado University and saw a number of its students. I think I'd like to study there, or just hang out on campus. At the end of the bike path I was still feeling pretty energetic so I took a road labeled '4 Mile Canyon' (video 5.8mb). When I reached the peak, more than 4 miles down the road, I decided not to go down the other side in case I had to come back the same way. That descent was lots of fun. We went to a local Indian restaurant for dinner and the food was really good, though the Chicken Korma was a bit too spicy for me. There were some troubles with the waitress that resulted in the manager coming to our table to apologise and gave us his card so that next time we visit everything is on the house. Despite all that she still got a tip! I am having to pay very close attention to that, trying to learn the etiquette so as not make a fool of myself or upset the locals.

   Did you know that traditional Mexican tacos can include fish and shrimp? Me neither, but Wahoo's Fish Taco knows and they do them really well. After lunch on Wednesday Claudia drove to the airport and I rode the bike from Bloomfield to Boulder with great views of Green Mountain and The Flatirons all the way. It was only about 10 miles, but on that seat it felt like 50. I was sitting very gently for the rest of the day.

A practice climb

To get in practice for Saturday the three of us went to the climbing center for a few hours. I know my technique is totally wrong, but I just can't resist the urge to pull myself up rather than use my legs. A lady named Becky joined us for drinks afterwards, and I had my first American root beer. It's not bad, and very much like the root beer flavoured Mike-and-Ikes. Whodathunkit?