The HOT SPRINGS!

11.05.2009

Sleeping is a wonderful thing. Ally's couches are so comfy, I get all the sleep I need, wake up and take a shower, immediately feeling 10,000 times better than I did yesterday.

So, we went downtown to see Ally at her work, the Tattered Cover. It's a really cool bookstore in an old building. It's what Chapters tries to be, but can never pull off, basically. We have a nice chilled out breakfast, with REALLY bitter tea that needs milk and agave nectar to actually be palatable.

Sylvain is more interested in seeing the city of Denver than the hot springs, so Ryan, Adam and I say goodbye to him and then tell him we'll meet him later at 3:30 to pick him up at Ally's house. `

When you pull into the Indian Hot Springs, all you think is "tourist trap". But honestly, there is no way you could design the outside of this place, to reflect the amazingness of the inside. There is no point in making the outside all fancy, when the inside is so indescribable.

Basically, it is just a cave, with holes in it, where hot mineral water is pumped in from white plastic pipes in the "ceiling". So, what you do, is take off all your clothes and just sit there, and boil, like vegetables in a stew. Seriously. A few of the pools were tested at about 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Adam and Ryan were too chicken to go in because they "didn't want to pay $20 to sit around naked with a bunch of men." So they went on a hike, without watches, and picked me up half an hour too late.

Anyway, hot springs = awesome. I could only sit in the pools of water for about five minutes at a time. So, I'd get out every few minutes, have a drink of water and chill out in the cold room, then go back in. Sooooooo awesome and relaxing and blahblahblah. Definitely worth it for $20 to sit with a bunch (specifically TWO) naked old ladies and chill out.

After Adam and Ryan came to get me, we went back to meet Sylvain for 3:30. But first, we stopped for $1 beer and a cheap cowgirl dress for line dancing later tonight.

When we got back to Ally's house, Sylvain wasn't there. Why? Because his watch was still set to some other time zone. What we thought was 3:30 was only 2:30 to him. Big misunderstanding. Oh well. We left him a note, saying we were there at 3:30 but he looked at it and thought we were lying. Ha! When we realized that Sylvain probably had the wrong time, we went out for lunch at a place down the street, which was delicious. We came back and Sylvain was waiting for us. Yay. Ally's roommate Terence took us to "Red rock".

It's a big giant natural amphitheatre out in the countryside, built inside some huge red rocks. The best thing about it, Terence says, is that you can climb up the hills behind the stadium seats and listen to the concert for free.

We climb up the stairs to the top and then talk to a lady from somewhere nearby. She says she comes to the rocks when she has to think about life issues and such. Crowds of fitness fanatics are also there to climb the stairs and run on the bleachers in the afternoon sun. They get pretty creative with their routines, I saw some jumping up the stairs like kangaroos, doing pushups and jumping rope on the stage and still another man climbing up the sides of the amphitheatre by way of a succession of graduated tree planters, all of them higher than his waist.

Before we know it, it's time to meet Ally back at her place, eat dinner and go out to the country bar. It's Tuesday night and we're ready to party! We hit the organic grocery store, buy stuff for breakfast tomorrow and some frozen pizzas tonight.

As soon as we get back, Ally just walks in the door. We feed her some pizza, meet more of her other roommates, and then make our way to the Grizzly Rose. I am sad to report that the mechanical bull was not in service.

There is however, a 30th birthday party happening, and one full grown adult man is dressed in a pink tutu with a red Flava Flav clock around his neck and making a fool of himself on the dancefloor.

I also notice three men putting shots topped with whipped cream on their crotches so that women (who I'm assuming are familiar) can grab the glasses with their mouths to drink it. ... Yeah... Tuesday night in Denver!

The band was pretty good, they played a Black Crowes song, which was fun. Some strangers started teaching me how to linedance because I was trying to follow along and they noticed I was screwing it up continually.

So there you go, line dancing in a country bar in Colorado, voted the best dance venue in the US of A by the Country Music Association. Check.

Next we went over to the Deadhead bar, (one of five in the city). It was pretty boring, and Ally had to get to work the next day early, so we left quite soon. There is free pool there, so of course Terence was there too, just like he said he would be.

Adam and Sylvain at Tattered Cover