The Grandest of the Lakes

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After a wonderful night catching up with my family, we took advantage of the chance to sleep in late in comfortable beds. I got up around, I would guess, 9:00, and went for a nice run around the golf course near their house. Bad idea. The air at that level, combined with not having run for about a week and a half (but given how much we've been doing, it feels like a month and a half), made the run extremely difficult and tiring. I did enjoy the water waiting for me when I got back, though!

After breakfast and packing up, we headed into downtown Denver for a couple hours, because we did, of course, need to see the major city we were staying near. It's actually very much a city I could see myself moving to. Quite similar to Boston, if in thinner air. The 16th Street Mall, a mall in the sense of a street more than a shopping center, is not unlike Newbury, although a bit less expensive. Local bookstores and boutiques gave it a very familiar feel, and, apparently it's much cheaper than Boston!

Around 3:00, we headed out on about a 2 hour drive up to Grand Lake, a town which sits on a lake (I'll let you guess the lake's name) in the middle of the Rockies. My uncle graciously offered use of their house there, and we figured that since Denver isn't really "real" Colorado, we should go up in the mountains for at least a day. If nothing else, the drive was one of the most fun drives I've ever driven.

We arrived around 5:30 and immediately hopped in the canoe and kayak. As we have to leave before noon tomorrow, we wanted to get some time on the water before sunset tonight! We paddled all around the lake, teaching Amit how to canoe, as he'd never been in one before. Around 7:30, Serena and I went back to marinate the steak. By 8:00, we had the steak on the grill, the salad made, and were getting ready to sit down to what turned out to be a delicious dinner. We enjoyed s'mores and brownies for dessert and played chess, Sorry, and Scrabble. Tomorrow morning, we need to be up and moving, as we have about an 8 hour drive north to South Dakota - although it's through the Rockies, so it should be one heck of a drive!

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