Rocky Mountain Bye!

Very fun weekend, though 6 days may stretch the definition of weekend.

Ostensibly the visit was for the wedding of a college friend, though if that were the extent of the reason to go, I probably would have begged off, not particularly liking weddings. But because it was a college friend's wedding, there were some of my good college friends there and so it was a sort of college reunion. And to put the cherry on top, my sister Kathy lives in Salida (center south of the state, in between a couple mountain ranges) so that created enough critical mass to make it a very worthwhile trip.

First: the wedding. Excellent wedding, and even more than that the couple had planned something for the guests the entire week before. We only participated in the Friday event, a trip to a hot springs for some hot lounging, for which they chartered a bus and made it as easy as possible. Excellent. The wedding itself was on a 'hill' west of Denver with great views of the front range and the weather was magnificent - 70's and sunny. Good sized group but it was a very casual wedding with another of our college friends as MC. Reception turned into dance fest 2005, which, of course, I am a big fan of. Not a great dj, but he did play Groove is in the Heart, among others.

Second: the reunion. You'd expect that you get a group of architects together and we'd talk shop. Nope, mostly we drink and act stupid. Most of us had gone to Rome together, so that's always a good opportunity to reminisce.

Third: the sister. A great drive up and over the front range into a beautiful valley (Arkansas River) for a quick overnight visit, followed by a trip back to Denver the next day through Leadville and the major ski towns. Great scenery and a good visit.

All in all, a very fun weekend.