Hello friends!!  It’s been a bit too long since I’ve written a proper update…my apologies!  And I can’t even promise that this will be a decent one, seeing as it’s Tuesday morning and I’m sleepy(albeit in possession of peppermint mocha) and eventually need to get started catching up on work.  But…we shall see.  Anyways!  Main purpose of this post is to chronicle this past weekend’s epic adventures…in Colorado!  But even better than getting to visit and explore a new state was hanging out with Robbie!  I hadn’t seen him since his wedding(yay Natasha!) late last year.  And obviously, it being his wedding and all, we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out then either!  But this weekend was a wonderful time to actually be with Robbie and also do some pretty awesome things.  But right – I should stop rambling and actually describe the vacation a bit.  Flew out Saturday morning and landed in Denver…whereupon since I had a few hours to kill before Robbie arrived, I took the train into the city centre and…as one does, I found a sweet book store(Tattered Cover).  Because I was a bit exhausted(from long week previous and just waking up early to pack and go to airport…), I decided I needed a triple-shot of espresso…naturally.  Drank that and read some of my Wendell Berry book in the book store for an hour or so(speaking of, I really do need to eventually log the last four books I’ve read.  Next time).  Still had some time before Robbie was set to arrive so I walked around Denver a bit in the scorching heat(96 degrees seriously!?!).  Finally – he texted me that he had landed so I walked back to train station to meet him.  While waiting, watched a bit of the Russia/Croatia quarterfinal…which is where Robbie found me when he arrived!  We greeted each other quickly then decided we needed to find a proper place to watch the game(it had just gone into extra time!).  We found a pub nearby, got lunch and then watched the rest of the game(surrounded by many fans of Croatia, evidenced by the yelling!).  Croatia did end up victorious on penalties.  So the last four of the World Cup is France, Belgium, England & Croatia.  Europa invicta!  I’m very torn on who to root for…France for Julie’s sake or England for Robbie’s?  I really don’t know what I shall do if they meet in finals.  Of course with my luck…will probably end up being Belgium v Croatia.  Anyways right…watching the World Cup in pub with Robbie…doesn’t get much better than that!!  We reminisced about the last time we watched a World Cup game together…in a bar in Boston four years ago!!  Guess we shall have to make plans for 2022 as well then…to continue this glorious tradition.

So…this entry is already far too long and I’ve gotten barely a few hours into the trip!  I shall have to accelerate and compress.  Following the game, me and Robbie made our way to our hotel.  We checked in and set out bags down, then explored Denver a bit more!  Walked past the capitol building and some park…then discovered the true prize – a sweet used book store!  We perused the offerings there for a while, although I held strong and bought no books.  I do love used book stores though…just standing in the midst of the stacks…the possibilities are endless and hope is supreme, for one never knows what gem may be sitting on the shelves…

We did eventually tear ourselves away from the books and walked back, through a thunderstorm nonetheless!  Dinner was at a delicious ramen place and following…well, we were in a board game mood because Robbie had been talking about this fun game that everyone in his church had been addicted to this past year or so.  We looked up board game stores in Denver and made our way to the nearest one, thinking maybe we’d find this game at the store and he would buy it.  Well…this “board game store” actually ended up being a place where you play board games!  They had a whole wall full of games and then tables strewn throughout so you could play with your friends.  I…didn’t even know they had places like this.  Well, wonder of wonders, they actually had this epic strategy game Robbie had been talking about!  So instead of having to buy it, we were able to sit down and play it right there!  The game is called Scythe – and it’s basically a strategy game set in alt-history early 20th century Europe.  What does that even mean?  Well…you have farms and mines and workers…and you try and complete certain objectives…oh yeah and you also have mechs.  Glorious.  So I played as Russia and Robbie played as the Norse and even though I had no idea what I was doing, when we called the game half-way through(because it was almost midnight and really it was time to go!) I somehow won??  I still have no idea what I was doing…but playing with Robbie was super fun.  Epic strategy gaming – that’s how we holiday.

Got to the hotel super late…but next morning we couldn’t sleep too late as Sunday was our hiking day!!  And really I’m running out of time so I shan’t describe the whole day in detail(thank goodness right??), but we drove out west of Denver to…what I think was technically part of Rocky Mountain National Park – or near enough anyway.  We had been researching various trails and because we hadn’t exactly had an early start, wouldn’t have time for any of the really challenging ones.  But we hiked what is known as “Jim’s Creek Trail” and it was gorgeous.  Again…it’s hard to put to words how it felt to just be hiking through the woods and enjoying the beauty of a vigorous hike up hills and over streams and clambering up muddy slopes and through it all being surrounded by the wondrous beauty of God’s creation.  Pretty much the whole hike was next to the creek and so we were able to hear the water running and tumbling and singing throughout our walk…and eventually when we decided to eat our prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, we did so upon what I dubbed Picnic Rock, a massive rock that was just perfect for a mid-hike lunch.  And so eventually we turned around and hiked back the way we had come…and for some reason, probably due to the clean air and lovely walk, I was more energized than ever as we completed our hike.  As we made our way to the exit, Robbie and I had fun singing some of our favourite songs…think we were singing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” when we broke from the trees at the end!  Oh how wonderful it is to have have a dear friend like Robbie.

And…really I must go now.  The rest of the trip shall have to go untold…but it involved much more fun adventures, including listening to fun dance music as we drove through the wonderfully mountainous terrain, me introducing Robbie to Torchy’s Tacos…and more walking around Denver and exploring…visiting another bookstore(in which I did succumb to temptation and buy a couple books!) and more of what I have really left out up til now –  the best part of this trip was obviously all the many conversations Robbie and I shared…talking about deep things, talking about our lives, talking about the state of the world(global socioeconomics, Canadian & American politics, etc, etc!), talking about the glories of God and what He has been doing in our lives…and then talking about what all guys end up talking about – girls obviously! – Natasha for him and then any “possibilities” for me…as we do eh?  So truly I am grateful for the glorious weekend that we shared.  It is obviously fun to explore a new city and it is of course beautiful to hike through gorgeous countryside and it is always good and proper to enjoy so much delicious food when you’re on holiday…but the truest and most treasured part of this trip was the many deep talks Robbie and myself had.  Even being able to end a night together reading a Psalm.  What is better than that?  Not much.  So if you’ve read all this(*applauds*), thank you, but most of all I hope you get a sense of my gratitude to my Father God for how He has blessed me so.  I am deeply loved.

Peace and love, forever and always.