Denver (the last dinosaur)

Ok, updated post...

The train to Denver took a mammoth 32 hours, but it didn't seem anywhere that bad. I left from Emeryville station at 9:30am and passed through Sacramento, Reno (as well as several other smaller places) and the Sierra Nevada before the night closed in. The average age of the people on the train must have been about 60, and anyone who discovered I was British was quick to ask me what I thought of William and Kate getting married. I don't know if anyone is particularly bothered by it in England, but I assume most people are about as apathetic as I am. I was in a carriage with an elderly couple heading to Nebraska, a guy with two plastic legs (he really struggled just to get up to go to the loo, I don't think I could cope with something like that...), and another couple who I didn't really chat to. Partly/mainly because the guy was really weird. He reminded me a little bit of the bearded man from Home Alone (the one who the kids are all scared of), and it was a little disconcerting when he started shouting at his wife really loudly, things like "I TOLD YOU, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Luckily I had my new 'logic puzzle book' to keep me occupied. I don't know why I enjoy revealing these sorts of things, given that it holds me out to be a complete nerd. But I guess anyone who reads this already has that opinion of me anyway.

UFO sighted just above the tree on the left



Rocky Mountains

I slept quite well on the train, but woke up with three small bite-like bumps on my shoulder. I think the washing powder they gave me at the hostel in San Francisco might have something to do with it. The next part of the train journey took me through the Rockies. The views were pretty much constantly spectacular. I found I was cursing myself for missing "the best shot of the journey", only to realise a few minutes later that I needn't have worried, since the just around the corner there was an even better sight. I also managed to capture a UFO sighting (see picture on the right). In all honesty, I think it was a bit of dirt on the window, but I thought it was quite similar to the kind of shots you would see in those 'unexplained mystery' photos.

Glenwood Springs



I arrived in Denver at 6:30pm and was met at the station by Gina, whose place I stayed at for a couple of nights. I met her through couch surfing, and her apartment was in a nice part of town, fairly close to the centre, and the sofa was just as comfortable as a bed!

The couchsurfer I had arranged to stay with in Tampa cancelled on me at the last minute, so I ended up spending the next morning trying to sort stuff out for the following leg of my trip, and finally headed into central Denver around midday. I tend to walk everywhere, even though it can be a bit time consuming. Mainly because I am too tight to splash out on a cab, too cautious to risk a faux-pas with public transport, and too frail to pass up an opportunity to strengthen the knees.

Denver is actually quite small in size, and I was able to do a lap of the city in a few hours. Even though the skyline looks like a typical big city, I thought it was quite cool how it was so compact, and within a few minutes of the centre, I could be sat in a tranquil park with a small river flowing beside me. Despite having the Rocky Mountains peering down on it, Denver was surprisingly warm. Ok, so it's no Mexico, but I was able to walk round in little more than a T-Shirt (and Trousers, obviously) and not feel cold; I thought it December the weather in the 'Mile High City' would be unbearable, but it seemed a marked improvement on San Francisco!



I meant to get the park in the background...



Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos



Capitol Hill, Denver

  

My lap also took me to 'Invesco Field', home of the Denver Broncos. I went into the store and asked if I could go inside the bowl and get a picture. Unfortunately, one of the girls working there informed me that the tours only run until 2pm and when I arrived it was close to 4. However, after a short deliberation she made an exception and smuggled me through security. A few minutes later a couple of other staff members had gathered asking me if I could "say a line", it was only then that I realised my British accent might have helped in getting the photo.

Friday night we headed to downtown Denver. It cost $30 to get entry to the party, but Gina was already committed to going, and I thought that, despite the expense, it would be good to have a night out. It was indeed a fun evening, but unfortunately it was cut a little short because Gina had got a little bit overexcited with the alcohol earlier in the night, to the point that the doormen wouldn't let her into any more places once we had left the original party. Once we got home, I noticed (typically) that the drink had also started to hit me quite hard, so went straight to bed, thankful the next morning that I wasn't hungover.

Randy, Gina and Me

I spent the morning on the laptop again, still trying to arrange what I was doing in Tampa for accommodation. In the end I used some points on had on my 'Starwood' account (there were some perks to going abroad with Deloitte) to book a night at the Sheraton for just $45. It seemed very much like Tampa 'doesn't do' hostels.

My flight was at 16:30, but ended up getting a lift with Brian (Gina's boyfriend) at 2 o'clock, even though it was just a domestic flight. This is because Denver International Airport is absolutely miles from the city and in the middle of nowhere. Amazing really, considering everything else (parks, shops, sights, stadiums, theme parks etc) is all a stone's throw from eachother. I noticed that when we took off, I could barely see the city from the plane. The other factor in this, highlighting another annoyance of America, is that the only way to get to the airport was a bus, which went once an hour and took more than an hour, and I had already missed the one I needed to get me there on time. Surely the town planners thought that having an airport so far away might also mean thinking about how people are going to get there? Well, obviously not.

I arrived in Tampa later that evening, was picked up by the hotel van, and in a short while would be settling down into my three-room suite, complete with a king size bed. Ahhh, bliss. I am a proper traveller....

Next post: Tampa Bay, and why on earth would I come to such a place?

Twig