The preparation was pretty substantial, and Liz and I ended up having to do the bulk of it (our Americorps team felt like slacking and not showing up until the last minute...though some of them had the decency to stay after to help clean up. The day began with an epic trip to Wal Mart, where we threw down some major dollars for all sorts of produce, pasta, sauces, juice, and much more. The only thing we struck out on was Tahini, but our hummus turned out great anyway. We returned to school, and got to prepping the lunch room for the big night. For a while it seemed like everything was going wrong: the putt putt golf had been "thrown away," the zumba and hip hop dance teacher cancelled that day, the nutritionist decided she could only stay for an hour, our internet went down, and we didn't fully know if we'd be able to provide the food we wanted. HOWEVER, we got all of the food, we found some putt putt, we got a replacement teacher to teach salsa (didn't end up happening due to technical difficulties, but it didn't end up being a big deal), and I didn't even notice the nutritionist leave. I ended up manning the food for most of the night, but it was great looking out at the room and seeing tons of people having a great time. Our menu for the night included:
Hummus, served with chips, celery, cucumbers and carrots
Peach-mango salsa to put on chips
Whole wheat pasta salad with peppers, onions, tomatoes, peas, parmesan, and light Italian dressing
Mini pizzas on whole wheat English muffins with sauce, basil, peppers, onions, and mozzarella
Taco salad with ground turkey, spinach, tomatoes, salsa, cheese
Fruit kabobs with pineapple, strawberries, bananas, apples
We had one rogue girl trying to dump ranch on everything, but Liz ended up hiding the ranch, and everyone went on eating healthily and in peace. Overall, a great success and kickoff into my memorial day weekend vacation.
However, my vacation ended up starting out a little more exciting than I would've liked. As I sat at the Portland airport on Wednesday night, listening as they pusehd back our departure time 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, etc., citing tornadoes in Denver, I became increasingly antsy. Finally, at about 9 or 10 p.m., they canceled the flight entirely, leading all passengers to jump in line in order to re-book. I ended up lucking out and being 4th in line, but they were saying no one would be able to get on a flight for the next day, and would be lucky to find anything even on Friday. I actually began to entertain the idea that I would just have t pick another weekend to travel home. However, I heard someone mention Seattle, and learned taht there were openings on flights out of Seattle for the next day. I jumped on that, and was put on an 8:50 a.m. flight out of Seattle for the next morning. Lauren was nice enough to let me sleep on her (now pretty much my) pull out couch for a few hours, before making the wonderful drive from Portland to Seattle, with a 3 a.m. departure. I was a total zombie, but got up after just 2 hours of sleep, drove to Seattle, and was lucky to experience little traffic and a beautiful sunrise (meaning no rain! Shocking!). I pulled up to Alyssa's house, at which time she made me some tea and a salad for the road. A cab came and finally whisked me away to the SeaTac airport, from which I arrived in Denver at noon that day.
Then came the issue with my return, which was still scheduled to come into Portland. Yet my car remained in Seattle. Through some mastery, and sheer luck, I figured out a way home, and to have my car waiting there for me. My friend Kate HAPPENED to be flying out of Portland today, and Nikki HAPPENED to be flying into SeaTac today. Erego, Kate gets a ride from Liz to PDX, and I get a ride back to Morton in Liz's return. Dan goes to pick Nikki up from SeaTac (I mailed him my car keys), and he will drive my car back to Morton from Seattle. It hasn't all gone through yet, but I assume that by the time I'm home tonight, my car will be waiting for me in my driveway.
My time in Boulder was like a trip to Paradise, and I managed to do all of the Boulder-y things I had dreamed of, including:
*Lunch at Zolo, my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, sitting outside in the 85 degree weather while drinking a beer
*Watching So You Think You Can Dance while eating Supper Salad (the show isn't specifically Boulder, but it reminds me of summers at home)
*Spin class with Kayla at 24 hour fitness, alongside all of the other Boulder fitness freaks
*Haircut from Bobbi
*Rockies game (they lost 5-4, but our seats were literally 14 rows up from the 3rd base line)
*Farmers' Market, which was totally packed because of the Boulder Creek Festival, but still great seeing the spectacle of all of the fresh produce
*Boulder Creek Festival, again with a day of perfect weather and sunshine. Booths visited included buying ducks for the duck race, a booth giving info on buying chickens (my parents' new dream), greyhound adoption to visit with our neighbor, and watching the community dance stage which featured some sort of contemporary dance where a bunch of pre-teen girls were just running around screaming at each other. Not the best....
*Visiting a MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY, which is apparently also a wellness center/pilates studio. My mom wanted to see this place for educational and professional reasons, since her patients are always wanting her to prescribe pot for them. We saw all of the varieties of marijuana in various jars, some baked goods, and even weed-infused Glacier ice cream! It was pretty fascinating...
*We visited the Fauvers at their new, beautiful home, and reminisced about old times going to their house before soccer practice. Shockingly I didn't end up giving a balalaika performance....
*My parents and I went to Salt, one of my favorite Boulder restaurants, where we sampled some local beers, a bottle of Spanish wine, and some great food.
*Beers with Kayla and Kalina at the Walnut Brewery...the Devil's Thumb Stout was delightful
*Sunday morning blueberry pancakes, coffee, and reading the newspaper
*Shopping spree with my mom at the 29th street mall. Great success, but super tiring
*Grilled chicken, MOJITOS, and I Love Lucy for dinner....
*We walked/jogged the Bolder Boulder on Monday, the greatest thing ever. I don't know why I ever didn't participate in this amazing event--it's as much a party as it is a 10k.
*Went to the shop around the corner (King Soopers), but none of my favorite local characters were there, unfortunately
*Fulfilled my dream of drinking beer on the patio at the Southern Sun brewery. I even got a sun burn, something I haven't had in a while....
*Buffalo burgers bbq at our house, ate out on our deck, including corn on the cob, baked beans, and brownie sundaes for dessert. Champagne was our beverage of choice this time...
*My final Boulder hurrah was a trip to Cafe Sole, which has totally changed but still got my usual pre-airport beverage....
Overall, once I finally got to Boulder, the weekend was perfect, the weather was perfect, and I am not thrilled to be going back to Morton. However, I do have Zoo Brew to look forward to this Friday, at which I will be sampling beer while mingling with wild animals in Portland!
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