Colorado - The Perfect Place

Have you ever been somewhere before and known it was the exact right place for you to be at that time? That's how I felt yesterday.

I flew out to Denver for work on Tuesday night and spent a couple of busy days in the field. It's been a nice change of pace for me, and the coming months should offer me an opportunity to travel a few times per month, but nothing even close to as much as I was in 2011. Gotta love those ebbs and flows! Yesterday, I spent the first half of the day in the field before driving from the suburbs south of Denver to Boulder, which is about a 1 hour drive. It was 55 degrees, the skies could not be any bluer, and the mountains were majestic. When do you get the opportunity to drive with the windows down in the middle of January and look at snow covered mountains? It also helps that my rental this week was a bright red Dodge Charger, which is really fun to drive.

After taking in one of the shortest 1 hour drives of my life, I caught up with my cousins for a bit before getting a massage. The woman who gives me my massages out here is trained in cranial techniques. She can transport you to another dimension she's so good at what she does. When you get off the table, you feel kind of like Peter Gibbons did after his hypnotherapy session in Office Space. Always one of the highlights of a trip to Boulder.

After I got back to my cousins, I shut off my phone and went to dinner at Avery, which is a microbrewery here in Boulder. For those of you who don't know, Colorado is by far the best microbrew area in the country. There are dozens of microbrews out here, each one better then the last. If you're looking for a solid brewery, my favorite is Left Hand. They're getting big in Philly now and you can get their beers pretty much anywhere that sells six-packs. I recommend the Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout. They patented a new process where they can get a beer on Nitro in a bottle. Pretty amazing stuff. Back to dinner - I sampled about 6 different stouts (one of the reasons I love winter) and enjoyed the time with my cousins who I only get to see 2-3 times per year.

When we returned, my cousin played the piano for about 45 minutes (he's incredible), while I took some time to read (phone still off). I can't begin to tell you how liberating it is to disconnect from the world for a few hours every week. It changes my entire perspective and allows me to reset, especially after a long week. The perfect mental respite that I need.

Today I'll be hitting the slopes for a full day of skiing. In the words of the not so immortal Bart Scott, "Can't Wait!"

Kaps

Song of the Day: Lumineers - Ho Hey