Rain ruins potentially awesome blog post, and other misadventures

What we planned to do in Montrose:

• Hike in the Box Canyon in Ouray with my favorite baby, Castelle. (Photo is of Cas and Brooke, his mom, at the Black Canyon)
• Go garage sale-ing.
• Go for a nice long bike ride toward Gunnison.
• Go to the naked hot springs, Orvis, in Ridgeway.
• Have a picnic.
• Hang out at the pool at the Best Western Red Arrow, my favorite hotel in the world (disclosure: it is managed by Castelle's mom and dad).

What actually happened in Montrose:

• It rained.
  
• A lot.
• Wtf.
  

So stay tuned for a real blog post about the loveliness that is Montrose, CO. Beyond the meth addicts and crime problem, it's really quite a nice area. Of course, I really like deserts; to each his own.

Three things I can write about in spite of inclement weather:

• Pollux. I miss shopping so much. Glenwood has, um, Target (which I love, you know that, Target) but I haven't found a store here that caters to my personal style, if you will. Luckily for me, I have Pollux (there's also a location in Grand Junction). Last time, I spent an amount I am embarrassed about. This time, I kept it to a hat that looks sort of like this. Cute. Go me, with the willpower.
• Belly. In addition to being my favorite word, this is also a new-ish restaurant in Montrose. Excellent Friday night specials for the ladies ($1 wells), good live music Saturday nights. Food: average, though I hear the coconut shrimp are pretty great. BLT had lots of bacon, which made me happy enough. Oh, and apparently Justin Timberlake and Jessica Beale ate there once when they were in Telluride. So it's kind of like I'm famous now.
  
• 
• Suds. Sure, it may not be the best bar in town, but it's home. They don't serve food. Unless you count hot pockets as food. They don't have a patio. Unless you count the back alley. BUT: colorful characters abound, it's worthwhile to get to know the bartenders, and sometimes there is karaoke. Plus sometimes the bartenders jump over the bar to break up fights. So it's kind of like Roadhouse. You can also smoke in the bar, which may be good or bad, depending on your habits.

Swimming Pretty in Denver

I visited the Downtown Aquarium, Downtown Denver that is.

Years ago I visited the aquarium and was not very impressed. This time around I was pretty pleased so either they've changed things or I'm just more easily entertained these days.

Let's do this one Sara style:

Biggest Mistake:
We accidentally started the tour backwards. We thought we were rather clever (at least I did) going in reverse but I wouldn't recommend it, there is a reason it's set up the way it is and it all has to do with building suspense. We saw the romantic ending between human and stingray before any of the back story. Follow the path for a proper story build-up.

Biggest Silly Girl Moment:
The Stingrays are there to touch. Definitely shrieked like a little silly girl the first time I got a finger on one, they are pretty slimy, you've been warned. Also some of them like to splash, you've been warned, again.

Biggest Surprise:
A really large amount of good sized sharks. They would swim right next to the glass for a very up-close look at some serious teeth, yikes!

Biggest Tip:
The Aquarium closes at 9 PM, we went a little after 7:30 on a weeknight. This was plenty of time to see the whole thing and aside from one or two other groups we had the whole thing to ourselves.

Biggest Bummer:
The Aquarium boasts awesome Tigers. I have not yet seen any evidence besides an empty space. Perhaps they go to bed early or were quarantined for the Swine Flu.

Biggest (cool) Amusement Park-like Feature:
I was rather entertained by the simulation of flash floods in the desert, especially because it caught us off guard (lesson learned).

Biggest (lame) Amusement Park-like Feature:
The animatronic Orangutan, although the sign saying "Don't Feed" made me giggle a bit.

Biggest reason I'd go back:
There is a restaurant on the first floor of the building that smelled like it had some very tasty food.

I think the place is overall worth a visit, especially if you're trying to impress your date.

How About A BBQ Off?

I don't think much of bars in Broomfield, CO, I have constantly been shocked then that even during daytime hours when I drove by The Old Man (just east of Sheridan on 120th Ave) that there were always cars in the parking lot. Unemployment, I thought, turns out it's BBQ.

Guess what I had, Sara? Get ready..... BBQ Sliders! That's right, point me. Three adorable little sandwiches, roast turkey, beef brisket and pulled pork, all insanely tasty. I liked the pulled pork the most but had trouble dividing my attention between the three, just like if you have kids, I'm sure. To top it all off, the best baked beans I have had from any BBQ restaurant, probably ever.

I also sampled off of my willing relative's plates (for the sake of research, of course). Fried Okra=yum, French Fries=yum, Sausage Links=yum.

I will no longer mock you Old Man.

This is just to say…

I ate the cheese fries
That you put on my table
They were delicious
So melty, with bacon.

Yeah I made a William Carlos Williams joke just then. But the cheese fries at Rib City are seriously delicious.

So delicious I couldn’t finish my super delicious pulled pork sandwich.

As far as BBQ goes, this ain’t no Rib House (I will always carry a torch for the Rib House) but it’s pretty fricking good for the Western Slope. Plus, within walking distance of my house, and work (that means downtown, such as it is in Glenwood).

Worth pulling off the highway for if you need a snack.

Especially if you like cheese and bacon as much as I do.

Just try not to think of these little guys while you’re eating it.

Good and Not so Good Ideas, Denver

Good Idea:
Emilio's Superchef Mexican Restaurant, Margaritas 4 pm-close, Thursday thru Sunday for $1.75. I'm no tequila snob but I had no difficulty enjoying these pint-sized babies and even less trouble getting drunk off of two.

Not So Good Idea:
Being too tipsy to fully enjoy my always delicious Steak Bowl with yakatori sauce, white rice and add on veggies from Tokyo Joe's. I did somehow manage to eat all the edamame out with chopstiks, so Margaritas must not kill all fine motor skills.

Good Idea:
Getting a pedi-cab ride to Liploss to get my hipster dance moves on. Drinking a delicious drink titled "Pink Pussy."
~Not so Good Idea:
Arriving after 10 PM, thus having to fork over $6.

Not so Good and Good idea:
A large buffet of Italian food for brunch at Cinzetti's. I conqured eating 4 different forms of potato in one sitting (mashed, rosemary roasted, hashbrown and soup), it's a tie between the mashed and roasted for the best. Disappointed by sub-par pastas. Annoyed to the possibe point of no return by fellow diners. Ate tasty tiny creme puff that was completely worth excruciating food baby pain that was to follow.

Good Idea:
Sunshine Cleaning at the Mayan (probably my favorite movie theater in Denver).

Not so Good Idea:
Dinner at Sputnik. The BLT is very tasty but no matter how often you ask to add the add-on avacado it never seems to show up with it on it. The sweet potato fries were ok but nothing to write to mom about. Also probably had the worst waitress in recent memory. Being hipster is one thing but it shouldn't translate to crap/lazy waitress. "Uhm excuse me miss, I know you're super busy rubbing up on your boss behind the bar but we've been finished eating for about 20 minutes and were wondering if it would kill you to let us pay you, since obviously you aren't going to offer to get us another drink?" Perhaps I'll sit at the bar from now on.

Good Idea:
Iced Coffee with Caramel from Fluid

Good Idea:
Relaxing in the Colorado sunshine with friends at Cheesman Park. The grass is already in loungeable condition. Do apply that sunscreen and watch out for ghosts as it was formerly a cemetary.

For Uptight Oxymorons

As I laid face down in a High School on the outskirts of Boulder, I thought to myself, "more people should know about this, had I known about this while I was at CU I would have been here all the time."

The oxymoron quality of the idea of a back-facial has already been pointed out to me. I'm promoting it anyway. It appears that only old people know the benefits of going to a Tech school for cheap salon type services. While I'm not offering up my hair anytime soon (even though I'm sure it would be fine). How much can a girl (or in the case of this semester, one guy) screw up a massage with river stones and exfoliate cremes? Not enough to stop me and my crew of 50+ year-old buddies.

Advice today, spend the $8, plus tip, go to the Boulder Valley Tech School and de-stress for an hour.

P.S. Only during most weekday mornings in the Spring semester.