MADE IT!

So, wow, I've been pretty awful about updating this thing for the past couple days. My bad. There's just so much to do out here in Colorado that I haven't had time to write about it!

The ride to Omaha was pretty boring and frustrating because it unexpectedly took us on I-90 through Wisconsin rather than the shorter route which would have been I-80 straight to Iowa. I guess the GPS isn't perfect after all... Thankfully my dad was there to keep me company for the rest of the way as we passed by corn field after corn field after cornfield. We saw some cows and that was about it. I wouldn't recommend that drive to anyone. 

But anywho, we made it to Denver the next day in record time because the one thing the midwest does right is post their speed limits at 75MPH which means in reality I could safely go 80-85. We were into Denver by 5:00PM that night and dropped off our stuff at the hotel before heading to Golden (the town I'm actually living in). Golden's a quaint little town, a lot like Northampton, MA in terms of character and residents - college town with lots of little non-chain stores and restaurants. We spent the first hour walking up and down the main stretch just to explore before meeting some of my roommates for dinner at this cool italian place in town. I went to WPI with all the other people in our house (there's six of us in total) so it's been great reconnecting with old friends. 

The next day we (Dad and I) made it down to the Red Rocks 

Park/Amphitheater right in Denver which was an amazing sight. Snow was falling that morning which just added to the beauty of the whole place. It's a natural amphitheater formed by these gigantic red rocks/mountainous type things with a man-made concert venue down the middle of it. It's a pretty famous place to play and we took a short tour of the museum they have on sight to see who's been by. I won't list the names I remember, but you can assume it's just about any artist you've ever heard of in the past fifty years. 

We jetted down to downtown after that and walked the 16th Street Mall, then visited the Colorado Capitol Building, and had an all-around peaceful day before sending Dad on his way at the airport. Things have been moving at 500MPH since then with all the stuff I've been doing. I went out with my roommates and some friends to check out the Golden night scene my first night in town and went out the next day to buy the rest of my snowboarding gear on Friday.

 Saturday night we drove up to Frisco which is a town closer to all the mountains where my roommates, a few friends, and a few other WPI alumni in Denver are renting a house for the season. And then this morning I finally made it to the slopes!! We chose to hit up Breckenridge which was about a 15 minute drive from the ski house and I cannot explain how incredible this place is compare to everything I've been at in the northeast! The views were breathtaking, the trails were covered in powder, the weather was so perfect I didn't need anything other than my jacket and an undershirt. It was amazing. Getting back into the groove of snowboarding was a little tough having not done it in six years, but I think most people would be impressed with how I held up. I took a few nasty falls but I'm feeling pretty good. We'll have to see how it is tomorrow morning when I start my first day at work! 

-ML 

Chicaaaaagooo

What a whirlwind kind of day yesterday was! Bert and I started off pretty early from the hotel in Downers Grove on our way to the SAE headquarters in Evanston. Trust me, it was not an easy morning after the wine bar the night before... The headquarters was beautiful and really a breathtaking sight if you're an SAE and are seeing it for the first time. We got the chance to meet our Executive Director (essentially the CEO) and as fate would have it, it turns out he's going to be in Denver on Thursday for an alumni reception dinner which he invited me along to. So I think after I drop my dad off that night, I'll head off to meet some of my fraternity brothers in the area.After leaving Evanston we toured up and down Chicago's Magnificent Mile, saw the bean in Millenium Park, and grabbed some sushi somewhere along the way. Before picking up Dad we made our to Wrigleyville and tried our best to get into Wrigley Park. Obviously it was closed which didn't stop us for trying to find another way in, but the search was fruitless. Instead we stopped in at one of the local watering holes to ask some Chicagoans how we could kill an hour before going to the airport. We did a little gift shopping for Bert's girlfriend and the hopped back on the train to meet Dad.
Considering the amazing time we had the night before at DOC, we couldn't think of a reason not to take the real Italian there for some dinner and wine tasting. But, with bottles at half price for the night we let Dad do the driving while Bert and I did the drinking.

Bert took off pretty early today (before either of us Lalli's woke up) and we slept in to around 8:15. We were recommended to check out a restaurant for breakfast back in Wrigleyville called "Nookie's" which was pretty incredible, as well. Thanks again, Steph. And once again, Chicago has proven to be one of my favorite cities. I will move here some day and definitely visit several more times before I can do that.

Now we're on our long long way to Omaha, Nebraska and expect to get in around 7:30 tonight (9:30 your time). Wish us luck! There's not much else to see on this leg other than corn fields covered in snow!!!

I'll have pictures posted eventually, as we used Bert's camera for most of yesterday...

ML

Some Good Vino

Good morning!

As predicted, after the Ohio traffic disaster, we arrived in the Chicago area around 7PM last night. Unfortunately, our radio connection to the Pats game cut out, and even more unfortunately Randy Moss forgot how to catch a football. We're actually staying in Downers Grove which is about 45 minutes west of Chicago so instead of going downtown last night we used a little help from the iPhone to find a good restaurant close by (Paul, I know you're probably cursing my name right now for making an iPhone shoutout. Get over 

it); and the D.O.C. Wine Bar it was. The place was empty because it was kind of crappy weather out, and how many people really go out at 8PM on a Sunday night to drink a couple bottle

s of wine other than us? But it was sweet, and because there were

 so few people dining, there was all the more wine for us. Good food, a few wine flights, and a bottle of something Italian later, and we were on our way back to the hotel to get some shut-eye. If you're ever around these parts, definitely check out that restaurant - the food was cheap and the bartenders (or I guess sommeliers) were great company. 

Well, today's the big day for exploring Chicago - thanks for all the recommendations! We're starting off by heading to Evanston to check out our Fraternity's national headquarters and then making our way downtown. And Dad flies in tonight - we'll have scope out the restaurant scene and pick a place before he gets here. I'm betting he'll be pretty hungry after a ten-hour travel day.

ML