I’m visiting my brother in Denver this weekend and simply put: we are having more fun than I can describe. There is something about being around my brother that makes me the most obnoxious, giggly girl on earth. We harass, tease and make each other laugh like nothing else. My abs hurt, and it isn’t from pilates. (Okay, maybe a little bit from pilates. Good Lord. Pretty sure it isn’t a coincidence that Pontius Pilate and pilates are in the same hellacious family, if you know what I mean.)

Siblings, Grand Lake, Colorado

Pretending like we like each other — Grand Lake, Colorado.

Back to Denver. He surprised me with a manicure and pedicure when I arrived, took me for Mexican food about a dozen times over, and today we met up with my friends Sheila and Charlie for a tour of the Rocky Mountains. We went to Golden, Boulder, Gramby, Grand Lake, etc. It was such a fun day. I love Colorado! Living in Arizona, you forget what the color green looks like this time of year. And my goodness, this state is so incredibly green. And incredibly me. It’s been 10 years since I’ve spent any time in Colorado and I’d forgotten how great this state is. The people are fit (especially in Golden and Boulder.)

Charlie and me

Charlie and I head up to the alpine slide.
Everyone here have great dogs and they take with them everywhere. (Seriously, I walked into a bar in Grand Lake — the Lariat — and there was a dog sitting at a bar stool.) Gardens. Hybrid cars. Women with gorgeous, long hair and no makeup. Men with beards that are sexy scruffy and not uni-bomber scary. Farmer’s markets. Bluegrass bands playing in squares using spoons and washboards and violins. Breweries on every corner. Peace bumper stickers. Random rock climbers escalating every valley. Class five rapids and kayakers tackling them every day. People everywhere outside, loving the earth and enjoying a beautiful summer day. I. LOVE. IT. HERE.

Instructions, minus what to do when stuck behind a

Rules. As if.
.
Today we went down the alpine slide in Winter Park. For $14, you ride the ski lift up to the mid-point of one of the mountains and use a tiny plastic to sled down a fiberglass slide to the bottom. Stupidly I got in the “advanced” slide line and ended up going last in our group. My brother and Charlie apparently thought I’d fallen off the slide because they were waiting at the bottom so long. I hadn’t. I was just, um, taking in the scenery, apparently way too slowly to be in the advanced slide lane. By the time I got to the bottom, I’d caused a minor traffic jam with seven other sliders behind me. Without realizing I was the one who caused the problem, a teenager walked by our group at the bottom of the slide telling his friend, “That sucked. I got stuck behind some moron going 2 miles per hour.”
Yep. I’m that moron. This was fuel to the fire for my brother and “one of his favorite stories ever.”

The perfect photo of Grand Lake

Grand Lake is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been. Cute man? Check. Cute dog? Check. Boat? Check. Beautiful day? Giddyup.

Hope you are having a great weekend,
K