ESB

Went to beautiful Denver last month as Kelly was giving a speech at the National CDC Conference. We stayed the first 2 nights at the Adam's Mark downtown. Our original room was nice to begin with, but after Kelly spotted a cockroach, we were upgraded to the pimp suite on the top 29th floor. I guess I'm so used to living with cockroaches that they don't even elicit a second look.

Travel tip: when using Priceline.com, "Downtown" Denver doesn't necessarily mean downtown. I thought I was getting deal when we got a place for $60/night for the rest of the trip. But once the bus dropped us off in the middle of the ghetto, the buzzkill was on. And I don't mean some run-of-the-mill ghetto, I'm talking about the "sit next to the dead guy on the bus stop" ghetto. I thought Denver was an innocent Western town? If this was a 3-star hotel, I'd hate to see the 2-stars. Needless to say the cockroaches were the least of our worries.

That's why I don't have very many good pictures for the trip - the last couple nights we were too scared to leave the hotel.

I went to my first Nazi rally this weekend! To join the protest of course... But I arrived late and missed most of the fireworks.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. After receiving a few curious looks from the protesters, I soon realized it might not be the best idea for a bald-headed, pasty, Norwegian/German like myself to be hanging around a Nazi protest. I felt like saying, "I'm on your side, I swear!"

But it's comforting to see our First Amendment at work. Both sides were allowed to voice their opinion with no violence. Maybe this was only because they fenced off the entire Capitol Square to fend off the protesters. Otherwise the Nazis wouldn't have felt as secure.

On Saturday, I went to my 3rd Brewer game of the year. It was supposedly 95-degrees. But tailgating on those concrete parking lots in the midst of thousands of charcoal grills, I believe 110 would be a more accurate number.

The game was crazy. The first 4 innings, the not-so-cheery home fans were booing every chance they got; probably because the crew are going through a tough stretch and just traded Carlos Lee in a questionable trade. But they came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 6-3 behind blasts from Billy Hall and Prince "Buffett" Fielder.

The highlight had to be the 40-year-old drunk guy (see picture to the left) who ran out on the field in the 6th inning & made it all around the bases before being tackled by security. The sausage race was cool too since we were in the front row by 3rd base. It was the first day of the new "sausage participant", the Mexican Chorizo. Is it me, or is his costume a little racist?

The day was almost ruined when I couldn't find my keys while walking back to my car after the game. I went back inside the stadium, but saw them nowhere. I frantically sprinted all the way back to the car only to find them dangling from the car door! Luckily no one drove off with my car. I didn't think I drank that much before the game. But looking at the picture below, maybe it wasn't that surprising...