Thalimer/Keane Trip Report, Pt III

Friday, Jun. 11, 2004 - 5:18 p.m.

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 -- Today started very early. Due to some logistics the precise nature of which is still elusive to me as of this writing, sleep did not begin until 2:00 am Tuesday morning. But boy, when it did begin, it went in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, there was the alarm clock in my cell phone, playing the extremely peppy and at that time of day, utterly repugnant 'Hey Ya' ringtone.

We wanted plenty of time to see the mountains, so it was decided that a 6:00 am wakeup and a 7:00 am departure from the room would work best. Somehow I managed to pack everything back into my bag that had come out, with the exception of some travel sized stuff -- and the checkout went smoothly. I wore my Keane concert shirt and my jeans. Todd ended up wearing his Keane concert shirt and his jeans, too, so even though it wasn't planned, we ended up dressed identically on that final day. Todd also had to drop Katy off at her groomers' shop at 7:30, but the relatively early start to the day meant that the drive up would be fairly cool in the morning, and most of the rush hour traffic would be avoided. We hit one bottleneck on the way to drop Katy off, but other than that, the traffic patterns were merciful.

Todd and I stopped for breakfast before we went up. He took me to this place called Great Beginnings, where we each had eggs and bacon. The prices of things in Colorado are reasonable for the most part; the meal was twenty dollars and that included the tip.

Soon we were on the road, and it was then when I discovered a funny thing about Colorado -- there's one thing that costs a lot. We stopped at a service station to gas up before going up into the Rockies, and I found that the water is even more expensive than gas. I bought bottled water and paid rather handsomely for it.

We were finally on our way between eight thirty and nine, heading west on Interstate 70.

I have never seen anything else like the Rocky Mountains in my life. As we ascended, the sun became warmer, because there was less atmosphere between me and it, and the air became noticeably thinner when we got to the Eisenhower Tunnel.

We drove over to Breckinridge, where Todd showed me the summer use of the ski lifts; they are used to transport mountain bikers up to the top of the mountains so they can ride down again. I don't know if they do that in California. I saw a sign on a pharmacy up there that offered Free Oxygen, and for a short while I considered seeing if we could go get some for me.

Todd had one more surprise for me though; we drove a little further up into the atmosphere, and finally came to the Continental Divide, where there is in fact, a place called South Park.

As my regular readers may know, I am a South Park devotee. So to actually be in Park County, where South Park is located, was truly memorable.

It's really pretty way up there in the mountains, over two miles up into the atmosphere -- but after awhile, a delicate ocean blossom like myself began to think that everything looked a little shimmery.

My voice changed while I was up there, it became lower. And it was actually a little difficult to think of things to say for a few minutes. I have no idea if that was the thin air or not, but everything was very surreal and dreamy for a bit.

But the stark beauty of the Rockies is something I've actually seen for myself now, and I won't forget.

Eventually we did turn around and come back down through the winding roads and back through Breckinridge, and through the tunnel... Then our next stop was in the town of Idaho Springs, in a place called Tommyknocker.

Tommyknocker is a brew pub, famous for its beers, and for its flavored sodas, most notably its root beer, which for a time was actually made with maple syrup as the main sweetner. Todd had not been there since his honeymoon, so it was kind of a landmark visit for him, to make some different memories, and see if the food was as good as he remembered.

He recommended the Buffalo Burger. I had never had buffalo meat before, but he said it would be really good, even without any seasoning, and to please try it.

So I made a snap decision. I decided I did not need to be low-carb on that precious last day. So I ordered a root beer, a buffalo burger, and a side of french fries. The root beer all by itself was over 40 carbs, and I have no earthly idea what may have been in the hamburger bun and the french fries, but I figured one last day of diet misbehavior was not going to adversely affect me.

My meal at Tommyknocker turned out to be one of the all-time best restaurant meals I have ever had. The root beer was amazing, and the hamburger made from buffalo meat was the most flavorful burger I had in years.

After we went to Tommyknocker and got back on the highway, Todd said we were way ahead of schedule, and so before we actually headed down to the airport, we took a turn off of the highway and did two things:

First, we stopped and looked down into the gorge, and saw the Georgetown Loop Railroad, which features a real coal-driven steam locomotive. Photo by Todd Thalimer.

And then when we left there, we drove further down and took the road over to the Red Rock amphitheatre. This was the site of one of my all time favorite concerts, the one given by U2, so it was really a treat to actually see this venue in person.

Finally, it was time to head down out of the mountains and over to the airport. The afternoon was warm and surreal, and I think somehow, even though Todd and I are dear friends and probably always will be, we were still allowing ourselves to think it was okay that the visit was ending. Trying to squeeze ten years of friendship into three days of time in person does take its toll in some ways. Not really bad ways, per se, but it was definitely a visit that was just the right length.

We sat in the car for a few minutes before driving over to the main lot so he could park and see me off. I kept telling him that if I hadn't been so tired and dehydrated that this would be the part where I would be crying. He asked me if I had a favorite memory of the visit. I thought the whole visit was amazing, but the three most vivid things I could best recall were the taste of baked spaghetti, the sound and feel of playing his piano, and the look on his face when Tim Rice-Oxley gave him a thumbs up.

Overall, the thing that mattered most was the fact that despite everything, he was able to be such a fantastic host, and the fact that we did have a wonderful time.

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We went and parked in the main lot, and I disembarked, and we went into the airport. I got my ticket, and we headed over to the area I would have to enter for my security check. That's where we had to say goodbye. I did cry a little bit. Then I got in line for the security check, and looked over my shoulder and saw Todd wave at me one more time as he headed back to his car.

The security check at Denver International Airport was hilarious. I did have to take off my shoes again, and while I was waiting to step through the metal detector, I made eye contact with the guard on the other side. He was a little solemn-looking drink of water who looked like a cross between Charles Martin Smith and Vince Clarke. I was trying to time my stepthrough with the trip my stuff was making on the xray table, so I sort of did a Charleston step, forward and back, waiting for the guard to acknowledge me and wave me forward. He did, in a most spectacular fashion -- He'd been standing there with his arms folded, but then as I looked for his approval to step through, he pulled his arm out, and on the end of that arm was a little frog puppet. the guard, still solemn, made the frog puppet dance, and somehow moved one of the frog's front legs in a beckoning gesture.

So I got through security, and stopped and sat in a chair and got reassembled.

I got down to the terminal, where there was an announcement of a weather delay due to high winds in San Francisco, so I made telephone calls to the usual suspects, telling them I was going to be late.

But once we boarded and got settled, the flight was just fine, and I nearly finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

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I got home about an hour later than I'd originally thought I would; John was waiting for me there, and was a joy to behold. We got to the car, and drove home via Ocean Beach, because he figured I would have missed seeing the ocean. He was right.

When I banged through the door, I discovered that he'd gotten me some roses, and there was Ben and Jerry's in the fridge, too.

Which reminded me -- I was curious to see if I lost any weight while I was in Colorado walking all over hell and creation.

I stripped down to my birthday suit and stepped on the scale.

My weight said 199. The first digit is now a one. That has been my goal since February 16th.

I can't think of a nicer way to have achieved reaching the fifty pound mark.

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Overall, it was a spectacular trip. I'm glad I got to spend time with Todd, and see him in his element.

Thanks again, my friend, for being such a fantastic host, and for sharing so much of yourself with me.

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