There are many ways I could start this blog, I'd been meaning to write for a few weeks now, but really, all I want to say is, I patted a giant tortise today.
Just wait, let me restate that,
I PATTED A GIANT TORTISE TODAY!!!!!!Yes, that's right, and it was of the freakin' greatest thrills of my life! I had an awesome day, a truly great day, and that was even before the tortise. I couldn't wait to tell you about Mt. Rushmore and how cool that was, and what cool hotel I'm staying in, or what a nice place Rapid City looks like, or that I've finished work, or the great meal I had the other day at Neil and Tamara's, but all that becomes background noise after patting not just one, but two giant tortises!!! They are magnificent, one of the most beautiful animals I've had the fortune to see up close, It was amazing. There's more to tell, but let me go back to the beggining.
So let me bring you up to speed. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but Spring had sprung in Colorado. The days were sunny, the snow was melting, the grass was turning green. It felt like the end of season. It didn't feel like there was any reason to be there, you almost wished for snow, but it was nice to see the place turning green instead of being barren. Then the snow came again. And went, and came again. That was worse. If it's turing green, you want it to be green, you don't want to have to turn around and drive in snow again, it was a little exasperating, and as the days counted down closer to the end of season, frankly I couldn't wait for it to be over.
Except then it was, and I had the daunting task of packing up. Actually before that, I should mention that Steve came and stayed for a bit, is actually still there while I've flown the coop and been in South Dakota. It was nice to see a familiar face, but the impact was lessened by my impending freedom and the fact that I had made a life for myself there. Still, nice to know someone enjoyed the snow.
Anyway, I'd accumulated quite a number of comics and books and DVDs in the last couple of months, enough that there was no way they were going to fit into my luggage, so I knew I had to find alternative means to get them home. I was thinking through different options, but was running out of time. As well as this I was trying to figure out if I could get to Mt. Rushmore or not, but it all felt like too much to deal with at once, so I kind of thought I'd head to Neil's, and work it out from there. Then I heard a rumour that someone had got work at Mt. Rushmore, so that moved up on the agenda a bit. Then I found out it was Paul, so spent a few days knocking on his door to no avail. Finally I made contact with him to see what his plans were. He was leaving on Sunday, which gave me, what, 2 or 3 days to work out what I was doing? Something like that. So I jumped on the net and tried to work out where the cheapest place was I could stay near Mt. Rushmore, how I could get there, and then how I could get back to Denver to get Neil's, where I was still planning on dumping stuff. The cities I was looking at weren't working out, so I needed to expand my search, go to Rapid City for transport reasons. It was the only place I could get a Greyhound bus from, or a plane, but the bus was cheaper. So I decided to go for it, I'd get a lift with Paul to Rapid City, hire a car and go see Mt. Rushmore, then catch the Greyhound the next day back down to Denver, the place I had just come from pretty much. Finalised that with Paul, made my bookings, now all I had to do was pack.
Ay caramba, when I piled everything up that was excess luggage, I was a little shocked to see how much it actually was. I even culled some of the books and magazines, but it was still a large heavy, heavy pile. Two suitcases full basically. And I had to take it down to Denver, as well a TV, to give to Neil. So I got in touch with the old Box and lined up saturday with him to bring stuff down and return the Tv I borrowed off him. That went well. We went shopping to a fresh food market on the way home, and Tamara cooked up a delicous meal with the centrepiece being lamb chops, but lambchops of such a thickness as I'm not use to having. It was heaven, and the rice, perfection. Anyway, that was a nice day, and an absolutley fabulous meal.
But that brings me to Sunday, and I haven't packed, or cleaned, or returned my uniform and stuff to the office, but I'd left enough time to do that, so started getting it all done, then looked at my phone. There are 2 messages from Paul, saying he's expressing back and he wants to leave 2 hours earlier than he'd originally said. Crap, I don't have time! Went into the office, signed off, said 99% sure I'm not coming back, raced back to the shuttle, went home rushed through packing and cleaning, forgot stuff, who cares, all right, just dump it, if Anna wants anything, she can have it, see ya Steve, alright, lets hit the road.
Cool, I'd like to tell you about the journey, but I'm getting bored, needless to say, we got lost, but kept heading in the right direction, got where we needed to be. Pulled up to my hotel in Rapid City, and a fine looking place it was, or is.
You know what, I'm going to leave it there for the time being. I'm tired, and it takes me longer to type it than to think it, so I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll tell you a bit more later. Cheers.
