Rocky Mountain high

Greetings from Colorado - let's cut right to the chase. Early highlights from my weekend trip thus far:

* Sitting next to perhaps the scariest, but most soft-spoken dude I've ever encountered in my entire life on the flight from DC to Denver. Turns out he's a holistic healer from Rhode Island on his way to Boulder for some sort of hippy healing seminar. Picture Mark Wetmore - ponytail and all - with a beard. Yes, it was really that frightening.

* For my first run at altitude Oscar took me to some trails nearby his place here in Lakewood. He told me "the loop" takes about an hour. He also warned me we would do a little climbing, but nothing too strenuous. 40 minutes and 1,600 breathtaking feet later we're at the top of Green Mountain as Senor Ponce proclaims, "That's Denver way down there." When I inquire as to just how high up we are, he laughs, "6,900 feet rookie. It took me 2-1/2 months after I got here before I did this run." Apparently, 2-1/2 hours was plenty of adaptation time for me.

* Dinner at a kick-ass authentic Mexican restaurant, complete with Mariachi band. I was the the token gringo among los Mexicanos, but got by just dandily with my limited Spanish vocabulary, including but not limited to: si, no, gracias y agua por favor. I was asked to refrain from singing, however.

And that'll do it for this brief edition; more to come soon. Take it easy.

Quote of the day:

"I didn't want to discourage you rookie."
- Oscar, on his reasoning for not telling me about the 1,600 foot elevation gain on our run yesterday.