Dancin in the Streets

just to back up for a second, i need to return to kansas and once again extend my thank yous to eric, niall, dave, travis, cody, etc. for a wonderful, REALLY FUN, hospitable stay in lawrence. we had a blast with you guys...eric, you got it good.

moving on, seeing the rockies for the first time as 2 storms converged across the horizon in front of them...truly breathtaking. and if anyone ever needs a cool place to camp around denver, seriously, stay at golden gate canyon state park. over 9000 ft. high (and you climb most of it, by car obviously, in the first 25 minutes), surrounded by ponderosa pine, nice camp sites...it really was one of the most beautiful places we've ever been.

so, yesterday, to celebrate week one on the road, emily and i decided to take a much needed break and go to downtown denver for a music festival called Dancing in the Streets. this is what happened:

-got a FREE parking spot about 20 ft from the main stage
-arrived just in time to catch Yo Mamas Big Fat Booty Band, a stellar funk band who made us dance our asses off with about 20 other people
-got picked up, almost immediately, by NORML (look it up) and got THE HOOK UP
-through NORML, we met a dozen REALLY cool people (like scott, the head of the denver chapter, an awesome dude) who REALLY took care of us (you know, free bottled water all day, free watermelon, chai, munchies, free tshirts, a glow disc, etc.)
-got to see an AWESOME bluegass band called Greensky Bluegrass among many other cool bands like Hot Buttered Rum, Cornmeal, Dark Star Orchestra, etc.
-got invited to a music festival all you easterners should check out in asheville called BootyBandLand by the owner of it all, Don Juan (another friend who also really took care of us)

basically we walked into this festival having no expectations because we had no idea what we were getting into and we had a BLAST. by the way, this festival was in the ghetto of denver in a place called Five Points, an area that has been infamous for drugs and crime. however, within the last 10 years or so, a few key people in denver have been trying to reinvest in the area to make it safer and cleaner by painting murals on the walls, creating new venues for music, and starting this music festival. we were down for the cause and down for a really good time.

oh yeah, and when we came home to jamies around 930, exhausted and starving, we walked into a feast fit for queens, prepared by her AMAZING roommates. the menu: margaritas and wine, steamed artichoke in garlic mayo, homemade garlic cheese bread, twice baked potatoes, steamed asparagus, and steak on the grill. WHAT?! yes, we were spoiled and really taken care of yesterday.

well, if you stuck out this long entry, hope you enjoyed hearing about our day. today, off to fort collins to check it out and see Cameron, Em S.'s friend. tomorrow: Yellowstone. and i promise, we will get pictures up soon!

P.S. Jamie- thank you so much for all you helped us out with! you have gone above and beyond as a cousin and a friend. we love you and we love stephen and ken! you all were so hospitable and understanding. thanks for putting up with us :)