Aspen - part deux

On Monday, Lorraine went to work, leaving me with Sydney, her wonderfully sweet dog. The first two hours of the morning were spent speaking with a client about my next engagement which I would start the day after returning from my trip.

With that out of the way, Sydney and I started off down the path toward the Rio Grande. Sydney knew where she was going but I didn't know to pay attention. We got very lost and ended up walking along in a neighborhood far above the Rio Grande. I could see the river but could not get to it. At last, we made our way down to the river much to both of our relief. Sydney headed in for a drink and to cool off. It is really a dog's life here. There are leash laws and, around the streets, it is good to keep them on leashes so that they are not hit by cars. However, in the many parks and rivers, the dogs run free, sniffing the bums of each other at the beginning of each meeting and then going along their way. No fights, no heavy wrestling, just hellos and acknowledgements - so different than here in CA. After a long and peaceful walk, we ended up at Lorraine's office. I left Sydney and headed up to ACE's, the local enviromental park where I was expecting a wild flower tour. As it turns out, they did not have the tours there and I would have to go back to Maroon Bells or the top of Aspen Mountain or one of various other places to get the tour. By that time, the altitude still wearing on me, I was too tired to deal with it.

I headed off to the gondola on Aspen Mountain. Finding a Starbuck's there, I stopped of for a Mocha. Very expensive. In CA, they are about $3 something. In Aspen, they were $5 something. Nonetheless, it was a nice break. I then went into the ticket center to ask about the Yoga/Hike on Aspen Mountain. They gave me a brochure but otherwise weren't much help. I was beginning to feel a bit like the dirt in the gutter by that time. It was proving very difficult to find any help.

I began to work my way down the streets of town, browsing in shops as I went. I stepped into Helle Hansen to look at their new windbreakers (the lightest material available on the market). They were very nice, light, comfortable but at $100, I thought I would think about it and come back. Normally, I am a Med to Large. There, I was an XL. I asked the girl if they might sell out or if they had good stock and she said that they would not sell out of XLs in Aspen because their customers were not that big! Now I felt like a fat blob of dirt in the gutter!

I left the shop and continued my way down to the tourist center - walking street with the historical buildings. I browsed the tourist kiosk to see if there was anything of interest and the woman there asked if she could help out. I asked about the walking tour of the historical buildings and she became very abusive and told me to look around. All of the buildings around me were historical and didn't I know that Aspen had this history and that - I couldn't catch it all. I was in such shock from the bombardment and high-tailed it away and down the street.

I am pleased to say that things got much better after that. I browsed galleries and met a number of nice owners. Was even given cards and invited to send them samples of my paintings. I found a really nice sweater in another shop and bought some Aspen leaf gold earrings. Was really a tourist at that point! But enjoying it. I finally found my way to the lotion shop that Lorraine had shown me on a previous visit and enjoyed talking with the owner and smelling the many lotions. Of course, I ended up buying some, too.

By that time, it was getting late and I thought that Lorraine might be getting off of work. As I came down the street from my adventures, I saw her and Sydney getting into the car. Just in time. We rode home and enjoyed a nice drink, chocolates and relaxation.