~Off Topic Thread~

[ginger1981 0]

Seriously - we would - I said I wanted to really but Jeremy can only take five days off of work and as we are driving there and back it's a bit of a jaunt... neither of us have been to Colorado but it is somewhere we are both considering moving to so we wanted to see it firsthand!! It's going to be a lot of driving though:

* Leave Saturday (15th) in time to drop kitties off at 4.30pm and make our way to Vegas.

* Leave Vegas early and head to Grand Junction

* Head from Grand Junction to Colorado Springs via Denver

* Go from Colorado Springs back west to Montrose then south to Durango (might have the directions off as I am trying to remember!)

* Leave Durango and head to Flagstaff via Albuquerque

* Drive from Flagstaff to PS hopefully in time to pick the kitties up!!

So it is going to be... interesting! I said to Jeremy it would be nice for just an extra night so if we found somewhere we really liked then we could explore a bit more but I think he just wants to drive as much as he can and make up the time that way

BUT!!! I'll be able to stop off in a few hotels and have a bath EVERY night!! I also need new clothes as none of my old ones fit me anymore There is no way I am going to Colorado in November wearing a sundress

Wow that is a lot of driving! I would reccomend if did only one thing, do the Pike's Peak Cog Railway in Colorado Springs. It is a bit expensive, but of all the things I've done out in CO I think this attraction is well worth the price of admission. You take this alpine train up to the top of Pike's Peak and it goes through some of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever encountered. At the top there is a cafe/giftshop that sells hot cocoa and donuts and there is snow up there even in August. It's beautiful, leisurely, and very romantic

Also the drive from Grand Junction to Denver is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on.

I've never been there myself, but I've heard that Mesa Verde National Park is really amazing too...it's not far from Durango. Basically, hundreds of years ago (as in before Europeans started settling over here) Natives built a city...literally into a cliff. It's been abandoned for a few hundred years but you can go there and walk around in the abandoned city.

I know that you have a very limited amount of time, but honestly if you get a chance in the future to go back there (if you don't end up moving there) take about 10 days to really savor the area. And give me advance notice and I might join you too. I might have to drag you and Jeremy along on a white water rafting trip!

[Jeraly 4]

Robin - we looked at de-touring to see Bryce but it added two hours of driving and we would have to double back so we figured we would do that another time Have driven through Zion though when we did our LA - Vegas - Southern Utah - Northern AZ trip

Ginger - I don't know if we are going to have too much time to stop anywhere which kinda sucks We'll be stopping here and there to have a look around and I would have loved to gone for a longer amount of time but we just couldn't afford it We can't really afford this tbh but it makes sense to go before I get a job and we can replace the savings when I am working. Jeremy is really busy at work as well and because he is managing the place now he wants to be careful with how much time he is taking off so as not to give the wrong impression to his bosses and the crew. It annoys me a bit but I guess we just have to get on with it We'll defo let you know if we take another trip though - maybe we can persuade Debz and Nick to come along too

Oh well - back to cleaning again! Have swept and mopped - just need to clean the bathroom and kitchen then I can roast the pumpkin seeds and decorate the house.

What *is* the best way to attach a red wig to a cheap white plastic tablecloth anyway!?

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I've never been there myself, but I've heard that Mesa Verde National Park is really amazing too...it's not far from Durango. Basically, hundreds of years ago (as in before Europeans started settling over here) Natives built a city...literally into a cliff. It's been abandoned for a few hundred years but you can go there and walk around in the abandoned city.

I've been to Mesa Verde! The Pueblo cliff dwellings are very cool:

The tour was excellent.

Edited October 31, 2008 by rkl57

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Hey Aly, hope the colorado trip is fun, I don't really know any of those places, we stayed in Denver for a few days on our road trip, but I mostly only remember seeing that massive Cheyenne mountain and being scared of Norad. Apart from that the scenery is amazing.

Thanks for the best wishes on the interview. It was really nice to send my family home with some good news. I've been trying to really work hard on the job hunt the last few weeks.

Has anyone else heard the Russell Brand 'Sachs answer phone message' controversy show? I just listened to it on you tube and it's hilarious. The show was pre-recoreded and then broadcast, but they didn't put it on the podcast, meanies.

[ginger1981 0]

I've never been there myself, but I've heard that Mesa Verde National Park is really amazing too...it's not far from Durango. Basically, hundreds of years ago (as in before Europeans started settling over here) Natives built a city...literally into a cliff. It's been abandoned for a few hundred years but you can go there and walk around in the abandoned city.

I've been to Mesa Verde! The Pueblo cliff dwellings are very cool:

The tour was excellent.

How interesting! Though I admit I imagined them being much larger. With the people in the pictures I finally have an idea of scale.

[Jeraly 4]

That looks really cool - reminds me of going to some Roman ruins when I was in high school Will defo try and check them out!!

Really looking forward to the trip - I hate leaving my cats, especially as Riley is still new to the family and Daisy is being grumpy with him again (I think it is because he is starting to go outside now and that was her safe haven from him ) but I am soooo looking forward to Jeremy not having to work (even if he does have to drive a whole lot!!) and being able to have my baths!! I have some bubble bath and things all ready for it!!!

House is clean, decs still not up and still contemplating the wig/sheet issue. Am boiling eggs and toasting pumpkin seeds though so getting something done... seem to have forgotten to eat today though

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

aren't you going to drive too?

[Jeraly 4]

Unlikely I will just panic cause I am lame like that If I had been driving here a little longer then I prolly would but I want to practice a bunch first

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

But at least in the stretches between cities, it will be the easiest driving of all. Just ask Maven, she did it very shortly after learning to drive, and now credits it with really helping her to become much more comfortable driving.

[Jeraly 4]

Oh I know - it was the same when I was in the UK - I never really got comfortable driving until I had to drive up and down the M5 every day to go on placement. It helped a lot but I still didn't like driving anywhere that wasn't familiar to me - I think I am just one of those people that is not a natural driver I do it if I really have to and that's about it. Once I get used to an area then I start to drive more when I can't be bothered to walk but going anywhere else just makes me panic. I've been driving for almost four years and the furthest I have driven was to Dorset from Bristol about four months or so after I passed my test and that was only because my dad made me!!

[Jeraly 4]

Oh dear - I am so not a chef!! My truffles appear to be ok-ish although they are just a big lump right now... I have high hopes though - they taste good but they might melt into little puddles of slop Used so much confectioners sugar because they were runny that I ran out for the cookies so I am using regular sugar... So who knows how all this will turn out?!?!?!

And I still haven't put together Ginger the ghost... at this rate the Maven might have to help!!!

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

What time you want me there, Aly? I was thinking around 6.30? I can staple a wig to a sheet any day!

[Jeraly 4]

Hahaha!! 6.30 is good I've just put cookies in the oven and am taking a VJ break before attempting to make the truffles resemble something a little more impressive than sludge in a bowl!!!

Think we are going to run out of table space this time - have chairs now which is an improvement and we can move them outside and sit outside if we feel like it later!! I have once again massively over-catered, mainly on the chips I think because Jeremy insisted on getting the Doritos that were on offer

I've sewn the wig to the sheet but due to the plasticky $1 nature of it I am losing a lot of hair (not mine but poor Ginger might just look bald!) and the plastic is splitting... I figure that a few staples should do the trick and have a balloon to stick under the sheet so that the wig can take some kinda shape!!! I have markers for the face too!!

Ok - truffle time!!! Man I can't wait to get in the shower!!!

[Jeraly 4]

I am never going to doubt my culinary expertise again! These truffles are really scrummy And there are going to be TONS so there might be some left over to take home

[ginger1981 0]

Hahaha!! 6.30 is good I've just put cookies in the oven and am taking a VJ break before attempting to make the truffles resemble something a little more impressive than sludge in a bowl!!!

Think we are going to run out of table space this time - have chairs now which is an improvement and we can move them outside and sit outside if we feel like it later!! I have once again massively over-catered, mainly on the chips I think because Jeremy insisted on getting the Doritos that were on offer

I've sewn the wig to the sheet but due to the plasticky $1 nature of it I am losing a lot of hair (not mine but poor Ginger might just look bald!) and the plastic is splitting... I figure that a few staples should do the trick and have a balloon to stick under the sheet so that the wig can take some kinda shape!!! I have markers for the face too!!

Ok - truffle time!!! Man I can't wait to get in the shower!!!

I guess you're going to have to call it Sinead instead of Ginger now :-p

How was the party...or is everyone still recovering? I do hope there are photographs....