Epic Trip Out West, Day Two: Downtown Denver

This morning, I visited Red Rocks with my cousin and fell hopelessly in love, and decided that tomorrow, instead of touring Denver as planned, I would return to the mountains and wander around with the elk. My cousin, however, suggested that I go ahead and see Denver tonight instead of tomorrow. It seemed like a good idea, so around 3:00 I set out for the mile-long trek to the bus stop (I could have found a closer bus and transfered, but who wants to wait all that time?). Thus began my journey into Denver.

I hopped off the bus at Market and 12th, then soaked up the atmosphere. It seemed delightfully average: a varied skyline of skyscrapers and older architecture, roads filled equally with cars, trucks, and buses, Famous Footwears and Subways and Forever 21s bundled neatly together between the offices, and a perfect mix of races from all walks of life. A hundred smells wafted over me— cherry blossoms, Starbuck’s coffee, lily perfume, orange soda, Old Spice cologne— and as I walked by a McDonald’s, a classical string piece livened up the air.

A free bus runs along the 16th Street Market, where I walked initially, but I never got on it because I was too busy walking and taking in the sounds and sights. I tried to avoid the canvassers, I turned down a woman asking for change, and I strolled along in a happy little haze, wandering from the Market past the gold-domed capitol and beside the sleek modern sculptures outside the Art Museum.

From the greenway that ran along Cherry Creek, huddled in a channel away from the noise of the freeway, to Riverfront Park, a huge open green space, Denver feels airy and full of life. They appreciate simple beauty: even their construction fencing was adorned with crocheted flowers twining through the chain link.

I managed to find a place to eat for $4.07— “Good Times Burgers and Frozen Custard.” I sampled both, licking the cheesecake chunks off my custard while watching the neon lights appear in the street outside. The radio blared “It’s gonna be all right, gonna be all right, gonna be all right, all right…”

Then came the usual Lisa-can’t-find-her-bus-stop part of my trip. Something you should know about me: I’m stubborn, and once I put my mind to something, I’m too proud to back out. For instance, I felt that looking up the bus stop on the convenient wi-fi that Good Times offered would be “cheating.” This was a bad idea, I think. At least, it caused me to get lost for over an hour, wandering all over Auroria Campus in search of the bus stop I needed to get to. Night fell and Denver sparkled with blue and yellow lights, but I didn’t feel unsafe. It’s a solid city, a nice city. The kind of city you’d want to invite over to have tea with you, or go out for a sandwich sometime. I can see why the locals like it.

In short, I found the bus stop after much walking and doubling back (I learned not to follow my gut— it led me in circles), and I made it back to the campus apartment in one piece: tired and peacefully happy.

Tomorrow: hiking in the Rockies!

Money spent today: $9.60

Leeway so far: $10.40

~Lisa Shafter