Hello Denver

Packing last minute.

This isn't a total derby update, just a little post about my first day in Denver, the day before the 2011 WFTDA Championship Tournament started.

The second weekend in November I attended the 2011 WFTDA Championships in Denver, CO.  Even though I got my tickets to Championships back in August, this was kind of a fly by the seat of my pants trip. I wasn't 100% sure I was going to get my time off from work approved, so I put off buying plane tickets as long as possible. I thought I might not get to go period.

I also wasn't sure where I was going to stay.  Everything came together barely three weeks before the tournament - it turned out Jonny Malice of Capital District Trauma Authority was moving out to Denver November 1 -- taking the "long" way there but arriving just days before Championships, so he invited me to stay with him for the weekend.  Putting that one thing in place ended up being a catalyst, because two days later my time off from work was approved and by the end of the weekend I had my plane tickets booked.

So fast forward.  I flew out Thursday morning. It was my first time flying solo but I did a good job catching all my flights and finding the right gates.  I love looking out airplane windows. I always try to look for baseball fields. Here's a shot of Colorado at the beginning of our descent into Denver. No baseball diamonds, but lots of squares.

Malice picked me up from the airport and we grabbed some lunch with his dad who, who made the road trip out with him (he flew back to Albany on Friday morning). It was really important to me to get to Denver a day before the tournament started because I knew I wanted to see at least a little of the city and they surrounding area.

Luckily, we found the perfect place to check out that afternoon: Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park. The Amphitheater is amazing. There were a lot of people exercising on the stairs, and we saw some other derby people checking it out, too. I heard Gotham flew out to Denver a week early - I wonder if they did any training there? It also reminded me of Roarshock, who is also praising plyometrics.

The Amphitheater is build right into the mountain. We were there at sunset and it was so beautiful. There was a hiking trail (a little over 1 mile) so we checked that out, too. Here's some pictures:

This is at the top of the amphitheater. That's Denver in the distance.
My scarf blowing in the wind haha.

Red Rocks!

On the trail.

After the hike we headed to Boulder to have dinner and take a walk around. Boulder reminds me of Burlington, VT. At the bar where we had dinner there was football games on every TV - not just NFL but also college.  It appears Boulder is kind of a big college football area. We also saw a quick segment about Championships on the TV?? I think it was a news interview. Exciting!!

The weather all weekend was perfect. It was 60 degrees and sunny every day.

So that concludes my first day in Denver. I do plan to write more about my trip - and of course the tournament - so tune in for that. I am so happy that I was able to go after all!