Having friends who were graduating, provided the perfect opportunity. Not only could I meet them after god knows how long, but also see how different other universities were from Ohio State. My first stop this Christmas Break was Denver, CO. I have this unbelievable run of bad luck when it comes to flights. As usual, Columbus was covered in black ice the day I left. All flights up until the time I checked in were running on time. Was it that hard to expect that mine also would take off on time? As it so happens, it is! We had a delay of nearly 3 hours. Considering that I had to take a bus to the airport, I had left home nearly 6 hours before we actually took off!
Enough of me ranting about my airline experiences! I was picked up in the beautiful Denver International Airport (The main terminal has funny domes that are supposed to represent the Rocky Mountains!) by my friends and taken home for some yummy home cooked chicken curry (slurp!) and dosa (double slurp!). We drove to boulder the next day stopping at overlook points on the way. It was an awe inspiring sight to see the towering peaks all covered in snow. It certainly looked good enough to eat.
I've never been to an Air Force Academy before, but I was very impressed with what I saw. Joining the Air Force never fails to capture my interest, but I probably wouldn't even pass their physical. So I let my sleeping dreams lie and proceeded with friends to the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. It was a fine example of man-made excellence intertwined with nature. The bridge stood close to a 1000 ft from the floor of the canyon. An ariel tram ride gave us an amazing view of the whole length of the bridge and the Arkansas river beneath. To supplement to this breath taking wonder, was the incline railway. Descending nearly 1000 ft into the canyon in about 15 mins, gave us an experience that we cannot forget. It got colder and darker as we went further into the canyon, descending almost vertically down the face of the cliff. The engineering that went into building that railway needs much appreciation. As we were walking across the bridge, I spied a crack between the boards and I had to look through it. Considering that I have a fear of heights, it wasn't such a good idea :D Well anyway, since they allowed cars across the bridge, we drove across it as well. The vibrations on the bridge were unbelievable when the car came across.
Red Rocks Amphitheater was nature at its best! The stone structures and the geology was fascinating. It was lovely looking into the amphitheater from the top, that we had to go down all the way to the stage. Coming back up however was a whole different ball game! The thin air, the high altitude and the lack of physical conditioning were all apparent as we made our way back up. Huffing and puffing was the way to go and we were thankful when we made it back up in one piece. Driving through the Rocky Mountains was an experience by itself. We drove through small towns, each with its own specialty. The weather however did not cooperate that day, snow and ice forced us to turn back home. What I saw was amazing. I would love to walk through the trails there someday.
That pretty much summed up phase one of my christmas break. I was on a plane the next morning to Austin, TX, the land of the longhorns.
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