Spectacular views at the ballpark

Well, you know the other day when I said it was 105 degrees the other day? Turns out it was one of the hottest Denver days EVER. Someone said they heard it was THE hottest ever. I thought it was a little odd that it was so hot here. But unfortunately with the hot weather, accompanied by a long dry spell and then lightening storms, comes fires. And unfortunately Colorado is in the thick of it as I type. But I’ll come back to these.

Since my posting yesterday, it has been time for work, with my conference starting yesterday. So far so good, although the vibe is a little lacklustre given the lack of networking opportunities. Not sure if it is usual or cost cutting, but with only slight morning and afternoon tea breaks, and no communal lunch venues, it means that discussions tend to be happening only sporadically. Shame really, as it is the point of a conference. Oh well, tomorrow is my day to present not once, but twice, so hopefully that initiates some good discussions with folks.

But work shmerk. You don’t read my blog to hear about work do you?! No problems, so what have I done that was exciting? Well, I didn’t have much opportunity, but I did have my evening. And of course, knowing me, since I found out there was some sporting action happening in town, that’s where I headed. Take me out to the ball game!

Yep, it was baseball night, with the Colorado Rockies taking on the Washington Nationals at Coors Field, only about 15 minutes walk away. The weather looked pretty precarious, but what was I going to do? Stay in my room and watch TV. Bah to that.

Take me out to the ball game!

So off I wandered to the ballpark. I’ve been to a few baseball grounds now and this one had a great old school feel to it. It’s only 20 years old (I found out later in my chat with a local later on) but it just felt like I reckon a baseball field should feel.

This blog has lacked self-portraits this time round hasn’t it?

In I wandered, getting my coupon for a $1 hot dog. Seemed it was Hot Dog night. OK then. Up a few levels I went to my pretty sweet seat, that was only 20 bucks. Good to see in a time of overpriced sports tickets, that it can still be affordable.

Mmmmm… dodgy hot dogs

On the way to my seat I collected on my 1 buck hot dog. Mmmm… actually, it wasn’t too flash. But I loved being able to splash on the pickle relish and onion. I felt like a real local.

Behind me at my seat was a great older couple who I ended up chatting with all through the game. Both were lovely and we chatted about all kinds of things. Lots of baseball, but also other US sports, Denver, Melbourne, and even AFL. In fact everyone I met at the ballpark, including the staff, were so nice. Certainly helps form a great experience.

Hangin’ out at the ball

Our discussion did turn though to the imposing fires. I say imposing as from my seat I could see straight toward the Rockies and to massive plumes of smoke. Absolutely amazing view, but holy crap they looked so close. Seemed it was freaking a lot of people out, so fingers crossed things can get under control.

Photos will never do it justice

But every cloud has a (sort of) silver lining I guess. And for me it was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. From my seat I could see through to the Rockies which were smoke clad and in the throes of an amazing lighting storm. So dark clouds, smoke, and lightning meant a spectacular half an hour as the sun disappeared. Photos could never do it justice, it really did seem special.

The Rockies getting said asses handed to them

Oh, and the game? The Rockies got their asses handed to them. My local friends were just shaking their heads at their teams performance, unfortunately with a slight resignation that their season wasn’t going to be so great. I hope they a proven wrong.

So with the game all over, I wandered back. Given my bad luck with ice cream so far (don’t worry… I will get back to Burger King soon), I tried another mission… to find some Ben & Jerry’s. And not just any. I needed to eat Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream. After years of watching the great man, I had to find his ice cream. So I found a Walgreens on the way back to the hotel that had B&J’s. Would I be in luck?

Thank you Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert, D.F.A.

You betcha! Win! So I spent the last hour of my evening watching some ESPN and enjoying my Colbert special blend. And how was it? Pretty good! Vanilla, with caramel all through it as well as chocolate covered waffle cone pieces. Not my favourite flavour, but pretty freakin’ delicious!

Well… it will do until I get ice cream with bacon…