Aspen, April 2010, Day 7

Here it is. The day that we go home. All packed up the night before, all we had to do was wake up and get going.

Remember a few days ago when I apologized for not taking a picture of the breakfast Barbie cooked in the condo? With this pic I declare the lapse compensated.

Leaving the hotel, we see luggage racks, bronze wildlife, and people. After being deserted for most of the week, Aspen clearly went from 5% occupied Monday to a whopping 20% occupied Saturday.

A shot from the car of the Rockies, on the way to the airport. If you are holding a camera device in your hand and you see these mountains painted against a blue sky, it is impossible to not take several pics. This one was the best.

Aspen airport. There are advantages to small towns.

Our carriage to Denver.

I love snapping this kind of pic. Planes are cool. The closer, the cooler.

Your average Rocky Mountain airplane window pic.

Clouds casting shadows on the Rockies. Again, I challenge you to look at that view and not take a pic.

Our carriage from Denver to Los Angeles is right THERE.

Airplane portrait.

As we landed, the child in front of me reached out to touch Los Angeles with her fingers.

As carry-on only people, we normally shoot right through Baggage Claim and onto the street. Sean had checked his bag, which gave me an opportunity to notice this sign for the first time.

While we waited for Lon to pick us up, Barbie went and sat next to the dude with the iPad. She returned and said, "He's just playing some stupid game." A pretty safe bet, I assume.

Sean, Lon, Barbie and I grabbed dinner on the way home, and because we had yet to walk through the door of our home, I consider this meal still part of the "trip." A stretch, I know.

But the Spinach Enchiladas (with chicken) at A Votre Sante are so photogenic that I had to let them be the last pic of the week.

It feels delightful to be at sea level. Thank goodness the next trip is a wedding in Florida. I am fairly certain you cannot get too high above sea level in that state.

Aspen, April 2010, Day 6

Our last full day in Aspen and on the day's agenda... nada.

Woke up, fell out of bed... had some raisin bran with almond milk. The time came to reward Sean's patience, for there was ONE THING he wanted out of Aspen at this point. The chicken fried steak at Little Annie's.

We set out on the five minute walk to Little Annie's, and near the bus stop I noticed this interesting baggage.

That is something you do not see every day. Oddly, the closest person to this Dog Bag was an older woman sitting approximately eight feet away on a concrete step. Which begs the question; if this dog in the bag belonged to her, why not have the dog in the back next to you instead of eight feet away? If I used curse words in the Waste, this would be a time to do so.

Sean's dream comes true. Steak Fried like Chicken.

My quite good but not dreamed about lunch. BBQ Beef Sandwich.

Barbie's Cobb Salad.

Little Annie's, just in case you wondered what it looks like.

This is as cool as it gets, people. B.P.O.E. stands for Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. That's right, the Elks Lodge. I swear to you that I will be starting a club someday that uses words like Benevolent and Protective in the name.

The bronze Elk in front of the Elk's Lodge. But they left the words, "Benevolent and Protective," off the plaque, leaving me feel empty and hurt.

Another bronze. I have lost count.

Sean has a friend who lives in the Aspen area, Steve, who came up to visit. After some nice conversation in the condo that I will absolutely not share with you and who are you to ask in the first place, we headed over to Kenichi for sushi.

We started with some Miso Eggplant, that was freaking delicious.

Then some Black Cod arrived, which was delicious.

Soon the Shrimp Dynamite made an appearance, and was delicious.

In no time we had Seared Scallops, which were delicious.

By now the chef's had had time to prepare the rolls we had ordered. The closest roll is the Kamodo (blackened tuna, mango, & avocado), in the center is the Blake (tempura shrimp, cucumber, avocado & eel sauce), and at top is the Spider (soft shell crab, cucumber, ginger, scallion, burdock & shiso). All three were, yes, delicious.

Sea bass in a great sauce which I cannot name.

This was an awesome tuna sashimi with fennel and blue cheese.

I failed to take a shot of the outside, but I figured that I could make it up to you with a shot of the, you guessed it, bronze fish skeleton above the sushi bar.

We walked back to hotel and decided to hang out in the lobby lounge by the fire. There are few places on Earth as comfortable, consider that the hotel is nearly empty and we essentially had the place to ourselves.

'

A familiar refrain.

We then ordered dessert. They, and by, "They," I mean not me, ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake. Normally a favorite of mine. But I noticed the Cinnamon graham smores with hazelnut chocolate on the menu. People, we are sitting by a fire in what feels like our own mansion sized log cabin. Smores will be ordered.

Best presentation ever for Smores? Yes it is. Do not pretend that it is not. They brought a small fire to us.

A smore is more beautiful when it is still the parts that make up the smore. Once you cook that marshmallow and squeeze it together, beauty is replaced by function.

The Molten Chocolate Cake with Coffee Ice Cream. I could taste the coffee grounds. It was, how you say, most excellent.

That is all. Tomorrow we wake up and fly home.

Aspen, April 2010, Day 5

Let me begin with an apology. This morning Barbie made eggs, bacon and toast for three in the condo. It was delicious and I should have taken a picture. I did not. Which is a shame, because one thing I always love about having a kitchen when we travel is that breakfast can be totally normal. We can even eat in our pajamas.

That said, yesterday a plan was made that would make today the most structured day of the week. Barbie and Sean signed up for a four our fly fishing expedition, with myself going along to document it all.

After our late breakfast we went down to the lobby and met up with our guide, donned gaiters, and we were off.

Inside our guide's vehicle, on the way to the river. Our guide's name is Sean, but to avoid confusion I shall refer to him exclusively as, "the guide," and refer to our friend Sean as "Sean."

Fisher woman ready to conquer the wild. Conquer in this instance loosely translates to, "catch and release."

We first walked out over this bridge to peruse the river.

Nature is beautiful.

We will be fly fishing THERE.

Thanks to this sign I shall forever know that we went fly fishing on the Roaring Fork River. I would bet you five dollars my companions do not know this fact, unless they read it on this blog. (Sean knew it was "Something Fork River," which is pretty dang close.)

Sean's first fish, on its way to the net.

Come here, fishy fishy fishy.

I claim this fish for the King of Spain.

Sean up river, embodying Bradley Pitt.

Young Barbara, getting her first fly fishing lesson.

Going it alone! (Okay, I framed out the guide. He's still right next to her.)

Now that is the kind of smile you only find in nature.

So... Sean and Barbie signed up for this, I did not. But our guide was nice and said I could join in, and when Barbie was tired and wanted a break he let me jump right in.

I might as well confess. After a little while, not too fast or slow, I hooked one. After a pretty prolonged tug of war, I got that fish. And... I handed my iPhone to the guide so that he could snap a picture. Obsessive? Too much? Hey! Need I remind you that catch and release is all about the victory pic.

There is nothing about this picture that is not silly. From the silly fact that I handed my iPhone to the dude to the silly way I am holding this fish to the silly expression on my face.

Barbara back at it, giving the fish heck.

That is a sincerely joyful smile. A few hours later she posted to Facebook, "Fly fishing is good for the soul."

Sean is fly fishing right THERE.

Barbie gets another little friend on the line.

Gentle... Gentle...

There. Got him.

Here we have one last shot of the river. Barbie probably has some pics of me fishing on her camera, but we will all have to wait for them to be downloaded. No doubt I look majestic out there.

After that, it was back to the St. Regis. Sean and I were hungry, and knew exactly what we wanted.

Boogie's chocolate malt... and fries.

After that, we walked back and saw the lovely hybrid vehicles used by the Aspen Police.

After this, we ate a great meal in the condo and then hopped down for a dip in the jacuzzi.

Believe it or not, I took over one hundred pictures today. Madness.

Tomorrow, literally nothing planned.