After a short delay, ADVENTURE! (Okay, not adventure, exactly...)

So in case you missed, my two beloved readers, this is how my day started.

My flight was originally supposed to depart LAX and be on its merry way to Denver International at six a.m. on the nose. Which means we woke up at 2:30 to be on the road at 3:30 for a five o'clock check-in, giving one plenty of time to pick up a hot cup of Starbucks and one of those suddenly difficult to find Cinnabons.

Alas, this was not how it went. How it really went is we checked in at five o'clock and then spent two hours standing in the security line and then were told to hoof it at double-speed to the other side of the airport or risk a flight miss-hap. To add to the charming situation they decided not to inform us (the passengers) why we were being held-up for two hours. So we were standing looking at the TSA line, which was filed with employees who were looking hyper alert in the opposite direction of us. This made for a line of grumpy people with no sense of when our purgatory would end.

I think that if one has to stand around for that long without anything happening the least they could do is to make the flight twice as exciting. Instead what it was was the usual dull routine flight.

One Upside: Bose noise canceling headphones (a christmas gift from my husband not yet tried out for their intended purpose) not only made the relentless airplane drone go away but turned the screaming baby across the aisle from me into a mime at the flick of a switch.

This is the only way to fly, remind me to do something nice for my husband.

So, after two-and-a-half hours of Wait Wait...Don't Tell me! which I cleverly had saved up for this occasion we arrived in Denver and collected our bags.

Things to like about Denver International Airpot:

1. They play little country jingles when the train arrives and departs and when the doors open and close. Perhaps less practical than the Underground's signature "beepbeepbeep," to warn one of moving parts, but infinitely more amusing in a sleep addled state.
2. The baggage claim terminal has a peculiar peaked, canvas roof. Something about it is completely mesmerizing.
3. It had a separate up-right baggage claim for skis. I'd never seen one of those before. I found it tres amusant! Also, it's been ages since I was that tempted to do something that would get me arrested on the spot.

Things to give you pause about Denver International Airport:

1. In the event of a tornado: go to the bathroom! No, seriously. The restrooms were also designated tornado shelters.
2. The DIA airport personnel uniform: Jeans, a denim shirt, a tan vest, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Need I say more?
3. Two words: cowboy chips. (the issue might make more sense if you've grown up on a farm.)

Soo...I don't know what I expected Colorado to look like, but what I've seen is not what I expected at all. This part of Colorado (which is to say, the area around Denver) basically looks like the desert I just left, except all the interesting plants (Joshua Trees, Creosote bushes, cactuses etc.) are gone. And in place of them is just lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of grass and flat fields.

Which is great! I love big sky country, it's what I'm used to. Honestly, sometimes being in a forest makes me feel a bit claustrophobic. But what it did instill in me was a sudden vision of what the first few weeks of my Epic Road Trip (The ERT, if you will) are going to consist of.

Mental Note: Buy more audio-books for ERT.

Things to like a lot about Colorado: I was in the state proper for approximately thirty minutes when I saw my first prairie dog.

Life is sweet.

Right-o. I'm done havering on.

Tomorrow on the schedule: panels on writing in the child's voice, writing flash fiction and mixing folklore into your fiction.

Then I've got a long list of grad schools to chitty-chat with.