The day dawned beautifully - in Denver at least. Sadly, the same was not true in our bitterly cold and sparsely populated neighbour to the north, Wyoming. And it was through Wyoming, naturally, that the majority of the Mixed Nuts had to come to make it to Denver.

For me, sitting at work in Denver, Thursday was a long day, filled with much anxiety and anticipation. About 11 am, I received a call from Inferno - our beloved Chaotic Overlord - saying that they were on their way. Six people - including sea who had flown from LA to SLC to be part of this - set out in two cars on a journey that was to soon enter into epic proportions.

The next time I heard from the intrepid adventurers was about 4 in the afternoon. In theory they would be in Denver in a little under three hours. In practice, they were stuck in a massive traffic jam outside of Laramie, WY, caused by the wrecks of three large trucks. Once all was said and done, an eight hour drive turned into an almost twelve hour one. Needless to say, by the time they reached Denver, everyone was both stir-crazy and drained at the same time. They munched some homemade curry, then the majority headed for the hotel, while a few strong souls headed downtown to unwind.

Marv the Grate, sea, JL, Tom and I headed for a lovely club called The Church - long my favourite in Denver. Sadly by the time we got there, they were not letting anyone in. So, we decided to go for a beer to allow the guys to unwind after the drive and sea and I to chat. Naturally, in keeping with the way that everything was going that day, it was also closed. After going to a grocery store - also closed - and a petrol station - not allowed to sell alcohol after midnight - we decided to call it quits for the night. It was almost 2 in the morning, after all, and everyone else had been on the road for a very long time that day.

Friday started, relatively late in the day all things considered, with breakfast. This is a good and proper way for a day to start. After breakfast we headed for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (formerly the Natural History Museum). Many hours were spent exploring the Power of Nature exhibit, along with Prehistoric Journeys and the dioramas. We met up with Anwaith - sadly at the end of the day as I would have enjoyed having him along for our measured insanity - and adjourned to a lovely little microbrewery called Hops for dinner and a pint. We then ran around the northern suburbs of Denver like the insane people that we are.

Saturday started about the same time as we were all still worn out from running around. There was a brief business meeting - by brief, of course, I mean two and a half hours - for those of us involved in LANetworking, a computer consulting company that many of us are now part of. Then, we were off and running again, heading down to a lovely, lovely pub named, appropriately, Pint's. Great beer, excellent whiskey and really good food. From there, a separation long enough to run several errands and back together again to watch JJ's boyfriend in a high school production of Brigadoon¹.

And finally, Sunday morning, the crew packed up again and headed back for home - this time having only the normal 8 hour drive (less in some cases). A good time was had by all. But the weekend was far too short, as is always the case with these things.

Now all that is left is setting up the next one. Who's up for next month?

Gw7en

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