Adventures

[liralen]

Yesterday started quietly enough with me being able to post the fic that I'd written the day before. I liked doing that... and then we all piled into the Eurovan and went to the train station between Bernallio and Santa Fe.

It was cold out, and we were pretty bundled up. I think it was 28 in the sunshine, so in the shade it was well below freezing. Out on the train platform, we waited for the train and there was a snowboarding instructor headed up into the mountains and he was playing with four different kids and talking with them. The train, when it arrived, was almost completely full. When we got to the top floor, Jet had to sit in my lap for most of the trip, until a lady got out for an intermediate stop, and then we all had seats.

The ride itself was smooth and easy. The Rail Runner is completely modern, and the seats were really comfortable. It's only a year old, and doing quite well. I like what that says about light rail around here.

We spent the first part of our time there walking the six blocks to the historical Plaza, and then found some lunch. Nearly everyone seemed to have the same idea, so every restaurant was packed, and the good ones had nearly and hour wait for a table, which was kind of sad. We found a place that could seat us, and we were the very last table to be seated. The kitchen was completely overwhelmed, so they gave us free chips to take the edge off our hunger. The good thing was that when the food came it was actually very good. So while it wasn't exactly worth it, it wasn't too much of a cheat.

We wandered the plaza, looking at all the jewelry that was for sale. We went through the shops and were terrible shoppers. I don't think any of us bought anything. Then we wandered down Canyon Drive and looked through all the art galleries, saw all the statues out in the snow, and peered down all the pebble paths. That was fun. The first train going back looked like it was going to be full as well, so we headed back early. We walked the distance really fast, and I enjoyed the quick one mile walk in the cold more with my scarf over my nose and mouth to keep some of the humidity of my breath, otherwise I was drying out too quickly.

We made it and stood on the platform with everyone else for a good twenty minutes. When the train pulled into the station it was completely empty, but there were so many people there that people were chanting to make the doors come closer to them, and when the train finally came to a complete stop, there were cheers from those that the doors stopped near. It was really close, but I did my best to keep Jet and a little girl in front of me from getting pushed at too hard. They let us stand out there for another good five minutes, but then finally opened the doors, and we went up and George, Isabel, John, and Jet got a table. I sat on the next foursome, with my back to them, but facing forward.

A trio came into my little area, and they were a father who only spoke French, his daughter, who seems to have moved here to be with a French-speaking American. The father and I had a halting conversation with his daugher as a translator for a while, as he obviously wished to speak to me because he thought I was Native American. *laughs* He was very surprised to find that I was Chinese, and he assumed that I was actually from China, and when I said I was born in Ohio, and am an American, he insisted that I must be from Hunan because (okay, I got this from just hand gestures, so my intonation is obviously biased) well, they grow 'em tall in Hunan province.

His daughter was pretty amused.

I mostly knit for the journey after his daughter and her partner fell asleep. It was amazing to watch the sunset over the mountains in that clear sky... it's beautiful in this part of the country.

When we got home, we ate dinner with Cathie and Walt and then followed the GPS to the back lot of a shipping company out in a bunch of warehouses on a frontage road by I-25. *laughs* We MEANT to get to a 24 screen theater! When we called Walt, it turned out that MapQuest would have taken us to the same place, but a mile south along that frontage road was the theater. I was very glad that we actually found it.

We met up with dear_enlil and went to see Sherlock Holmes!!

It was wonderful! Okay... at least I really really enjoyed it, but I have a great weakness for smart action movies with capable protagonists of all genders. The effects were nice, too, as were the Victorian-era costumes (okay, they were WONDERFUL, too). I loved the moment when Holmes says that one must resist bending the facts to fit ones theory instead of bending the theory to fit the facts, as that pretty much characterized the movie and the character. That was perfect. When he didn't have enough facts, he simply looked for more... in all ways and in all areas. It was a joy to pick up on a lot of tiny images that put together really made the whole accessible. It was all there, all shown, and putting it together was possible, if hard.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson was SO MUCH FUN, too. *laughs* Especially as a yaoi-writer it was fun to see just how much room they left wide open in the story.

I fell in love with Irene Adler as portrayed in this. *laughs* Totally, madly, in love.

I have to see it again. The theater was so full we ended up in the front row. *laughs* Now I want to see it again from a little further away, and we usually do the morning matinées anyway, which are cheaper and less crowded .

We all went to IHOP to talk for a while and enlil needed dinner... so we ended up staying 'til midnight, getting him home, and then home ourselves.

This morning ended up slower than usual and a little later than usual. But I got panettone French toast, and most of the day to just catch up on online things, including the latest Bleach chapters.

I rather like Shinji's powers, as an experienced swordsperson, he's right, it's *hard* to change reactions in the heat of a fight; but in the single cuts that they're exchanging, I can see Aizen consciously doing what he does. So Shinji isn't pushing him the right way...

Tosen... oddly enough, for as little sympathy as I had for him for some time, I found some of it for him in that end. Though, perhaps, it was more for Shuuhei and that last request than anything else.

*sighs*

John's brother Walt got a new band saw table for Christmas, so John and Jet went out to try it out, and Jet, for all that he's just eight, was really careful, responsible, and capable at it. He did two tree ornaments, did half of a carved reindeer, and is working on a bunch of smaller wood ornaments that he's going to paint. He loves the thing.

The only trip we took today was to the Sunflower Market here, as it's a store that was started by the guy that started Wild Oats before it was bought out by Whole Foods. Sunflower Market is pretty much dedicated to low-priced organic, bulk, and specialty foods. It's pretty cool and the one they have here is much larger than the one we have in Boulder. The breads they have are amazing as well.

So pretty quiet today so I could finally catch up again. We're headed to Taos tomorrow, up into snow country. Should be fun.