Once upon a time, a young pheasant was lost and scared ‘cuz it couldn’t find it’s mommy. Whilst shedding tears of fear, this young winged creature came across a rattlesnake (yikes). The rattlesnake was pleased, becuase it was very hungry, but was confused when unlike 99.9% of creatures, the pheasant was not scared, but rather started smiling and seemed to get its spirits back up when coming across the snake. This is because the pheasant had a rattle that it’s mommy would give it to comfort it, and hearing the rattler’s tail comforted the pheasant as it ignored the snake’s large, venoumous teeth and loud hissing and started playing with it. The rattlesnake was astonished, and touched, by this gesture, and decided it could no longer kill and feast on the pheasant, so instead set about helping the pheasant find its mommy.

But, as the two were travelling along, a la Milo and Otis, a big, scary looking man named Jim got off his bike, snared the rattlesnake and pheasant in a net, and clubbed them to death. He then took the two back to Denver, Colorado, encased them like a sausage and served them on a bun.

I know what you’re thinking… This sounds horrible. But, actually, the rattlesnake and pheasant dog from Biker Jim’s in Denver was incredibly delicious. And topped with wasabi aioli, caramelized apples and shaved Irish cheddar, it may have been the best fallic-shaped meal I’ve ever eaten.

The pheasant and the rattlesnake that combine to make one delicious tube of encased meat.

But the trip to Biker Jm’s was just one of many things Melissa and I did as we took a big looping trip around the state of Colorado.

After a farewell breakfast with James and Rebecca (sniffle) who headed out to Virginia, I ducked out of work early and Melissa and I began driving Northward for Hayden. We took practically the same route as we took to get to Glenwood Springs at the end of May, I once again was in awe of most of the views of the mountains as we meandered our way through Buena Vista and Leadvilee and up and over Tennessee Pass - my previously mentioned love of Leadville still remains. Friday night was spent in the apartment above Mary and Joe’s shop in Hayden, and on Saturday morn we got to meet Mary in Craig for some excellent Village Inn breakfast. Melissa spent the afternoon busy with baby shower activities (mainly) while I went for an alright run and got some work done (boooo hisss). We also sneaked in a lunch with Melissa’s cousin Raechel at Wolf Mountain Pizza in Hayden, which made some mean sweet potato fries.

Following the baby shower, we hit the road again, this time bound for Denver to spend the next Saturday night and Sunday with Scott and Erin, but not before making a quick stop in Steamboat Springs (which I continue to rank as my fave location in Colorado) for some pizza at Beaujo’s! Yummy honey wheat crust, some sun-dried tomatoes and lots of other deliciousness piled on to a mountain pie was just perfect. What was even more perfect was the drive from Steamboat to Silverthorne, offering - I feel - some of the most pleasant views there are.

Rabbit Ears Pass - just one of the many outrageously awesome things to be seen between Steamboat and Silverthorne.

A mere 3-ish hours after departing from Beaujo’s, we found ourselves at Scott and Erin’s apartment, in time to enjoy a few cold Coors Lights, some Oreos, and an impressive view of downtown Denver and Coors Field from their balcony. Relaxing, indeed.

Sunday morning started got off on the right foot with some cartoons and Oreos before venturing out for some brunch. The plan was to head to Snooze, which Scott and Erin assured us had the world’s best pancakes. Sounded good to me, and we really weren’t too fazed by the 90 minute wait we were told there was going to be for a table. It seemed almost like an awesome thing at first, because they have sidewalk chalk to be played with for those waiting outside (there were many of us). However, after a few minutes of playing with the chalk we decided that we had enough time to walk around a bit, and figured that if we saw something else that looked worth a try then we would.

That’s how, just a couple blocks later, we found ourselves stepping inside of Biker Jim’s (seriously, click on the menu link and peruse it a bit). While not getting the world’s best pancakes was minor bummer, the alt destination was well worth it.

More awesomeness awaited as we headed to the Coors Brewery in Golden, only 20 minutes from Scott and Erin’s place, for the free tour and tasting in the afternoon. Here’s a quick run-down of what was discovered there:

• The brewery kinda smelled like sourdough bread, which was pretty cool.
• Coors and Coors Light are both really good - REALLY GOOD - when served out of their special super-chilled taps at the brewery (the Keystone family, also brewed at the Coors Brewery, would probably be good out of it too).
• Coors Batch 19 (a pre-prohibition style beer whose recipe dates back to 1919 and was found just a year ago) beer is delicious, and so is Colorado Native.
• A free brewery tour that includes three free glasses of beer at the end is an excellent way to spend an afternoon - especially a rather warm afternoon with friends.

Re-living our college days and professing our love for the ‘Stones.

The rest of Sunday was fairly gloriously lazy, spent watching movies (The Big Lebowski, Wet Hot American Summer and Frozen), grilling out on the balcony and heading the Little Man Ice Cream in Denver, where the gelato was a hell-of-a-lot-o good.

Unfortunately, Melissa and I had to be on the road for Colorado Springs early Monday, so we bid our gracious hosts adieu before hitting the hay, and before we even knew were getting poked in the eyes by the ray’s of the sun while heading South on I-25. We stopped at Panera for breakfast before Melissa dropped me off for a meeting and RMAC Footbal Media Day and she made off for an afternoon-and-then-some of shopping.

We re-convened at about 4:00 p.m., and I was happily on my way to an appointment at Mathews Chiropractic, to try something else to see if it woud cure what’s been ailing my ankle for what has now been more than seven months. He did his magic, some which felt uncomfortable (but in a good way), and though I won’t say anything for sure so soon afterwards, I’ve been feeling as loose as I have been in what seems like forever today.

Our next and final stop before returning to Alamosa was in Pueblo, where we grubbed up on some Red Lobster, hit up Dillard’s where I finally did some long-awaited vest shopping, and gassed up before sticking a fork in our long weekend.

We ended up putting about 800 miles on the Ford Focus courtesy car that I was able to get from the athletic department, which was fortunate or we might still be pushing the Topaz up Rabbit Ears Pass - assuming it even made it that far. All-in-all, it was a pretty excellent getaway, one that I’m very thankful for as the summer pretty much comes to an end for me this week. So at least I made it count.