Well, I realize it is now a week after Thanksgiving, BUT I also realize that it is exactly ONE WEEK after one of the best Thanksgivings I've had. Since I've moved to Wyo, I've made amazing friends, and had wonderful friends visit me. There's nothing really like being around family though--especially when you're from one so tight-knit as mine. I mentioned before that my cousin started playing hockey in Colorado for a bit, so when I got the text asking what I was doing for Thanksgiving, I knew there was nothing I'd rather do then go down and spend time with him.
I went down on a Wednesday. I brought things for the entire weekend because I didn't know what I would end up doing. I had intended to have a super productive weekend doing homework and reports no matter what (I even took my backpack with me to CO). This did not happen. In fact, I did nothing related to school. Actually, I did read a couple pages of a text book, but I was quickly distracted. So, alas, no homework got done.
Okay, I'll start the categories for you guys now.
WEDNESDAY. My cousin had a game on Wednesday night, so I slept in and spent the entire day relaxing and cleaning before heading down there. On the way down, I stopped at the mall in Cheyenne and bought a few things (I NEEDED BOOTS, OKAY!?). I decided that I wanted to wear some of my new purchases about halfway to Loveland, so I pulled over at a gas station to change. I really made an ordeal of the whole thing unintentionally. I walked in went to the bathroom to change. About a second after I got in there, some girls came screaming in and banging on the door that she had to go to the bathroom and wouldn't wait. So I hurriedly put my pants back on, gathered my things, and opened the door. She was gone. I walked around a bit and didn't see anyone. So I went back in to finish changing. Then I remembered that I needed to pick something up in case I went low, so I went to the cooler (clothes in hand) and grabbed an apple juice. I paid for the apple juice, and then realized I had to pee. So I went into the bathroom again with my new purchase. Three trips to the bathroom, one gas station stop. Yea. So after that I drove down to my cousin's game. After the game we went out to eat and there was this band that couldn't figure out what genre of music they wanted to focus on. Some of the guys were lookin' like they jumped out of the 80's and a couple of others looked like they left their tractor outside. There was a MASSIVE American flag in the background though, so... who knows. We went back to the apartment, watched some Planet Earth and caught up a bit. That was that pretty much.
THURSDAY. Thanksgiving morning I slept in for a while. My cousin had practice early, so when he got back we went to brunch. I didn't know, however, that we would be leaving right from brunch to our Thanksgiving dinner location. The night before we both decided that it'd be pretty sick to have Thanksgiving dinner in the mountains. So after lunch, we get in the car and he says, "Have you ever seen Dumb and Dumber?" To which I replied, "HAVE I SEEN IT?! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!" Guess where we were eating our Thanksgiving dinner...... in the hotel that they filmed Dumb and Dumber AND The Shining. SCHWHATCHU SAY?! I was really excited. The restaurant is called The Stanley (for those of you who prefer Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, it's The Danby). It's beautiful and kind of reminds me of a smaller version of The Grand on Mack Island. The drive up there (to Estes Park, CO) was super windy, but incredibly beautiful. We were literally climbing mountains.
NEVILLE. So, my friends and I have this little Neville character that we take with us when we travel to put in pictures. It's the "Potato Neville" from the "Potter Puppet Pals" videos. My personal favorite moment is in the "Wizard Swears" video when he says that his, "grandmother forbids [him] from using raunchy language." Oh, Neville. Anywho! Neville came with us to Lolla, and then went to NYC (as one of my friends lives there). Then I received him in the most wonderful carepackage EVER (think a homemade book, homemade biscotti, winter in a can, and some Christmas music!). I swear there's a point to this! Okay, so Neville is out here with me now. He is taking in the Western landscape and enjoying every minute of it. He came with me to Colorado over Thanksgiving, and boy did he love it! He took A TON of pictures in the mountains; rather, I took a lot of pictures of him. My cousin and I went into the Rocky Mountain National Park in between visiting The Stanley and dinner at The Stanley. They were seriously some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. Some of the pictures (including Neville) are on my Facebook if anyone should want to see them!
TOURISTS, FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. We spent a lot of our time trying to see wildlife in the park. We saw a couple of deer and a ton of birds. As we were leavin the park though, we saw a herd of elk! Some of them were HUGE. It was crazy. They cross over a road to go into some plains during the day, and we were catching them as they were about to do this... or so we thought. We waited, and here is what happened. Has anyone ever seen the picture of the Chinese man RIGHT UP AGAINST A BUFFALO WITH HIS IPAD?! This was pretty much that, but just a bit less extreme. We first met the tourists up on the top of the "Never Summer" mountain range. My cousin was climbing up the rocks to get a good picture, and the group of men (I will not say where they were from) got REALLY excited, pointed at him, and practically chased him up the rock. It was really weird, and I got very nervous. So I followed him. We ended up just getting some pictures (and having to take some pictures for them), and then we left. Immediately after, we discussed how FREAKING WEIRD they were. Cut to seeing the elk. A TON of rental vans carrying individuals of varying nationalities pulled up. Normally, the elk would cross the street and that would be that. BUT NOT TODAY. No way, Jose! The kept going right up to them! With their children, and cameras. People were jumping, skipping, running, giggling, yelling, and being generally dumb. I mean, come on. YOU ARE IN THE WILD. THESE ELK WILL CHARGE YOU. DON'T DO IT. YOU WILL GET CHLAMYDIA AND DIE. JUST, DON'T DO IT. (I'm sorry, I had to. It fit the tone of the sentence). But really. These people were being dumb. Specifically, the one older woman that took her three assumed grandchildren RIGHT UP to the elk whilst one continued to swing his lunchbox... of all things. What possessed this child to take his lunchbox from the car into the field of raving, aggravated elk is beyond me. But he was only four or so, so I'll let it slide. I digress. That rant is now over.
DINNER. Was delicious! The Stanley serves up a mean meal. We drove around a bit trying to figure out where to eat because they were not serving food until later, but we just ended up back there. Their whiskey selection was HUGE also. Alright, that's all about dinner.
FRIDAY (AND WINE). So Friday I got up kind of early and went "Black Friday" shopping. I bought a few shirts and a pair of sunglasses. We didn't get up early enough to catch any of the sales, so I didn't buy all that much. After their morning practice, the guys met us at the mall and we all went to get sushi for lunch. We went back to the apartment to get ready for the game, then a few of us went over to one of the wive's houses for appetizers and wine. Here begins my night. I drank wine there, and I was fine. We went to the game a bit late, and because we were in the upper suite section, we could continue to drink (more than just beer). I drank there. After the game, we went to pick up more drinks and ended up at the apartment. We had some wine, and my cousin and I had some heart to heart and then I got all emotional and girly and blah blah blah..... Well, fast forward to morning and I wake up. My cousin says he'll be back after practice so we can go to lunch, and I think nothing of anything. UNTIL I LOOK AT THE FLOOR. WHERE THERE IS A HUGE RED WINE STAIN. I immediately start freaking out. There are no wine glasses near me, but I am the only one in the room. It's right by the couch I slept on. Obviously, it was my fault. I get up and start cleaning... and cleaning... and cleaning. Then, my cousin's roommate's fiance (bless her heart) was going to the store. She picked me up some carpet cleaner that took the stain RIGHT OUT and all was right with the world. I layed back down to sleep until my cousin got home and despite my killer headache, we had a good day looking at boots, going to hockey games, and having a couple drinks that night. He played great, and I drove home late later that night. All in all, it was an excellent weekend. Also, in short, I am never drinking red wine again. For now.
NOW. I spent the ENTIRE week doing reports, reading, projects, etc. I have one week left of class, two exams, and a few wind-down days before I'm back home in the Yoop! I'm excited. We start studying for finals tomorrow (at an ugly sweater Christmas party). Wish me luck! Sorry it was so wordy, I'm avoiding homework ;).
Love, y'all!
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