Denver

While some might argue that I have already spent my summer traveling, especially considering my World Youth Day pilgrimage, I was still quick to acquiesce when a friend from high school who recently moved home invited me to spend a few days of vacation with him in Denver, Colorado. I write from there now.

I don't now the population of the city, but it seems quite large by my standards, and has all the amenities of big cities, including big box stores, countless Starbucks locations, sports arenas, and various suburbs. The public transit is superb, and the ornamentation of the city quite tasteful. Many of the streets remind me of the well-treed corridors of St. Paul. Unique to Denver, though, is the view of the Rocky Mountains off to the west. I am not all that partial to mountains, but they truly are majestic.

Today brought my friend and I to the 16th Street Mall, the Capital Building, and the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Denver dedicated to the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. Tomorrow remains unplanned as yet, but Saturday will likely find us in Colorado Springs climbing Pike's Peak and risking our lives over the depths of Royal Gorge. On Sunday, after Mass, we begin the long trek home.

I had hoped that as I finished writing this, some great insight would have occurred to me. It hasn't. Maybe it is sufficient to say that I am enjoying a bit of summer rest.