Colorado || Hi Lydia!

At 7:21pm I was riding my bicycle toward the restaurant that Lydia works at. The plan was to ride downtown, weave through some cars, and see the sights. The main difficulty with rain is seeing. My glasses get all rained up, so I can't see - then I take them off and I have difficulty reading street signs. It'd be fine if I didn't need to read signs and follow directions - my vision really isn't so awful. I decided that nothing much could be gained by cycling around like this. I stopped at Whole Foods to waste as much time as one coffee could allow. I'm a professional time waster; I am the champion of killing time.

I said Lydia, and I'm talking about the Lydia who's blog I have a healthy little crush on. It's linked on the left. After I made my snap decision to move to Oregon, Lydia left me a comment saying I should stop by. An invitation. Great! I'd already decided that I wasn't going to invite myself, so I was glad I didn't have to. I'd probably have skewed my route down into Mexico if Lydia invited me.

Well. Lydia had work. She set me up with a parking spot across the alley, an invitation to make use of her van and stuff, and an invitation to stop by her work later. Perfect.

Lydia's evaporative cooling setup is very effective. Effective enough for me to read a book and zonk out in her guest room while my van was busy being an oven. Then it rained. I thought the rain was done, but shortly after leaving for downtown, I learned otherwise. This was apparently good news for people who live there and haven't seen rain for awhile.

Lydia hooked it up. My food and beers were comped. Including duck. Seriously: duck appetizer special. Then an entree, then a fruit and cheese plate. With figs. It was almost over the top. Very delicious. Thank you.

We went out for a couple drinks. Then back home. Lydia's got a sweet scooter that goes really far on a half-gallon tank of gas. The design is fairly bicycle-y in quite a few respects. I cycled along while she scooted. The altitude had a noticable effect. It felt like my biggest breath got me only three quarters of the usual oxygen. We kept it at an infinitely sustainable medium pace. Cycling along with scooters is a ball.

We chilled in her van, and I had a great time. I never know what to expect from an internet inspired meetup. It's like a blind date, except everyone knows way too many details in advance. I felt lucky that we got a chance to meet in person. It confirmed my suspicions that Lydia is cool. And I met her cat.

We had breakfast at The Breakfast Queen (of freedomvan blog fame). Huevos Rancheros. I got a shower at Terri's house and got a spiffy (by my standards) shirt (in case of job interview). Success on all fronts. Lydia went to yoga. I headed west. I had an awesome time.