Been a while. Since Xanga was down for a week, I've got some catching up to do.

Had planned on going up Longs on my days off last week. Monday night I didn't wake up early enough. Tuesday I arrived at the trailhead at 12:30am--the parking lot was nearly full at the time--and napped for a couple of hours. When I woke up, there were people mulling around making noise, and I suddenly had another "Safeway moment" (see Sunday, July 27, 2003 entry) where I envisioned 100 people on the trail and 50 people at the summit. Not my idea of an enjoyable hike. I realized that my summer wouldn't be a failure if I didn't didn't climb that one mountain, and since my heart wasn't in it, I went home.

Went to the Estes Park Brewery to eat on Tuesday night with my friends Jack, Mark, and Matt before Jack and Mark left the next morning. The food was OK; I had a beer brat and homemade rootbeer (as I'm not a beer drinker) and lots of laughs. Then Wednesday Matt, Frances, and I got food and sat on the Riverwalk. Good times, good times.

About 25 people left Housekeeping on Friday with another 25 to follow next week. That left us with one other driver besides myself so Saturday was a fun day at work. I drove three cleaning crews, not an easy feat to begin with, but then at one point I had to move one of Joey's crews and hunt him down because he had his two-way radio off. It was a little stressful.

Sarah, Andrea, and Ryan, friends from Red Oak, arrived on Friday morning. Sarah and Andrea worked here in the past and are the reason I found out about the place. It was great to see them. We went out to Lonigans and the Wheel Bar Friday and Saturday and hung out last night. They left this morning for Denver and head home after a Bjork concert at Red Rocks tonight.

Today was my last day of work, and I had the most fun in a long time. Tina gave me a card and a couple of lucky charms but still hesitated about the holy water. I've got a bit more packing to do tonight before I check out and hit the road at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow night I will be through the flatlands of Nebraska and into the gentle hills of Iowa. I will miss looking out my window to see the mountains. Three months certainly flew by quickly. But at the same time, it's time to return to normal, to wake up from this dream. I only hope that when I awake these memories don't leave me like mountain mist.