A Night Out & More Motorcycle Contemplations

Yesterday I rode the bike up to Denver to meet Lisa for a night out at Cirque De Soleil Amaluna.  It's a touring show with a big tent set up in the Pepsi Center parking lot.  The show was good.  I know that's not a ringing endorsement and I feel like I should be more enthusiastic than I am.  There were some moments of stunning amazement.  There were moments that I couldn't believe a human being could do what I was seeing.  Two girls did stuff on a unicycle I couldn't do on foot.  One guy climbed what was probably a 20 foot pole with nothing more than his hands, while holding himself at arm's length from the pole.  It was astonishing.  It was like watching that old Spiderman T.V. show from the seventies except this guy didn't have a line around his waist pulling him up.  The music was a rock concert and every bit as entertaining as the acrobatics, kind of loud for this old guy at first but I got use to it.  The music was so good I actually decided to find out who the composer/s is/are.  It is two guys who go by the name Bob and Bill.  An odd coincidence, they composed the sound track to one of my favorite video games, Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow.  Lisa and I spent a while deciding if we wanted to go or not, she had to work early the next day and I was dreading the drive up to Denver.  I'm glad we decided to go, she got the tickets for free through work and a co-worker told her they were $100.00 tickets.  I almost did a spit take when I heard that.  We didn't get much sleep but I don't think either of us cared.

Like I said earlier  I was not thrilled to have to drive up to Denver.  The truck was almost on empty and construction on I-25 in northern Colorado Springs has made what is generally a terrible drive into a teeth gnashing nightmare.  My reservations were soothed a little bit when I decided to ride the bike up.  Riding in traffic is always better than driving.  That's especially true on I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.  The road is mostly two lane and even more than most places I've been, drivers get in the left lane and stay there.  Most times travel is easier in the right lane because there isn't anyone in it.  It's even easier on a bike because with a little twist to the throttle I can slip right in where the Tundra wouldn't fit.  The ride up was pretty uneventful.  I got to Denver and played a game I call "Guess the Lane".  This is easier on a bike to.  You know what I'm talking about.  It's stop and go traffic and you try to figure out which lane will move and for how long.  People play it all the time, usually to no good effect.  In the truck I can't get over fast enough to make my move and it usually turns out like it does for all the other poor saps.  I watch helplessly as a car I passed five minutes ago cruises by in the lane I just vacated.  Last night's game of Guess the Lane was a successful one for the most part.  The only problem is it doesn't work if none of the lanes is moving which was the case for most of the last part of the trip.

I finally got parked at the Pepsi Center lot ($10.00, no discount for motorcycles) and made my way to Brooklyn's to meet Lisa for dinner.  Brooklyn's is a two restaurant/bar chain in Denver.  One is right in front of the Pepsi Center, the other is just down the street from Sports Authority at Mile High Feild or as I like to call it a mouth full.  The food was okay.  I ordered while waiting on Lisa to arrive.  Due to the diet we're on it was Cesar salad with no Parmesan cheese or croutons.  The salads arrived with Parmesan cheese and croutons.  It wasn't that bad though.  I forgot to order the salmon on Lisa's salad well done so the waiter gave us a discount even though it was my fault.  I think it was because we were nice when asking to have it cooked longer.

While the waiter was a delight the boor next to us was not.  She was talking to an older gentleman who she obviously thought was deaf.  If talking at the top of her lungs wasn't bad enough her conversation was also just the worst kind of pretentious (not that there is a best kind).

All in all the night was a mixed bag but we were definitely glad we decided to make the effort to go.