A little bit country

I was almost too ashamed to share this story about our little trip to Denver, but what the hell. Blogging = loss of dignity anyway.

After a 6 hour trek across the state of Colorado, we were denied entrance to our chosen campsite due to the  park being 100% full.  Tucked away in the SW corner, Jiji and I were used to driving 30 miles in any direction, finding the local National Forest or BLM property and pitching a tent. However, the front range of Colorado is the recreational equivalent of southern California: if you want a weekend spot on the beach, leave before dawn. Likewise, if you are attempting to camp on the weekend in the urban corridor of Colorado, make reservations a month in advance.

After flipping the bird to beautiful but sold out Golden Gate Canyon State Park, my Leo companion and I begrudgingly got back into the car and headed into metro Denver. Tired and pissed off, we navigated 5 O’clock rush hour to the 16th street mall where Jiji pointed out a parking garage.

After a few shrimp cocktails and many pomegranate mojitos, Chivman joined us in the ultra frou-frou steakhouse for a bottle of wine and $30 entrees.  Our slightly-more-than-metrosexual waiter immediately tightened his demeanor once Chivman appeared. The gossipy smile he had flashed to us ladies was replaced with a smirk once our tall dark stranger sat down.

Chivman is as sweet as pie, however people are often intimidated by him at first glance. Being an intelligent Scorpio, he is keenly observant and uses this to his advantage.

Yours truly did not hesitate to brag about her speedy new car going over 350 miles on 9 gallons of gas, while Leo BFF and Chivman rolled their eyes and patted my head. Realizing it was getting late, and we needed to figure out plan B for sleeping arrangements, Jiji got a hotel for all three of us and we headed to reteive our car.

My heart sunk as we rounded the corner and saw the exit to the parking garage was sealed shut behind metal bars. We tried the door. Locked. We walked to the entrance: closed. I looked at Jiji, she looked at me.

“Maybe we should call Chivman.”

I shook my head furiously. This was NOT happening 9 hours into our awesome weekend.

“Lets see if we can find a security guard or something.”

Walking to the closest entrance, I looked in the window and saw a uniformed guy about our age sitting at a desk. I waved at him. He started approaching us.

Oh God, I thought. What if we parked in someones private lot? What if my car had been towed? What if it was going to cost $1000 to get it back? What if we couldn’t get into Redrocks because our tickets were in the dashboard? I braced myself for impending doom.

The security guard opened the door. “Can I help you?” he asked.

I was beet red. “Uh….we parked in this garage. Were we not supposed to?”

“Oh man,” the guy said. “You parked down there?”

FUCK. “Yeah we did.”

“I’m so sorry. The garage doesn’t even open again till Monday morning. I can’t even manually unlock the gates until then.”

Jiji and I sent each other the look of utter defeat. “Are you kidding?”

The guards stern expression melted into a grin. “Yeah, I am. Come on in and get your car.”

Relief, shame and laughter hit me like a brick wall. The dude was totally messing with us. That incredibly funny ….asshole! IT was official, we were those idiot tourists.  If I were him, I would have probably done the same thing. In fact, I thought about all the times I was fed up with Texans asking me for directions, so I sent them the wrong way instead. 

 Friggin Karma was biting my humiliated ass.

Needless to say, we got my baby back. Jiji laughed the whole way to the hotel. Chivman was waiting patiently.

“Where were you?”

“DON’T ASK!” I retorted, a certain shade of crimson.

Jiji spilled the beans and Chivman’s roaring laughter could be heard across the Wyoming border.  I’ve been away from the city too long, I think.