You know you are in Boulder, Colorado when you see a man in a tie-dyed shirt, wearing Birkenstock sandals, and having his grey hair pulled back into a pony tail. The town moves to the beat of a different drum but slowly its hippy nature is washing away as young professionals move into the area.
After packing up our campsite and saying goodbye to Mr. Bill, we left Rocky Mountain Park and headed to Boulder so Geoff could do a couple of hours work while we had lunch and mooched around the 29th Street Shopping Centre. But our first stop was the Red Rose Rock Shop outside of Estes Park. Because the boys had behaved themselves while we broke camp, they could have a bag of rocks each. Best bargain for a buck this side of a dollar store. The shop itself was an incredible place for anyone who loves rocks. Along the river are huge bins filled with boulders while inside are smaller varieties. One room is devoted to Colorado stones-- some polished, some rough.
Being in two cars without cell phones proved to be a challenge when we lost Geoff as we followed him to Boulder. Fortunately, we found our way to the shopping centre and parked near a store I recognized (having been there once before). Melissa was waiting for us.
Geoff grabbed a sandwich at Panera Bread but the line-up was long so we decided to eat at Islands Restaurant. I enjoyed a great vegetarian taco while Miles had a hot dog and Elijah ate macaroni. They did an activities booklet while we waited for our food. The air conditioning was nice since the day was hot.
The boys then had fun at the centre's playground after which we did a little shopping before heading to Peet's for coffee. By this time, Geoff was finished his work and wanted us to pick him up. Melissa said the directions were too complicated so we followed her out of the parking lot then immediately lost her at the first light.
So there we were in the middle of Boulder with no phones or directions on how to reach Geoff. We decided the best thing to do was to head back to Denver. We circled around until we found the main highway then followed it out of town. When we reached Denver, we hauled out the directions Geoff had originally given us and used that route to find our way to Aurora. It was quite the adventure but we managed to arrive about a half hour after Geoff.
That evening, he and Melissa treated us to a wonderful meal at P.F. Changs. They have fantastic Chinese food and we ended up with several boxes of leftovers. I enjoyed their hot and sour soup while everyone else had won ton. Melissa wanted to try the lettuce wraps and they were an unique tasty treat. Changs' stir-fry eggplant dish was not too spicy and went well with the Singapore street noodles. Their lemon chicken was very tangy and a good compliment to Melissa's favourite of Mongolian beef. Elijah and Miles enjoyed chicken fried rice and Baby Buddha's feast (vegetables) stir-fried. Of course, we finished with fortune cookies. The highlight for any beer drinker was their Tsingtao Lager which was served in a litre bottle.
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