The next morning, we all woke up and started packing the car for the long drive home. At this point, we weren't exactly sure how it was going to shake out. Since it was my car that we had brought, I definitely knew that I was going home with my car. Logel was looking at cheap flights from Denver to Chattanooga, hopeful that he could send me home with Mike and still have some time in Colorado for himself. Mike was also looking at flights from Florida (Gainesville and Jacksonville) back to Colorado, since he had a flight from Denver to Albany booked on the 8th of July. There was also talk of my mom flying out to Wyoming or Colorado to drive me home because flying me back sans car was not an option. We drove down to Boulder to stay with some family friends, who coincidentally lived in the same neighborhood as Rachel, the Flatirons in their backyard. We arrived at night and the Inghams were kind enough to feed us. We then decided to meet Logel's friend Cole in Denver that night.
I was exhausted and full of painkillers for all of Colorado but I still had a pretty good time. We met Cole at a local microbrewery and sat outside on the patio, since I'm not yet 21. After that, we drove to a speakeasy that Cole had gotten us on the list for. It was so cool. In order to get in, you had to get on a list hours in advance. Then, they text you when there is room available and you have ten minutes to get there before they give away your spot, eliminating lines and hassle. It looked like a bookstore from the outside but this was just a front. As we walked in, the bouncer was passing notes through books. He noticed my sling and asked me about my injury, exchanging adventure mishap stories with me. They let us in the back and the book shelf swung open to reveal a restaurant and bar, styled like a 1920's saloon. The guys ordered fancy cocktails while I sipped away at my water, too young and too medicated. After that, they split a pizza at a nearby late-night pizza place and we headed back to Boulder.
The next day was Mike's 23rd birthday and I was much more enthusiastic about celebrating than he was. Logel and I took him out to brunch and then the three of us wandered around a few different outfitters in the area. Unfortunately, it was raining so our plans to hike in the Flatirons didn't come to fruition. We returned to the Inghams and relaxed. That late afternoon/early evening, Cole texted Logel and invited us all to come to a barbecue restaurant where he worked and his sister was the manager. Commence gluttony. We sat out on the porch upstairs, just us, Cole's girlfriend, his sister's boyfriend, and a rotating group of waiters and waitresses from the restaurant. The amount of food we ordered was obscene. Every type of meat imaginable with dessert on top of that. The dessert was incredible, a huge cookie sundae. When we got the bill, it had been reduced from over $100 to less than $40 and I was happy to chip in my portion and left a generous tip as well. Then, we went to Cole's place with him and his girlfriend and took over the neighborhood's hot tub for about an hour. The steaming water felt great against my shoulder. I think we all needed a hefty dose of relaxation after the stress of our trip. We then made it back the Inghams, gearing up for the rest of the car ride.
Events occurred: June 29-30, 2013
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