Dennis wasn’t ready yet, so John and I waited at the coffee shop there in the Hilton Garden Inn, which was where Dennis and Charyl were staying. We chatted with each other, the barista and several of the customers before Dennis arrived. He and John were to go stand in line for our badges, I was to have my time with the Lord in our truck, which suited me perfectly. I could have done it in the coffee shop, now that I think about it, but it didn’t occur to me then and ultimately I would be more comfortable in the truck.
During my time with the Lord, I expressed (again) my concerns about being involved in this company. Everything about it screams, “Run away! Run away!” After praying for John and some other concerns, I read my Bible, and then got out of the truck.
John had suggested that I go explore after I was done with my devotions, and that was my intention. In a funny irony or timing, Charyl called just as I was locking up the truck and walking a few steps down the street. It was decided that I would come up and visit while the guys were in line. So I went to her room and we chatted.
About thirty minutes after I got to their room, John called. He told me that I needed to hurry to where they are, because I needed to sign my form to get my badge. I hurriedly left Charyl and walked as fast as I know how to the Denver Convention Center, and passed hundreds of people in line to get their badges.
It didn’t take long for a security person came and said, “I can’t let you get in line like that.” I immediately ducked back out of the line, and John and Dennis began to protest. There was no getting around it, however and I had to go to the back of the line, behind even more people than I’d passed on the way up to where John and Dennis were. I signed a paper I was supposed to in order to belong to this conference and started for the back of the line.
We thought I would have to sit apart from John. I said if it was going to have to be that way, then it would work out. I started for the back of the line.
But it all turned out alright, even though I had to walk that line two more times in trying to get registered. If we ever go to one of these again, I’m not taking any chances. I’m sticking with John. I got my workout that day.
Once we got our badges we had to go to another room to get our rubber-like bracelets and our t-shirts. I was very thankful that the shirts didn’t say “BadAss” which is one of Empower Network’s bywords.
After we finally got our badges and T-Shirts we rejoined Charyl and decided to do a split up. John and Dennis went one way, Charyl and I decided had decided to go to Colorado Springs, about an hour away, and see what we could see. Years ago, Charyl’s grandparents lived in Colorado Springs and she remembered visiting them when she was a girl.
We’d intended to go to the base of Pike’s Peak, but because there was an accident involving a motorcycle that happened moments before, we were diverted to The Garden of the Gods. I think it turned out better. We saw some awesome rock formations.
After a quick tour of Garden of the God’s we went to Old Colorado City and did some exploring of the shops there. We went to several shops, but just like always, I didn’t buy a thing. I don’t like to window shop if I don’t have money, but when I do window shop and I do have money, I usually don’t spend it.
I’d completely forgotten that Colorado legalized marijuana. We saw a shop advertising 1/4th for $24 and a joint for $4. Later I would see a shop inside of Denver called The Cannabis Health Care Center. Crazy.
We were supposed to be back to Denver by 7:00. I can’t really remember why, except that it was to attend something Empower Networky and so we started back to Denver.
We got stuck behind a bus that looked odd to me, at first. I couldn’t figure out what seemed different, but then I noticed several things at once: first that the symbols had Spanish captions beneath them, but what clinched this as a bus from Mexico was noticing the colors of our American flag. Do you see why that would tell me?
We reached the city just a little before the time the event was to take place. This event ended the day. The next day would be conferences all day. I wasn’t looking forward to that, but we’d had a good time so far.
It was late when we checked into our hotel room. We squeezed into a parking place, checked in and brought our luggage in. When we got to our room, we found we were in a much nicer room than the Uptown Ramada. It had a nicer lobby too, although the view is what made the other Ramada enjoyable. If you are in Denver and need hotel rooms, choose the Downtown Ramada on 1150 Colfax rather than the Uptown Ramada. It’s a better hotel experience.
After getting settled in the room, both John and I crashed.