Before I get into the adventure of my day in Denver. Let’s just cut to the chase! Why the heck did I book a flight with a 17 hour layover? As you may recall from my earlier post Shot’s Shock’s and Shits! My Dad’s health declined so I had to change my itinerary. I cancelled my business trip to get more time with my Dad. This left me with a ticket to Peru Departing from Denver. But I was in Portland.
When I tried to change the ticket to depart from Portland to Lima. Spirit Airlines was extremely unhelpful. They informed me there were no direct flights from Portland to Lima. I pointed out that I was not on a direct fight. I have a 12 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. She told me if I could tell her where I would like to go on the way- then she could plan it…Clearly, I was not going to accomplish anything with her. So I booked a separate ticket from Portland to Denver. I hate being late. So I allowed extra time to allow for cancellations, delays or any unforeseen problems that might arise.
But let us not forget! I am on my way to Peru! That’s right I am on my way to compete in the World’s Longest Raft Race!!! I can barely contain my excitement!!!! So what if I have a very indirect route to get there. I am still beginning a trip of a lifetime!
I arrived in Denver at 4am sleepless and tired. No need to rehash the reason- you can probably recall from yesterday’s post… ( I am off! With my leg’s crossed! ) After I got my luggage. I found a spot to rest. I figured out how to barricade my luggage in such a way that I felt that even if I dozed- it would be difficult for someone to rob me. Even though I think of DIA as being a safe place. One can never be too carful when traveling. (Pro tip- found out later I should have picked up my luggage a few hours later. Then I could have had the freedom to explore without it….)
DIA is undergoing Construction-this is why I refer to it as the War Zone. The concourses are not too bad. But the Main Terminal where I was forced to hang out were awful. They have the middle section blocked off- so to get from one end to the other you have to weave yourself inside, outside and around – depending on where you were trying to go. Plus-somehow with the constructions-it was very difficult to find a bathroom. Apparently the focal point of this trip! 🙂
I did leave the airport for a couple of hours to have a brunch meeting with my business partner. Normally I would make an adventure of the day and explore Denver. It is easy to get into town with the light rail. But for me it wasn’t worth it. I know Denver very well- I am a Colorado Native and I travel to Colorado frequently. I would rather have a low key day- because of the extra burden of my luggage that I had to lug around. But if you have never been to Denver- you should totally go into town and explore a bit. Even if it’s just to go to the 16th street mall and eat lunch.
My sister was flying out to see my parents. We took advantage of our time at DIA together to play a little Corn Hole and to hang out in the Westin Lobby area- which is the safe haven from the war zone. They have tons of comfortable seating where you can enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather. They were playing music- it was very relaxing. After my sister left. They had live musicians play saxophone. It was really relaxing- aside from the wind. Which really started to pick up.
At 7:30pm I was finally allowed to check my bag! I was so excited. I was hungry and the good food is in the main part of the airport. I personally like Root Down. My favorite thing on their menu is their Beet Salad! I made the mistake of not ordering that. I always love eating a healthy meal before embarking on a trip. My experience is that I am not always able to eat healthy on trips and it helps to start off with some good food. I say this while eating Mike and Ike’s candy!
The evening portion of my day was a bit of a disaster. I was so exhausted from my sleep deprivation that I could hardly function! I went through security and left one of my bags on the other side. So I had to go back through and recheck all of my stuff again. When I went through the 2nd time. I forgot to take my i pad out of my backpack. So once again it needed to go through. Which meant I needed to go through a 3rd time. I was near tears. Then at the restaurant I nearly left my bag in the restaurant. I was tired and just really wanted to get on the plane.
Even though I was tired by the time I got on my plane to Fort Lauderdale at 12am. I enjoyed seeing my sister and business partner. There is fun everywhere- you just have to be open to finding it!
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