Riding for a fall.

Lady pose.
It seems that whenever I go out of town for short stints, my sinuses get confused and decide to freak out. So, I took a sick day for the first time in the history of my new job yesterday, hence why I blog not. I spent most of yesterday feeling fantastically confused, my reaction time was next to nothing. I ended up sleeping in my boyfriend's empty apartment because our AC is broken. Kenneth came over and made a large pot of broccoli cheddar soup. My heart was content, that's for sure. I'm feeling a bit better today, but please, no one ask me to multiply or name state capitals for the rest of the day. Geeks might be out tonight.

But anyway, Colorado!

Marky and I went Springs this weekend to see the Mad Caddies on Saturday night. We stayed Friday night in Raton with Stancie, Saturday night in Springs at a motel, and drove back on Sunday.

Before I get started on thsi trip, it's important that you know me and Marky's history with road trips to Colorado. The last time we went up there was in 2005 and there's a reason we haven't been back since. But we decided, hey, it's June, it might not snow. And we did okay.

Our first stop was in Las Vegas for dinner Friday night at the Wendys. The guy who ordered before us kept telling the cook, whom he was clearly friends with, to make his food "with love". So, it was actually, "You better make that with love, homie. Make it with love" since we were in Las Vegas. I told Marky, "When I hear someone use the term 'made with love' in a fast food establishment, I think made with semen." Our trip became known as Made With Love Tour '08.


Stancie and friends took us out to Trinidad bars on Friday night, something that neither of us had experienced. And let's just say that small town bar hopping is a little bit different than going downtown. The first place Stancie took us was called JuJo's.

(bear with me. There is a lot of humorous dialogue this trip that I really must re-create.)
Cat: "Jew Joe's? Like as in the religion Jews?
Stancie: "No, JAY YOU. JU."
Marky: "They could call it Kike Mike's."
I COULD NOT stop laughing about that for the rest of the trip.


And in honor of Emily Stone, this is me trying to draw a swastika on a beer bottle (A THREE DOLLAR FAT TIRE, MIND YOU!). Stancie is amused.

(It's important to note that booze up there is like, retardedly cheap. Shots of Crown are $4 and the people I was with were complaining about it. I was like, "Really. Can it.")

Then we went to the Trinidad Brewing Company which was a little more my scene, mostly because it was a microbrew in an old building. But even more so because I ran into an old friend. I'd been joking with Marky the whole way up about how I was going to run into someone from Raton or Trinidad that I really didn't want to see and it was gonna be awkward as hell. And I ran into Ashley Hargrove, who I know via Matt Floyd, and someone whose company I very much enjoy.

After there, we went to the Circle, or the Trinidad Lounge as it's actually called. There was booty shaking music and probably the best bathrooms in the southwest.


The women's bathroom had this magnificent wall of toilet paper in each stall. And I remember thinking to myself, "There is absolutely nothing in the world that could top this. I wonder if the men's bathroom has the same thing."

So I ask Marky, "Is there a giant wall of toilet paper in the men's bathroom?"
Marky: "Nope, something even better."
Cat: "What could possibly be better?"
Marky: "Depictions of sex positions tiled on the walls above urinals."
Cat: "SHUT UP."





So, that was a good night.


The next morning, we headed out to Springs, with our two trip mascots, Tooshy and Pig. Marky won Pig in a claw machine at Denny's and you can guess where Tooshy came from.


We took Kyle's car, by the way. Which we named Choppah, just so we could say the phrase "Get in the choppah nooow!" as much as possible.

We drove right through Colorado Springs and went straight for Urban Outfitters in south Denver, where Marky bought tight pants and other things commonly found at Urban Outfitters. I bought almighty HOLGA and a really cheap 35mm fish eye camera. I decided it was okay to spend camera money on other cameras. Fantastically excited to see what images I can get with them.


We checked into our motel and then went to downtown Colorado Springs and ate at Phantom Canyon and had some fine microbrews. Their hefeweizen was shockingly banana and clearly a local summer favorite. And then, on to the Caddies!


A few years ago, these guys dominated my iPod for a really long time. I almost forgot about them for a bit and man, am I ever mad at myself for it. Their horn section is killer, their singer has such a diverse voice and their drummer is maybe the most energetic preformer I've seen in a long, LONG time. The venue was also super small, maybe 150 capacity, and it was easily sold out. AND they had $4 Newcastle bottles. So fun!


No. No, we don't.

Sunday's drive home was pretty uneventful. We got back to Albuquerque around 6 and I had enough time to bring my boyfriend McAlisters at his fireworks stand in Las Lunas.

Curse broken. Eat it, llamas.