Teresa & The Flaming Lips

Day 1: Flight delayed an hour. I pick up my girlfriend from the Colorado Springs airport and we head downtown to the hotel she picked out. Turns out the hotel was a bed & breakfast from the late 1890s, complete with chamber music piped in the rooms.

Day 2: Enjoy an excellent bed & breakfast breakfast. Take in the beauty of the Garden of the Gods. Take cliche photos next to "balanced rock". Walk around Manitou Springs, a small town separating Colorado Springs from the Rocky Mountains. Take a sip from one of the many springs in Manitou, many of which taste like bad club soda. Visit my aunt, uncle and cousin in Highlands Ranch, just south of Denver. My Uncle Mike never fails to cook me an elaborate meal and this time was no different. Tonight's menu featured home-made sushi. Head to downtown Denver and walk down the 16th Street Mall before calling it a night.

Day 3: Drive towards the mountains on the way to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. But first, a sidetrip to Heritage Square, a ghost town of an amusement park that's managed to stay open for so long because of its famous alpine slide. Seven bucks buys you a gondola right up the hill and a ride down the zig-zagging concrete track on a small cart. It was totally worth it. The slide was kind of like the opening act for tonight's main event: a Flaming Lips concert at Red Rocks. We got there early to experience the tailgating atmosphere that surrounds most Red Rocks shows. We were greeted by lots of crazy hippies and costumed super-fans. We left the parking lot to get a good seat. Watching from the sixth row, we enjoyed the two opening acts, one of which was from Austin, Texas. But there was no doubt who was the top draw. The lead singer of the Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne, kicked off the show by walking out on top of the crowd in an inflatable bubble. There were lasers, confetti and countless balloons covering the crowd throught the show. The band is known for their live shows and they didn't disappoint.

Day 4: Toured the Olympic Training Center, ate some pizza and went to the airport. We were exhausted from the weekend. It was great spending time with my girlfriend. I miss Teresa already. It might be another two months before I see her next.

Click here to see Teresa's side of the story, on her blog.

Click here to see photos from our adventures, including the alpine slide and the Red Rocks show.

Click here to view my first Vodcast, created for the USOC "Going for the Gold" series.

Time until the beginning of the Longhorn football season: 9 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds

Tony Comes to Town

Day 1: I leave straight from work to pick up Anthony and Molly from the Denver Airport about an hour and a half after they land. We drive to our hotel in downtown Denver. After checking in, we start walking down the 16th street mall. We eat at the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant before walking to the bars in lower downtown, affectionately known as LoDo. It is there that we meet up with John Frias, a fellow CCHS alum who now lives in Denver. Things get a little crazy and Anthony spends part of the night on the hotel room floor.

Day 2: We all wake up on time and set out on the road to Canon City, which is where our white water rafting adventure begins. There we met up with Vanessa and Cari, two USOC interns. Once at the office, we get our gear (helmet, life jacket and paddle) and load into the school bus that will take us to the Arkansas River. We go through some level three rapids and a few level fours (out of five). The guide lets us "ride the bull," which means that one of us sits on the front of the raft and holds onto a rope between our legs as we go through some small rapids. I did not fall out during this or any other part of the trip, which was my main objective. We went through the Royal Gorge and under the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, which was very cool.

Night two was to be spent in downtown Colorado Springs. After checking into our downtown hotel, I decided we had to start off at The Finish Line, a dive bar near the Olympic Training Center (not downtown). It was karaoke night and the otherwise sleepy neighborhood bar was hopping. A few songs and pitchers of beer later and that was the only bar we would end up going to that night. Among the songs that were sung by us were George Strait's Amarillo By Morning, Billy Idol's Rebel Yell and Louie Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.

Day 3: Wake up and recap the night from our suite at the EconoLodge. Head over to the Olympic Training Center for a quick tour. Then drive up by Pike's Peak and through Manitou Springs, where we ate lunch. We drive back up to Denver where I drop off John at his place and then Anthony and Molly at the airport. It was a quick weekend but we crammed many activities and had a lot of fun. Thanks to Anthony and Molly for coming out to Colorado and to John for hanging out with us.

Click here for photos of the Denver nightlife, the Finish Line, and the Olympic Training Center.

Click here for the latest Olympic Sports Scene, brought to you by Nick and Vanessa.

Hours until I get to see my girlfriend Teresa, who is coming up to visit this weekend: 68

Stairway to Soreness

Since hearing about it a few weeks ago, I was determined to do the Incline. The Incline is about a mile's worth of steps going up Pike's Peak. And by steps I mean old rail road ties from the old cog railway. There is now a new cog railway that goes up Pike's Peak. The old train tracks have become a popular workout spot for fit Coloradans, of which there are many. I was prepared for the endurance challenge posed by a mile's worth of steps. I was prepared to be affected by the thin air. What I wasn't prepared for was how steep and unfriendly these steps would be. The railroad ties have not undergone a makeover to accommodate their many visitors. It was tough but worth it for the photos. I don't need to go back for a month or two, though.

I volunteered for the USA Triathlon Junior Nationals. It was really impressive to see these teenagers swim, bike and run the way they do. It was even more amazing to see the seven-year-olds posting better times than I could. I did lots of odd jobs for the event but the main one was marking the kids with there race numbers, which had to be on each bare arm and leg.

My roommate Isaac has gone home and I have the room to myself for who knows how long. I might get a new roommate in September when the fall class of interns show up, or I might not. The summer interns are leaving one by one, which means a few more trips to the our neighborhood bar Finish Line are in order. Its a very cozy place with some eccentric regulars.

I finally wrote my first press release, all by myself. Click here to check it out.

Click here for photos of the Incline, the triathlon, the finish line and a night out in downtown Denver with my cousin Emily and her friends from when I first moved out here.

Days until my buddy Anthony and his friend Molly come to visit me: 3

Goobers and Buffaloes

In July, right before I leave for Colorado, I see this show on the Food Network called Man vs. Food. On the show, the host goes around the country and eats unusually large or wierd foods, like a 7 lbs burrito or rocky mountain oysters. While in Denver, the host stopped at a burger joint called the Cherry Cricket. The place is known for putting just about anything on a burger, including a fried egg-and-peanut butter burger known as the Goober. I immediately added the burger joint to my list of 'things to do while in Colorado'. It took about a month, but I have finally crossed it off my list. I went with my cousins Emily, Christopher and Ana as well as my Aunt Nuni, who promised she would take me there. The burger was surprisingly good but very heavy. I will probably never order another and I will probably never consume so much protein in one sitting.

Goobers aside, I spent much of the weekend with family. After the Cherry Cricket, we went to Boulder and walked around. I forgot how nice the University of Colorado's campus was.

My internship is starting to pick-up and I am learning the valuable skill that is multi-tasking. However, there is still time to volunteer, which is a great experience and often very easy. Vanessa and I manned the pressbox at the Opening Ceremony of the State Games of America. We outnumbered the members of the media 2:1. At work, I was asked to escort a newspaper photographer around the Olympic Training Center. At the aquatic center, I got to go up on the catwalk overlooking the pool that is normally used by coaches.

Click here for the latest Olympic Sports Scene, co-written by moi.

Click here for photos of the Goober, Boulder and what not.

Days until the season opener of Longhorn football: 29