We spent a couple of days in Denver to rest, relax, see friends, unpack, clean, and repack. It was good, though a bit too brief. And, sadly, we found a bunch of awesome places, just in time to leave.

One of the first things we did on Wednesday, was to take everything out of the car. It was weird seeing the car empty again. Lara also wanted to fix her phone so she could return the temporary one as soon as possible. Bad news: the tool kit she got didn’t work well. We went to the RadioShack nearest her (this was the most competent Shack Staff I’ve encountered in a decade or so). They didn’t have the right tools, but they did have awesome deals on batteries (buy 2 four packs, get 3 free [not the third one free, 3 four packs, so… buy 5 for the price of 2]). They even referred us over to Micro Center since they were bound to have it.

We made plans to hang out with a friend, and went to the Tech Center. We spent more time than we hoped in Micro Center, but found just the right tool kit, and Lara pulled me away from all the shiney technology and parts that I’d love to have crammed in to the now empty car. I did make an impulse buy on the way out… they had a deal on Raspberry Pi Zeros, buy  one for $0.99, so, I got one.

We left the store and headed to 1st and Santa Fe to meet up with a friend at Board Game Republic. This place is awesome! There’s a cover (effectively) of $5 to get in, that cover lets you play any number of their 600+ board games. We wound up playing Exploding Kittens, Exploding Kittens NSFW Edition, and another game that I can’t remember the name of. Also, the beer selection is great (there’s a brewery in the same industrial mall, and they have them on tap). The owner of BGR, Keith Meyers, designed games for a while and decided to open it as he feels that gaming helps bring people together. A few of his games are on the shelf so you can play them.

The next day, Lara fixed her phone and we then went to clean the car. We spent 30 minutes vacuuming out all the dirt that managed to make its way in over the last month (well, not all, but most of it). We then went to meet my mom for lunch. We talked with my mom and then went to return the temporary phone. The nearest store she could return it to was in Highlands Ranch. While there, we found a cool coffee shop and board game retailer called Enchanted Grounds. The drinks were tasty, and we spent a tremendous amount of energy to not buy several hundred dollars in games (we did spend $20 on Gloom though).

We went back to Lara’s mom’s place, started repacking, and ate some food. Lara then went to JCOS’s college night, and we invited one of her friends over to BGR to meet up with one of my friends to, once again, play games (yay games!). Did I mention how much we liked BGR?

So, tomorrow, we’ll pack up the car, head out, and hopefully make it to Des Moines. From there, onwards to Chicago.