We left Seattle Monday morning after spending Sunday riding the monorail, visiting Pike Place market and saying goodbye to our hosts. After a leisurely breakfast we headed out. We drove through the beautiful Columbia River gorge in Oregon and stopped in the Mt. Hood area for an early dinner with a friend. Tom was the promoter rep for several of the huge tours that came through Raleigh. Last time when he was in Raleigh for Paul McCartney, he got there early and we hung out with him. Right now he should be in Europe with Shania but a hip-shattering ski accident has him stuck home. So we got to see him and have a meal in BEAUTIFUL Hood River ... crystal clear, water, cliffs, and flanked by two huge snowy volcanoes. Anyway, after leaving him we drove through Oregon, and well, there wasn't really much to see, so we kept driving. Then we were in Idaho and there's nothing in Idaho in the middle of the night in the winter so we switched and kept driving.

As the sun rose the next morning we drove into Wyoming. Yes, the tundra was completely white but the roads were perfectly clear. We stopped for lunch in Laramie, about 20 minutes from Cheyenne and the Colorado border. We arrived in Denver around dinner and checked into a hotel before heading downtown for a bite. The Avalanche game at the Pepsi Center went into OT against the Redwings as we were waiting for our meal. After dinner we stopped at a nice little bar in LoDo with a young crowd and a fun neighborly jam session. Coors Light pints were a buck ? a Rockies? special, but we opted for a Fort Collins microbrew instead.

The next morning we worked out at the hotel then headed back to see Denver by daylight. It was snowing as we drove around Invesco Field (at Mile High) and the Pepsi Center. We parked downtown for a walk

in the snow and a warming lunch at the Rocky Mountain Dinner. We then headed to Boulder, where it was snowing as well. After driving around we found the building that housed Niles' dad's restaurant in the 80's. Oh Carolina Pit BBQ is now a little Italian place that is supposed to be very good. We headed up the Canyon to Nederland to see Niles' friend, Fern. We made it to her town but she and her fiancé Josh, live up a bit more of mountain, so we parked the van in town and she came to get us. It was 14 below when Josh came home from work at the medical center. But the next day it warmed up to 35 or so and the snow began to melt away in the bright sun. We walked down the mountain to the van and headed to Boulder for lunch and on a mission to find a pig.

When Oh Carolina Pit BBQ opened, it sported a 1,500-pound concrete Hampshire Hog out front. The talking swine was named Slick by a local elementary school. Somewhere along the way he lost his voice but not his charm. As Ray family legend goes, Slick was donated to said elementary school ("the brick one up the hill") when the restaurant closed. After a day in town, Niles went to the Boulder library, much changed since the summer days he spent there as a kid, and looked up old newspaper articles searching for the pig. Fern and Amie went to a few local hotels to check out the possible reception facilities for her upcoming wedding. Niles had come up with the name of the elementary school that "might" take Slick, but the articles stopped there. We drove up and down the street in the dark but found no school or signs of Slick. We went to a coffee shop with open mic night until Josh got off work, and he met us for a late dinner. Niles found out online that the school had closed 9 months earlier. We resolved, as we were leaving the next morning, we wouldn't find Slick, but Fern and Josh promised to ask around to locals and continue the search.

The next morning we left Nederland and headed out. Right before hopping on the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, we took one pass down the street where the school once stood. And there, in the snow, was Slick. The school was a lovely building and Slick stood looking over the playfield. We called Fern (We found the pig!) and took our pictures. Now we can only wonder what will happen to the charming building and its faithful mascot now that the school has closed.


We drove through Kansas with a quick drive through KU, although in the dark. Three a.m. in downtown St. Louis is busy with people fleeing the hot spots. At nine a.m. we were in Indianapolis. Had a long breakfast at an internet coffee shop then headed over to Amie's cousin's house. We were the first to get the grand tour of Bud and Frank's new place, and after a bit of playing with the 5 (yes 5) dachshunds, we let them get back to packing and headed to Columbus.

We will be in Ohio for about a week, then headed home.

Till the next and final time,
Niles, Amie and Alex

HEY! Don't forget about the pictures!!!