10/24- Zombie Crawl in Denver

It was quite nice waking up back on my couch again since the morning before had been frost-ridden. Ang and I had arranged to hang for the day since Loreli had things she needed to get down in the early part of the day. Later in the evening, however, she invited me to a Zombie Crawl that was going on downtown in Denver. Izzy would be back from her Dad's by then so it'd also be a great way so see her as well.

Being that it was Saturday it normally would have been a phone day, but I decided to shift it to Sunday and focus my visiting energy on just hanging out with Denver chums. It had also been a debate as to how long I was going to stay. At first, with the rush to Halloween growing on my head, I figured I should leave by either noon or one, evening at the latest. Waking up that morning I decided to relax, go with the "don't rush" mojo I've been feeling, and stay the full day leaving Sunday morning.

Normally Ang works on Saturdays, and for whatever reason she had this one off. When she found out she had this Saturday off she specifically had decided not to plan to do anything that day and to just enjoy it. Now with me suddenly appearing out of nowhere for the day it worked out perfectly to hang out that day. I text her I'd meet her at Dazbog, then made my way over there for a coffee and a visit with the folks there.

After a bit of a visit with Vince, Nick, Mike, and Boobs as well as some of the regulars passing through Ang showed up and we spent the day touring around Capital Hill. We stopped for another coffee at Pablos where I ran into Angie, my ex from the walking days, and got a brief visit with her. Then popped in at Kilgore Books where my friend Luke was working for a quick visit with him. We hit a few other places as well, then meandered our way down town, all the while catching up on each other's gossip.

As we neared the theatre downtown we got to talking about how we both wanted to see Where the Wild Things Are. I had just seen a preview for it at a truck stop, and she'd had plans to see it with some friends on Thursday but was held up for some reason and they went to see it with out her. She even said, normally she'd be pretty pissy about being ditched like that, but she uncharacteristically wasn't bothered and had thought then "I'd really like to see that with Chris". We decided to get midnight movie tickets as a last hurrah before I shoved off in the morning.

We found ourselves down at Tattered Cover later in the day where I picked up the English version of the Paulo Coelho book I've been barely trying to read in Spanish. From there she treated me to lunch at Illegal Petes. By the time we were done it was time to meet up with Loreli for the Zombie Crawl.

Being downtown already we had seen a few done up zombies here and there, but nothing that would really suggest a gathering of them anywhere near by. We met up with Loreli and a self-zombiefied Izzy a block over from where we ate and soon discovered the cluster gathering under the Lorimer Clock Tower. It was amazing.

There were zombie wedding couples, Tim Burton zombie doll girls, a zombie Jesus, zombie robot, zombie aliens, and even a zombie baby nursing on the spine of a severed head (pictures in the folder). As the sun waned zombie hunters also started to appear. Guys and girls in gas masks with oodles of rifles, a Storm Trooper, and more faceless armed V for Vendetta styled troops.

Loreli's friend Faith was the one who had invited her and spawned the whole of us gathering there in general, and one of her two kids was Izzy's age, both of whom started attacking me immediately on our arrival. Faith's older daughter was a bit more reserved and stuck to her mother, but the young one was a bit ferocious. She actually bit me, and continued wrestling me with Izzy for a good half hour before I figured out a way to bow out.

I also ran into my friend Tym from the earlier days of D&D gaming in Denver. He was there on his own so we hung out some for a bit and caught up. As the sun got closer to the ground the party ramped up little by little. Crazier and more out landish zombies started showing up. Faith's friend, Josh, was a pedicabber and had a make up kit in his pedicab so he did me up as a zombie as well.

Ang spotted some friends after a bit and meandered over there, Faith ran after her kids somewhere, and Izzy wanted to play on the blocks near by so Loreli and I took her over there. Somewhere in all the confusion of us wandering off every where the rest of the 1,000 people gathering broke itself up as well and Ang and I were soon texting back and forth wondering where the other was. In a moment's time the green that was littered with zombies was barren and strewn with trash. The sun was setting.

Loreli went off with Izzy and I managed to find Ang. The zombies had now all gathered in the middle of the 16th St. Mall. Dusk was creating an ominous coloring through the buildings and then suddenly everyone started running down the Mall. It was pandimonium. I have never been in such a fun, realistic depiction of what zombies taking over the world would be like than that evening.

Ang and I decided to head home, but as we walked back down the Mall zombie kids were banging their hands against the Mall bus that brings tourists up and down, scampering past us, running at top speed, and soldiered outfits in hot persuit of them. Back down by the clock tower you could hear loud moans, screams, and screeches unlike what normal loud crowd noises are like. I started taking video and one guy passing me told me I should put that away because they're jumping anyone with cameras.

Eventually we got to the end of the Mall, still hearing the chaos down the road. We agreed to meet back at her place around 11pm because I was going home to do laundry, swap some things out from my stuff at Loreli's, and just repack in general. Most of this I did get done in a timely fashion before Loreli returned home with Izzy and her best friend Jade who I knew from the summer at Julie's.

Izzy and Jade had decided they were dogs for the night, dalmations to be precise, and I think I was their Dad. I seem to always end up being their Dad oddly. I have to admit I got really caught up in playing with them, rolling them up in a big blanket and carrying them around the house like a sack of potatoes. I'm a sucker for fun with kids. The four of us also played a game of hide-and-go-seek until Brandon got home. Then I began the putting them to bed routine by reading them a story. It was about 10pm when all was said and done and I still needed to get some things done.

Loreli was also having a hard night and I felt like a real dick trying to listen intently to what she needed to talk about while rushing to get everything in order to meet up with Ang for the movie by 11. In the end it was futile and I was darting out the door apologizing for not being able to be a better listener at the time. I was then texting Ang that I was running late and that maybe we should just meet at the theatre. I caught a bus, and in the end, it all worked out.

Ang and I met up about fifteen minutes before the show started and got good seats in a sparsely filled theatre. The movie was completely amazing. It turned out to be a perfect way to wrap up my day reprieve in Denver. Afterward Ang and I walked back to her house where I stayed the night.