Hey guys!

Once again, I must say how completely blown away I am at how quickly this week seems to be going. It's already Wednesday and, now that I think about it, I leave to return to the island in a little over a week. 

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to spend the day with the girls, minus Shannon, in Denver. I was dropped off at 9:30 at the light rail station, essentially a train rail that can take someone into the heart of Denver, in addition to places across the state. I purchased my ticket, a local one, and boarded the train. 

Compared to TheBus in Hawaii, the light rail in Denver is a much fancier way of transportation. I personally really like taking the light rail because of how nice the views are. The train glides, occasionally, over highways and across crowded towns, and the views of the mountains are always breathtaking. If you take the light rail into Union Station, the stop you would get off at if you wanted to walk around downtown, you will even have a nice view of the Denver skyline.  In my case, I would be taking the light rail to the Denver University stop, about 30 minutes into my ride. 

Meeting me at DU was Bella, who picked me up in her car. Once she picked me up, we drove to Cherry Creek mall to meet up with the others. Once at Cherry Creek, we walked around and went to some stores to grab some gifts. I managed to find a very cute, light blue mug from urban outfitters for my friend Emily. I also bought her some bonsai tree saplings and planted them in the mug. I tried finding more gifts for people, but the unfortunate reality is the Cherry Creek is a very big, very nice, chain mall. There is only one "Exclusively Colorado" store, but besides that, you can find all the stores inside in other malls, too. I have settled on finding gifts for others tomorrow, when I go to Boulder. 

After the mall we all went to Noodles and had lunch. Being in Denver was a weird feeling, because I'm actually unfamiliar with many of the stores and shops. The girls, all three of which are from the same town, knew street names and restaurants by heart, so being with them in their own town was very fun. I just know it would be different if we were where I live, because none of the girls would know the street names or shops. But that's not a bad thing, it just means we come from two different places. 

After lunch the girls showed me their high schools. This was by far the most interesting part of the day, as I have only heard stories of their "crazy" high schools. Additionally, my high school was a rival to all of theirs, so it was cool being on their school grounds. The first school was Tammy's and the second was Bella's. After that we said goodbye to Tammy and went to Bella's house for a bit. From there, we decided on where to travel to next. I told the girls that I needed to be back on the light rail by 4:30, just to be safe. And so, with that in mind, the others decided that they should show me around Pearl Street (not to be confused with the Boulder Pearl Street). 

Pearl Street is a quiet and quaint little street with ma and pop coffee shops. There's one Colorado store, but their selections are very limited. The other shops one will see are expensive, high end shops where even a black pantsuit will run anywhere between $350-$500. There are also pizza shops, health-bars, and even a pilates studio. The street reminds me of one that college students would frequent. It's not something you would find in Manoa, but something more up Berkeley's alley. However, this is also not a street you would spend a day at, but maybe only a few hours. If you are interested in going, I would suggest going for a morning cup of coffee, and continuing your day on 16th Street in downtown Denver. Another suggestion would be getting coffee, or lunch, here and enjoying it at Wash Park nearby. Here is a picture of what one can expect South Pearl Street to be like during their visit. In my case, the weather was very much that of 'pre-snow', so the sky was overcast and the weather was cold. This photo is courtesy of southpearl.com