Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash 5000

Here I am in downtown Denver with Shannon (Mr. Lady of Whisky in My Sippy Cup) and Molly (Soapy Water)

It took me an hour to get downtown on the light rail. No more time than it normally does. I arrived at the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash 45 minutes early. Bloggers were there, but no one that I knew. I got myself a beer and parked myself in the room with a television to watch the Democratic National Convention. Twenty minutes later, I met Shannon and Molly.

The funny thing was that Molly told me that they had been sitting for quite awhile near the front, but I didn't see them when I walked in despite my looking.

This was the first Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash that I attended. I went to meet two blogging friends of mine that I've been corresponding with for the past few years now, but had never met. They are with me in the above picture. They were everything that I expected them to be. Warm and wonderful people who I feel that I've known forever. Had I not had to fight the masses home on the light rail and get up early to get my child to school--I would have stayed much later.

Shannon was one of the hosts, so she was busy mingling and handing out free drink tickets. Molly and I hung out together for awhile in the television room and the pizza was quite good. Once Barack Obama's speech came on the place filled up and everyone was squeezed into every possible space to watch the big event. I met one other person there, a woman by the name of Michelle. Her name tag said her name and Party Crasher. I just assumed that was the name of her blog. It wasn't until the end of the night that Shannon told me that she literally crashed our party. Michelle was lovely to chat with.

My only regret of the night was getting trapped in the television room. Molly at some point needed to use the restroom and left. Given that I wanted to watch the speech and the place was packed, I stayed. I should have skipped the speech and stayed outside the television room to mingle, chat with Shannon and Molly more and get to know other local bloggers.

It was quite a bunch of people. More women than I expected. Though, I really didn't have any idea what to expect. Attending parties isn't really something I do with any frequency and it put me way outside of my comfort zone. I practically had anxiety about going to this party and I'm not an anxious person.

After the speech was over, I settled up my bill and went looking for Shannon and Molly. Not finding them, I decided that I had better start getting home as I expected the light rail to be very crowded and off schedule. Shannon and Molly noticed me leaving and we said our good-byes and took some pictures.

I was moved by Barack's acceptance speech. I finally have a good sense of what his supporters feel. I felt it in the downtown crowds and saw it in their eyes and on their faces at the convention. They were beyond excited and many people seemed to be downtown just to be near it all. Barack gave a great speech and I will vote for him, but I admit that I still have reservations.

He has a great story, message and all, but it's never easy putting so much into action. I don't feel his time in the Senate reflects all this action that he keeps talking about. Time will tell how he does, but he has to get himself elected first.

The police presence downtown was intimidating. I felt it was massive overkill. The sheer number of police on every street corner was staggering. The oddest thing I saw was two policemen riding motorcycles smoking a cigar.

For all the talk about Denver having such a green convention--I felt they could have taken it further. Recycling still doesn't exist downtown or hardly anywhere in our state beyond voluntarily recycling in our neighborhoods, some businesses, the airport and a few hotels that I've run across.

I was one of the lucky ones. I had a seat the whole way home on the light rail. The trains were crowded northbound and lots of people had to stand most of the time. Two Texas delegates were sitting and standing next to me, but they appeared to be exhausted. Otherwise, I would have asked them about their experience and what they thought of our city.