Tag: DIA

Denver International Airport – It is still weird

Ever since Denver International Airport was created, there has been controversy surrounding it. The designers had some bizarre ideas of how to give the place its decor, and it ended up with some really weird pieces of artwork. There used to be the murals depicting children presiding over the death of an animal on a World War II kind of battle field. There was the strange Native American music constantly playing on the bridge to Concourse A. And there were the strange gargoyle that could be found in the baggage claim area. The strange design of the landing strips along with all of this art created an environment ripe for the emergence of conspiracy theories. It did not help much that in order for Denver to be considered a city worthy of the international scene, they erected an anatomically correct giant blue horse rearing up on its hind legs and staring at you with its devil red eyes as the first thing travelers see as they leave the airport and head into the city.

Denver became a strange place in the mind’s of the people living outside of it all of because of its airport. Considering the airport recently turned twenty-five years old, the fine people of the city decided that it needed a remodeling. I have been to the airport a few times since and have not had time to notice the strange artwork anymore because everywhere I turned I ran into the signs of construction in process. Most of the time I came, I was in a rush to get out of the airport or rush to a plane that was getting ready to leave, so I did not have time to look for signs of the things that made this airport unique.

I got stuck in the main building recently, and had an opportunity to walk around and look for the strange sights that I had come to know over the years of living in Denver. I did not think that they would keep the bizarre artwork in the hopes of becoming more respected internationally, but I was surprised to see this was not the case. Despite having to navigate through the construction, they have done an amazing job of modernizing the building, giving it a sleek and user friendly kind of design. And though a couple of the pieces of art could have been hidden behind construction walls, many of the strange pieces that made DIA weird were still there. I could find the gargoyles, the Native American music playing, the horse, and a couple of these murals even though the oddest ones were still hidden. It made me relieved that DIA would embrace this weird aspect of itself, and I hope that it never loses it.

So the next time you travel through Denver try to find these weird aspects of the airport, and embrace the odd nature of DIA. And if you know of any weird things that I should find in other places in the world, let me know, so I can hunt them down for myself.

The Journey to Ring in the New Year – The Holidays Day 13

I got up this morning in a new house in a new state starting a new year. The remains of last night’s festivities were strewn out on the countertops and the floor. As I sipped my coffee I was able to reflect on how I made it to this place last night, and how I was lucky to be with such a festive group as I rang in the new year. There were many times yesterday when I did not think it would have happened.

It reminded me a little of Planes, Trains and Automobiles as we tried to figure out how to get all the way down to Castle Rock and the party before the clock struck midnight. It started off with getting booted from the original flight that we were supposed to take, and having to wait around the Redmond airport until the next flight into Denver at 3:13 that same day. I was a little worried about the flight leaving because there were reports of snow and rough conditions coming from Colorado, but there were no problems with the flight or the landing. In fact, the in-air experience went rather smoothly. When we landed, things changed. The airport was crowded with people trying to get to different destination and trying to get their baggage. When we finally found our baggage claim carousel, it was packed with people because there were 13 flights all waiting for their bags at the same spot. It took a little while, and it was still only 8:00. We had plenty of time to make it to that party.

But we still had to find a way to get all the way through Denver to the southern town of Castle Rock. Our original ride could not pick us up that late, and we had to find another form of transportation. A cab ride all the way down there was close to $75, so we looked into a rental car. Priceline.com is a great resource for this, especially if you are looking into it on short notice. We were able to get a good car, a Kia, for a reasonable price for the next week and from a reputable company, Hertz. If we had booked it earlier, we might not have been so lucky. We went and got our car and took a slow drive down south through the snow, dodging cars and trucks driving way too fast to make it to the party.

We were greeted by my family as they were already in full swing. It was a great way to get back together with everybody all at once. And we were there three hours before they showed the ball dropping again from our part of the world. Despite all of the little road blocks we met along the way, we were able to make quick compromises to solve the problems that we encountered. I guess this is the true sign of a world traveler because things will not always go as expected, especially during this time of the year when you are forced to contend with crowds, and weather. The fight was tough, but it was completely worth it to see my family again and enjoy signing off on 2018. It makes me confident that the troubles we will see in the next year will be nothing, and whatever problem comes out way, we will be able to handle it with ease.

I hope your solutions to your problems are as simple in the coming year as well. Happy New Year!