I spent my Labor Day driving into Denver to catch a Rockies game before we travel back to Nebraska. It was my first trip ever, so there was no one better to go with, than Tyler Maun.

I got to LoDo before I met up with Mauny, so I took advantage of the free meters and stopped in a bunch of places to get a view of downtown and snap some shots. Then it came time for the game, and much anticipated viewing of Barry Bonds. When the lineup was announced, Randy Winn was the starting left fielder. I guess when you have the home run record and your team is in the gutter, there's really no reason to play baseball.

Either way, we got to see bonds warming up to hit in the bottom of the 7^th, but the situation didn't present itself, and the picture above is the closest we got to watching Barry swing a bat. The game was good though as the Rockies placed a 7 spot in the 3^rd as they cruised to a 7-4 victory.

After the game, we decided to hit up some bars in LoDo, and I was especially excited because I finally got to start my new hobby: checking out all of the greatest bars in America. Well, at least the greatest bars that Esquire tells me about. I figured that you couldn't go wrong with one of the best magazines on the market (the best in my opinion).

After visiting the first of two Esquire bars, we went to the Sports Column, which Maun said was a top 10 sports bar in Sports Illustrated. On our walk over, we see the Giants announcers, which obviously includes Jon Miller. It was really weird to see Jon in person. His hair was all wacked out and the entire crew he was with must've thought it was Hawaii shirt day at Coors Field. I told Maun I'd go stop them and get a picture for him, but we just strolled behind them and he took one from behind.

Then on the drive home I found out that everything happens for a reason. It seems that every couple has "their" restaurant, like Adam and Jenni for instance. When we all lived at the 436, they had a ritual to go to Lazlo's every Friday. Just a nice relaxing thing that they did. The Wife™ and I have found our nitch, and it's Outback restaurant. Any time we head an hour west of our house, we stop in Avon and pick some up for the drive home.

So as I was driving back from Denver, I called to see what Christi wanted, and stopped to get it. While driving through Avon's 15 or so round-a-bouts, I heard my back tire making a weird noise. Stopping at the Conoco to check it out, I see that my rear right tire is going flat. I found a nice lit up area to take it off and find the 3 inch nail protruding from it. So, I spent some time talking with a nice truck driver on his working Labor Day, and threw on the spare.

Driving a cool 55 mph the rest of the way home, I thought of two things:

1. Sammy Hagar was right
2. I'm extremely thankful that Christi and I have "our" place

I really couldn't feel the car shifting with the tire, and I definitely couldn't hear it with the XM going through the mountains. I'm not sure what dark stretch of I-70 I would've ended up on if (or when) my tire blew.

So if you and your loved one don't have "your" place that you regularly go to, it might be a good idea to find it. It sure saved me yesterday.