I kept my clothes on last night, maybe it had been colder than the previous night?!?! Anyway, camp was perfect, it was nice to have a toilet nearby first thing. I discovered while cooking breakfast that eggs can freeze. Of course, this is completely logical, but I was astounded when I tapped my first egg on the edge of the pan to get a “thud” instead of a “crack”. Irrationally, I tapped a little harder hoping for a different result. Nope. Frozen solid. With the bacon already frying, I put the whole eggs (in their shells) in the pan to heat up. Eventually I was able to work off the shells and drop the stripped solid balls into the pan. Despite their state, they cooked beautifully!
First on the agenda was laundry. I’d recon’d a Laundromat last night so I went there and put a load on. While there, I checked on my Canadian visa application, there was a message requiring me to get an FBI clearance check because I’d lived in the US for more than six months. After being offended, then shocked at yet another requirement, I started investigating and found that I would need to get my fingerprints done, print a few forms out for signing, then MAIL the application to somewhere in West Virginia. Grrr. I also soon found out that with the 12-14 week processing time for FBI checks, there was no way I would be making the due date required by Canadian immigration. I followed their instructions and wrote a letter and submitted it in lieu of the FBI report. I pleaded my case, referencing the FBI waiting time and my ignorance at the requirement to submit yet another background check and asked for an extension. Honestly, I think the visa application process is made complex intentionally so that stupid people don’t get in. The website is a convoluted web of disaster that I’ve only learnt to navigate with practice and the requirements are not simple step-by-step, but embedded in lines and lines of text.
I managed to do all this in the time it took to do a load of washing and drying. All the while, my computer woes had returned with the Macbook shutting itself down sporadically, taking at least five agonising minutes to recover each time. Not going well!
I left the Laundromat and drove for the Longmont Police Department where I could get my fingerprints on a card. There, a police officer told me that fingerprinting was done by appointment only and was not done for non-residents. She did give me a list of establishments in the area that offer fingerprinting services so I pored through them all to see which ones would accept a resident alien like me. After a few phonecalls I found that I would need to supply my own fingerprint card and I could find help in the town of Erie, just south of Longmont and on the way to Boulder.
Before changing towns, I went to the local Staples to print everything I needed for the FBI check and also for my US visa application while I’m in Germany. I wanted to be armed with everything I had. After waiting a huge amount of time for two girls behind the desk to give me some attention after chatting away and dealing with a customer that had a 600-page printing request, they got everything printed for me, free of charge because I’d had to wait so long so that was a bonus.
I scoffed a couple of cookies on my way to Erie, not wanting to stop for a proper lunch (it was past 1pm) until I had all this crap sorted. The lady at the Erie police department was most helpful and got my fingerprints done for $15. She mentioned how fingerprints can be rejected for reasons beyond her knowledge, which fuelled my scepticism for American government process.
Since I’d driven south, I figured I’d head down to Boulder city, famous for its outdoorsy nature. On my way I sent a message to Paul, who I’d met in Badlands, to see if he was up for a beer that night, which he was! In Boulder, I did not enjoy driving through downtown to find a post office that was on a main street that had parking meters all around. I must have driven around the block twice until I found a spot and illegally parked there while I ran inside to post my application to the FBI. Of course, inside the post office was a huge line, but there was a lady at an impromptu desk helping people with odd jobs. I asked her for a stamp to mail my envelope, then she directed me to the self-serve machine to do the job. Wow, technology!
Tense at the time I was taking away from my illegally parked car, I rushed through the process, paid $1.15 and posted the application as I’d promised Canadian immigration I’d do. And now I wait. It all seems a bit precarious to me that I can’t expect to hear anything for the next 12-14 weeks and if that time comes along and I don’t hear anything, I’ll probably find that they never received my application in the mail and I’ll have to re-do the whole process. I just hope that the mailing system, the FBI administration and the return mailing system holds up. If all that happens, and the stars align, I might get a visa!
Business done for the day, it was 3:30pm so I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up with Paul. I went to the visitor’s center, got a map of the town, then parked a few blocks out (for free) and wandered. Needless to say, it was still cold, but no wind so was manageable to walk around.
The main street mall was deserted and full of shops that didn’t really interest me, but that didn’t matter, I took pleasure in all the things around me covered in pristine layers of fresh snow. Yes, it is pretty, but anywhere near trafficked areas (pedestrian and vehicle), it is just a huge mess of muddy, gunky, slush.
I wandered from downtown to the Museum of Contemporary Art that the visitor’s center helper had told me about. I went in here to get out of the cold, paying a small donation for admission. Art isn’t my thing, but I learnt some interesting things, especially about a huge protest against nuclear weapons that raged in the 40s at Flat Rock. It reminded me of the battle going on at Standing Rock at the moment.
Back out into the cold, the Christmas lights had come on, which made the already pretty streets even more beautiful. I walked back along Pearl St, rushing in the end because I’d been distracted by some of the city’s charms, the highlight of which is the peaks of the Rockies looming over the city with impressive vertical faces edged in snow. The town is definitely suited to its name.
Again, I didn’t enjoy the drive across town through snowy sludge to get to the Southern Sun brewery, where I was meeting Paul. It was also rush hour (derr) so I let him know I’d be a bit late. I made it without incident and it was definitely colder now without sun.
Paul was standing in the entranceway to the pub amongst a throng of people waiting for a table. Not wanting to hand around, we went across the way to a place called Murphy’s which was perfectly ambient. We both got local beers, cheers’d to meeting up again and commenced talking non-stop. We are both outdoorsy people that work in tech and while I blog, he blogs. I’m inspired by his website (www.pmags.com) and his writing, I think I still have a lot to learn!
After dinner, we searched for a café for a coffee, but came up with nothing so went back to Southern Sun for a night cap. The crowd was much more amicable at this time of night and as soon as we walked in the door, Paul spotted two of his mates at the bar sipping beers. They ordered another round to go with ours and we set up at a table where we swapped more stories. Not more than an hour later, yet another friend came over to join us! Southern Sun is known as the Boulder Living Room exactly for this reason. It was great to meet these locals and find out what they do for fun, especially for winter. Peter, the last to join us, had just returned from Standing Rock, yet another supporter of an ongoing cause.
We carried on till after 11pm when we all went our separate ways again. I was happy to have spent the night in such good company that I couldn’t much feel the cold. Paul kindly offered me his spare room and a shower, but I gratefully declined, just wanting to set up camp and get to bed. We said our goodbyes, knowing that I will be coming back this way after the snow melts and adventures will be had.
Tired, not wanting to drive far, I went ten minutes up the road to Boulder’s Walmart (I know right? I’m starting to tour the Walmart carparks now) and found a lovely quiet spot in the snowy carpark to settle down. Again, I was perfectly warm in the van and had a solid, undisturbed sleep.
