giddy up!

Alright it's booked! And of course a series of questions from Rachel and too much information from me lead to Rachel guessing what we're doing. We're leaving Denver at 11 for Colorado Springs. Then its some lunch probably, a quick lunch. Then at 3:30 we're going horseback riding for two hours through the Garden of the Gods. It's supposed to be this really gorgeous, boulder and mountainous area. And we're romantically riding horses through it. I'm sure with a guide and a group but.. it's still romantic! I'm afraid I tooted my own horn a bit too much yesterday but whatever. I think its cool! She's really excited. She had told me a week or so ago that she wanted to go horseback riding and wanted to know if I thought it was weird. I don't and I'm really excited! We are under slight caution because of some information we received last night from Liz and Jules (Rachel's bosses). Apparently Colorado Springs is very conservative and religious. These two things are all well and fine. However something they do NOT find all well and fine is homosexuality. Everything was booked before we found this out and we decided that it didn't make a difference anyway. How can we just not explore all the conservative places in America? That excludes a LOT of it! Besides, just the idea of not showing my face in any city or state because they may not like the way I look or who I love makes my skin crawl. We obviously know not to kiss in public or hold hands, but to just not go at all is too much. Just because a place is intolerant doesn't mean they want to tie you to a fence. I'm not missing out on seeing the country because people are whack jobs. No. No. No. No. And who knows- we could be surprised by their kindness and hospitality. I don't want to go in judging them with my new bit of information just as I appreciate not being judged myself. I made sure the B&B we were staying at knew we were a lesbian couple before I even knew we were entering a conservative area. She could have told me they were booked. But she didn't. I've gone into Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana totally sure that everyone was going to hate me because I was gay. It was the deep south and that was what I expected. Well it never happened. I encountered only kind people. Granted, I was working with all non-profits. People who do that work are usually very very nice. But the point is, is that I ended up being wrong. And I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Maybe I will this time too. Or maybe not. And if I'm not, then thats a part of America I need to experience no matter how much it really really sucks. And just in case..... so everyone knows.... Rachel and I are staying at the St. Mary Inn in Colorado Springs and will be horse back riding with the Acadamy Riding Stables from 2:45-about 5:30. Just kind of a side note... next time you hear someone describe something as "gay" or wonder why gay people feel the need to have they're own parade every year... think about the fact that I just told you where we were going to be to make myself feel safer. -lj