Shop 'til you drop

It's been a shop 'til you drop kind of day!  When Christy and I were trying to decide what to do today she asked if I wanted to go to IKEA.  When I replied with, "What's IKEA?" she was shocked and suggested we absolutely had to go there.  I had heard of it before, but didn't know what it was.  We got around and were there shortly after opening.  I knew it must be a big deal when we pulled into a parking garage just to access the store!  We dropped one of her kiddos in the play area and proceeded to follow the mazes and arrows around the showroom and marketplace.  It is definitely impressive!  I enjoyed seeing how they set up rooms and apartments to maximize space.  It made my organizational brain very happy.  I got a couple of small things, nothing major, but have vowed to check their website for my future household furnishing needs.  We ate lunch at their cafeteria.  It was pretty good.  There were lots of people there.

We went from there to the mall just a little ways down.  I'm not a big shopper, in fact the last time I was in the mall was before Christmas.  I've been to some department stores attached to the mall, but to actually walk around from store to store I haven't done in forever.  I hate clothes shopping, so I tend to avoid malls since that's a large part of the merchandise.  Yes I am related to Kayla...I'm just her polar opposite!  :)

This evening Christy had some obligations so I'm hanging out at Panera.  I love this place.  You can sit and read or work for hours.  Not to mention they have free wifi.  It's been a good day.  Tomorrow before I leave town we're going to take a tour of Coors Field.  It's the baseball stadium where the Colorado Rockies play.  Something else I'd like to achieve, besides visiting all 50 states and all of the presidential libraries is to go to all of the major league baseball parks.  I'm a relatively new die hard baseball fan, only in the last five years have I watched every game I could find on TV.  I love the game!  There are 30 major league teams and I've only visited a handful of parks, so I have a long way to go, but tomorrow will give me one more.

It's been a great trip and I'm beginning to feel it coming to an end.  In my time at Panera today I've had to start work for next week.  I know I'll be home before I know it.  Hopefully I can find ways at home to recreate the peace I've felt and continue on a more figurative journey than the literal one that's taken me on the road this week.