Denver

The flight to Denver was uneventful (always a good thing) and we even arrived about 15 minutes early. Flying in to DIA, one is immediately struck with why the locals call it the West Kansas Airport: It's in the middle of nowhere, and a good 45 minutes or so from the city.

Renting the car was unusually easy. The bus dropped me off at the lot, a sign told me which stall my car was in, and I was out in 10 minutes. In that mystical sense of humour that belongs to God, or fate or someone, THIS is the car I received. A PT Cruiser?

I was able to make it to St. Mark's Church where I met a friend for lunch. St. Mark's is one of only a handful of Orthodox Churches in the US that use the Western Rite. I'd long wanted to take a look at it and find out some of what they do there. The church manages to mix elements from both Eastern and Western traditions. The altar is very much a Western style one, but there is a large tryptic behind the altar that is quite Eastern. The photos don't really do it justice.

I'd met Benjamin through an online list for users of the Monastic Diurnal. As it turns out he works for Lancelot Andrewes Press the only printer that has reprinted this particular version of the Diurnal. They have a great selection of Western rite materials, many of them from the Golden Days of Anglo-Catholicism.

Fireworks were courtesy of Mother Nature. A veritable monsoon blew in around dark, and all of the displays in the Denver area were cancelled.

Onward to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction!