Last week marked a couple of firsts for me: it was my first time attending the GIS in the Rockies conference and also my first time in Northern Colorado. I enjoyed my trip greatly.
First off, the people of Northern Colorado were universally nice. That held true of everyone I met at the conference as well as people at every restaurant, gas station and other establishment I entered. Of course, why not? The countryside is beautiful. For a lifelong resident of the East Coast, the countryside of Northern Colorado represents the stereotypical image I get in my mind when I think of “the West.” Driving north from Denver, the plains stretched out on one side as far as I could see while, on the other side, mountains arose as if just “plopped” there. All of this under a sky so vast I have really only seen its like back East when driving through the Everglades.
In this setting, I made my way to the conference. This is the first time I’ve been to such a regional conference. Due to committments at home, I had to fly out Wednesday morning so I did not get to catch Peter Batty’s keynote. I did, however, run into Brian Timoney and Glenn Letham rather quickly so I started out with friendly faces.