Sounded good, I said, so he said "that way" and we turned around on the sidewalk and began walking south towards Mountain. There we rounded the corner and went down half a block, where we went inside. It was a nice little restaurant. Randy called it a "local independent version of In-and-Out."
"Animal style," I said, referencing one of the well-known menu options for that chain. "Do they have a secret menu too?" He laughed at the California cultural references.
His wife had him on a gluten-free diet. So at the counter we tried to order our cheeseburgers breadless, like the Flying Dutchman at In-and-Out---using lettuce as the bun. We tried to explain that to the bearded dude at the counter , and we thought he understood what we meant, but when the burgers arrived they turned out to have bread on them.
In the meantime we got to talk about various fun things, such as Burning Man, and more of his work. His firm was doing well. He had an upcoming project in Los Alamos, a city I had recently visited but which was brand new to him. He was just about to fly down to New Mexico to visit the site for the first time.
"Los Alamos--it's not a place where you think a city should exist," I said. "You'll see what I mean."
After lunch he took me on a walking tour to visit the site of their current project, as well as their new offices. It seemed their new digs in the Opera Galleria were just temporary.
We walked down Mountain, then cut through Old Town Plaza to Linden, which we followed towards the river.
Across Jefferson you get to the old industrial area which the city has long wanted to develop.
As we came up to the intersection with Willow, I marveled that the old Northern Colorado Feeders Supply was still in business there.
"It's going to become a restaurant," he said, matter-of-factly.
As we came up the intersection Willow, he pointed ahead to the next block along Linden.
"That's where our new office is going to be," he said.
"Right over by the flagpole of the fort," I said, with amusement.
"This was the old parade ground," I said, motioning with my hand around the intersection. "That's where the mess hall was."
"Yup," he said, as we walked together in stride down the street.
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