It was well after dark when we went through Denver on Saturday. Getting through Denver used to be a miserable, tense half hour experience. With the tremendous population growth and expansion that is occurring on the Front Range, getting through Denver is now a miserable, tense two-hour experience.

When the wife and I began these seasonal commutes, the exit at 120th used to be the extreme northern edge of the urban area. Nothing but farm houses and cropland from there to the state line.

No more. Now you hit major housing developments by the time you get to the Longmont exit, and it's solid civilization from there to the city, and then on to points south.

For those few of you that know the place, the movie theater by the Marriot at Hampden used to be the southern edge of the urban area. Then came the Tech Center, and now the city extends pretty much all the way to Castle Rock.

They predicted the Front Range would become one urban area from Cheyenne to Pueblo back when I was in high school, but it seems to have exceeded their time line predictions.

Speaking of the Denver Tech Center... I see that we really are in a recession now. The Tech Center has always done a wonderful job of decorating all the trees that line the Interstate. Literally lines of hundreds of trees, all done in white lights. This year only selected clumps of the trees were lit. Disappointing.

Downtown didn't look very festive, either, as we went past. The one skyscraper was still decorated as a giant green-lighted present, and the Capitol Dome was lit, but that was about it.

The brightest light on the skyline was the giant "Qwest" titles on top of their two high-rises. Ugly. Reminds me of the "Silverado" that used to be lit on top of the failed son-of-Bush venture on the south side of town. And I won't even mention The Finn's opinion of that corporation.

The little unmasked heeler has been paying attention to her alpha in training lessons. About a mile before the last rest stop, she began pestering the wife and I. Letting us know she needed a pee break. Don't think the timing was an accident. She remembered the opportunity was coming up.