Denver - May 9 - June 7, 2005
We became the guests that just wouldn't leave!! On Monday, May 9th we moved into Linda's home… literally. Since we planned to stay for three weeks, we put the RV in a storage facility that also does repairs (this is important when you read the last part of this journal). Linda was prepared for us, but she seemed somewhat amazed at everything we moved in - the satellite dish, two computers and all the supporting external electronics, cameras, clothes, food, books, toiletries. The process took much of the day.
To talk about all the people we visited with and things we did while in Denver would take up way too much space here, but we do want to express how wonderful it is to be around family. We basked in their welcoming warmth. In addition to Susan's "blood" relatives, there is also the Flores family; Linda's in-laws who treat us just like family. We have known them for as long as we have been married and are always happy to be in their noisy, joyful and boisterous company. Anita and Dave, long-time friends from Sacramento, along with Amanda and Cris' father, Roger, hosted a family party to welcome us to Denver.
Of course, the big event (and an important reason we came to Denver) was Amanda's college graduation on Sunday. It was so much fun watching Amanda's excitement as she prepared for the event. She is a computer graphics art major - and quite a unique individual, as all artists should be, and totally delightful. After the ceremony about 30 family members went to the restaurant Buca de Beppo to celebrate the event. Amanda's cousin Johanan, who had graduated the day before, joined the celebration to make it twice as much fun.
Linda was able to spend two weeks with us before she returned to Washington, D.C. for work, so we combined just hanging out enjoying each other's company with family events and sightseeing. We watched old home movies from when Susan and Linda were little kids in Napa, CA, visited Red Rocks, LODO (downtown Denver), went bowling, browsed used book stores, alternated cooking duties, lost time to video games, and took the COG railroad to Pikes Peak and then toured Garden of the Gods.
During this time, Linda, Amanda and Bill entered into a no-holds-barred "Snood" competition. They told me that Snood is a computer game that helps enhance ones eye-hand coordination (Yeah, right!). Amanda and Linda are highly experienced "Snooders". Bill got hooked on it and Amanda and Linda secretly played the game on his computer to put in high scores that he would have no hope of attaining. Generally, they turned into pixilated nuts! Susan maintained an intellectual aloofness (in other words, she has no eye-hand or any other kind of coordination).
It was a wonderful two weeks. But alas, Linda had to return to Washington much too soon.
We spent the following two weeks torturing Amanda by taking her away from all of her normal activities. Actually it was fabulous having the opportunity to get reacquainted with her and sharing some time with Cris. We spent a lot of time just loafing around, laughing, visiting the Denver Library, Art Museum and Museum of Nature and Science, attending the Denver Art Festival downtown and, of course, playing computer games. The three of us were also able to get together with Anita and Dave for an afternoon of bowling and dinner. Also, during this time, Sharon was heading back to Seattle from Texas and we were able to get together again for dinner. All great stuff.
Oh, did we mention the unfortunate incident with the RV? As noted above, we left our trailer at a RV storage facility (Freedom RV) while we stayed at Linda's house. Shortly after doing so, we got a call from the facility saying that when they moved it they dropped it onto the tow truck resulting in a large hole in the front cap (see the pictures). Fortunately, they specialize in repairing just such damage and they had to repair the fiberglass cap and replace the panel under the bedroom. It turned out good as new. They are a good facility and even though our rig was damaged we would recommend them to anyone.
The repairs to the trailer took several days longer than planned, but being at Linda's house we couldn't have asked for a better place to stay. Plus, it gave Bill an opportunity to order and receive a new laptop computer. Traveling over rough roads has proved to be too much for his desktop computer. Often it has a hard time starting up after we arrive at a new destination. Only with highly technical jiggling of parts and pieces was Bill able to get it to start up again. Since he maintains many of our important files we decided to get another laptop computer. As an added benefit it will take up a lot less space in the trailer than the desktop.
On June 7, after many delays, we finally (and tearfully) got on the road and left Amanda in peace. We are heading north to Lingle, Wyoming, and then on to Hermosa, South Dakota.
