A Springtime Journey to the West

 On Wednesday, April 10th, after celebrating Wesley's 13th birthday & Evelyn's 91st and 10 days of traveling together, Wendy was more than ready to drop me off at BWI. My 10:30 flight got me non-stop to Denver around noon Mountain Time. My forever pal, Bill Veazie, picked me up and we were off to his home in Parker, CO, about a 45 minute drive from DEN. That afternoon we did two cycles on the Parker Incline, a set of 150 tall steps up a hill maybe 10 minutes from home. Just the way to shake off the forced confinement of a plane. And also a beginning to my acclimatization to Rocky Mountain altitude. That day we also visited one of Parker's great public rec centers...the one with a set of pools! I'd brought my Medicare Silver Sneaker's ID and was able to get a permanent ID which entitled me use all the services in town. That first evening we met Bill's camping/hiking friend Gordon for dinner near Denver University.

Thursday I got out to swim laps and then used Bill's trusty Toyota Matrix to drive down to meet our son Ben, his wife Sierra and son Jackson (11). We met for pizza then visited a park for some romping around before dropping Jax off with his mom who lives nearby. Then the 3 adults found a place to do some 10 pin bowling. I think I've aged out of that kind of fun!? I did not break 100 in either game though Ben certainly did. Sierra wisely opted out! From there we found a nice Mexican restaurant and we had some nice quiet time before I headed north to Parker and Ben & Sierra returned home to Pueblo, CO.

 

Friday...I think...Bill & I went to a different rec center that had a full size roller hockey rink (I thought it was actually ice at first look) and a gym set up with 6 indoor Pickle Ball courts. I played 4 games which was enough! Fun but as a newbie I know that I can only get better! In the afternoon Bill hosted a small reunion with 2 other guys...all 70 - 71, all had lived in Westport, CT in the 1960s and/or 70s. Will was in junior high and senior high with Bill and me and the 4th friend, Jim, had left town after 6th grade, I think summer of 1965, just as my family arrived. It was a fun get together with a lot "remember so & so."

Saturday we did a hike north west of town in the "Front Range." 'Twas a beautiful day, had an excellent view of the Denver skyline. Sunday I got some laundry taken care of and we got to Bill's church for Mass. That place was packed! It was so interesting to see alter "girls" alongside the alter boys. I like equality.

The next 3 nights we stayed in a BLM roadside campground east of Moab, UT alongside the Colorado river. That's a long drive over the Rockies from the Denver area. One pass on I-70 is 11,000 feet or close to it! Tuesday we drove some 100+ miles to Canyonlands Nat'l Park and hiked a 10 mile round trip to the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. It was a beautiful day and a challenging but spectacular hike. Wednesday we did an easier hike, 4 miles round trip to Morning Glory Bridge along a stream in the amazing red sandstone geology made famous by nearby Arches Nat'l Park. We broke camp Thursday morning and drove back up over the mountains in both rain and snow. Our timing for hiking weather was impeccable! Or super lucky, to put it another way.

  Friday morning Bill taxied me back to the airport and my direct flight home was wonderfully routine: on time and smooth. I forgot to mention that the landing back on Friday had to be one of the roughest I ever encountered...I looked for airbags but did not need them. Wendy met me at RDU and we had a happy reunion before her European adventure began in early May.