If it’s Saturday, we must be at last on our way home after almost two weeks of travel. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, and it all started June 15 when we flew to Colorado for Chuck’s brother-in-law Kenny’s retirement party. Chuck’s sister Dina threw him quite the blow-out fete; it even included a string quartet! That was on Saturday – we flew in a bit early on Wednesday so we could go to a Jewel concert at the Denver Botanic Gardens. She was fabulous – forgot the lyrics to one of her first songs and managed to gracefully laugh it off then completely made up for it with the rest of the show. It was just her and a guitar for almost two hours. Wow! The next day we went for a bike ride and saw loads of prairie dogs and a rattlesnake. The prairie dogs were really cute, popping in and out of their holes (which riddled the countryside on either side of the bike trail) and making cute squeaky sounds when chattering to each other (no doubt informing their neighbors of the galumphing humans headed their way).
The day of the party dawned clear and hot. Temps in the afternoon were in the upper 80’s and it was humid! In fact, we saw warmer temps in Colorado than we have in California since last summer. Dina had pulled out all the stops; the house and yard looked grand, the food was first rate, the wine, beer and gin plentiful. All in all, a fine time was had by all.
The next day we flew home (but only after partaking in a Robke ritual – BBQ’d ribs on Father’s Day) so we could head off in different directions to help friends in need. Chuck went to the doctor with a friend who is dealing with some serious medical stuff and I flew up north to help out my best friend, who was undergoing some biggish surgery. Chuck drove up the next day, and we spent the next few days helping her get back on her feet. She has a few weeks of recovery ahead of her, but is doing well. Then we started home by way of my aunt’s in Watsonville. Not much going on here, but we did get to see Batman Begins (excellent – much better than the earlier series of films with Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and (!) George Clooney but the TV series will always have a special place in my heart). We are really looking forward to finally getting back home tomorrow.
Pics of our travels are here.