After my last post, I stayed a few days at a hotel in downtown Boulder to explore Pearl St, then stayed four nights with cousin Dave's family in Erie, outside of Boulder. I can hardly describe how much I enjoyed being part of a busy energetic household filled with sports, music, video games, sleep overs, cooking, errands and all the normal stuff you'd expect with a pair of pre-adolescents and two work-from-home parents. I'm thrilled that Karrie could take a bit of time to share her family's world with me.
Some highlights:
In Downtown Boulder, I did my usual walk-the-grid to get my bearings and enjoyed soaking in the hippy-chic ambience of the Pearl Street pedestrian mall. The Boulder University Inn was simple and comfortable a few blocks from the center of everything. They loaned me a big pink fat-tire 3-speed pedal-brake bike to cruise the Boulder Creek trail for a few hours. I found some great restaurants, including Frasca Food and Wine with a four-course fixed-price white-tablecloth wonderfulness, and Aji with authentic Latin American cuisine that took me straight back to my recent GVI trip. Both are top-notch and worth a repeat visit.
With the Bach family we did a bit of exporing near Boulder as well, including a tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea factory complete with tastings of all the latest concoctions. Keeping with the tea theme, we girls had afternoon high tea at the Dushanbe Tea House. The building was a gift from Boulder's sister city in Tajikistan, and the tea service included a fancy salad and three-tiered tray of yummyness, plus great tea of course.
Back at the house I was treated to an amazing jam session in the Bach basement. Keelie has an amazing voice and the versatility to pick up the bass, guitar, drumsticks, or play the piano. Dave was on the guitar and Von rocked on the drums for this performance. No wonder the kids are so good at Wii Guitar Hero!
(Link to jam session photos)
Karrie invited me along on a climb of nearby Mt Bierstadt with three of her girlfriends. This turned into a memorable day including my first summit of a Colorado 14,000 ft peak. We all made it to the top, where Amy broke out the beer and we all celebrated Wendy's 40th birthday at the summit in style. If I make it back to Colorado I expect I'll attempt a few more of these "14ers" with the girls. Though the climb itself was nice, the bext part was hanging out with great women.
(Link to Mt Bierstadt climb photos)
It was sad to leave Boulder and my new-found relatives and friends. I'm seriously considering the Boulder area as a possible new home. Last Sunday (8/9) I began the drive back to Seattle and I'm now staying with Keith and Sarah in Redmond WA while I begin look for a new career, which could be in either the Seattle or Boulder area. A few other cities might make it on the candidate list, but those are the top two for now.
More to come...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Family in Colorado. Who knew?
After leaving Wisconsin last Monday, my intention had been to make my way towards Boulder CO to explore for a few days, possibly camping in Estes Park (near the Rocky Mountain National Park) and finally head northwest to Seattle. The events of the past week are far more interesting and unexpected. And really way-out-there cool, in my opinion.
A little background: My folks split up when I was nine and I grew up with my Dad. We had very little contact with my Mom's side of the family since 1979. My mom's brother Jon had three boys, David, Daniel and Darin. A few weeks before I started on this current road trip, I heard from my youngest cousin Darin through Facebook. Through his profile I learned that he lived in Ft Collins CO. Since I was enchanted by Colorado Springs on my way northeast from Arizona, I decided to make my return trip to Seattle through the Denver area as well. The last time I saw my uncle's family was at a family reunion in Maine in 1986. My summer road trip seemed like a great opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with my long-lost cousin.
So...
After two meandering days of travel from Wisconsin, I approached Ft Collins and sent Darin a Facebook message to see if we could connect for coffee or lunch or whatever. He said yes, and invited along his mother, my aunt Jan for lunch. It turns out that Jan and Darin both live with my cousin Daniel. Surprisingly, they were all planning a camping trip with my OTHER cousin David and his family in Estes Park for the weekend. Jan and Darin very warmly invited me to stay at their house through the week and then join them for the family camp out over the weekend. I said yes!!
While at Dan's place in Ft Collins, I helped out a bit with painting the living room, and had a blast preparing a dinner for everyone. Max had tons of fun playing with the dogs Wallace and Bella. Jan took me window shopping, Dan and Darin showed me the nightlife in town, and of course I went on the New Belgium Brewery tour. It was a great two days!
On Friday we all met at the Jellystone campground in Estes Park, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We were joined by David, his wife Karrie, kids Keelie and Von, and their dog Zack. I couldn't believe how welcoming everyone was, considering it had been 23 years since we'd been in contact! We had a fun time with all the activities available in the campground. Keelie did an AMAZING rendition of "Hit me with your best shot" in kid's karaoke and the gang played bingo for candy bars. We had campfires with fancy s'mores (one variation with Reese's peanut butter cups, and another with marshmallows folded into brownies with fresh raspberries. Yum!) On Saturday while the boys all went fishing, the girls hiked up Lily's Mountain for an incredible view of the valley. And I got to play another game of Triominoes (yay!!) Through the whole weekend Max got plenty of exercise out on his leash climbing trees and chasing chipmunks, thanks to Keelie and Von.
I'll spend the next few days on my own camping and exploring the towns of Boulder and Denver. I've promised Karrie and Keelie that I'll stay with them in Boulder on Wednesday night so Keelie can teach me to play dominoes. I look forward to keeping in more regular contact with this great "new" branch of the family that I've just rediscovered!
(link to slides)
RECAP
27-28 July
- transit to Colorado
- Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa)
- Homestead National Monument of America (Nebraska)
29-30 July
- Ft Collins CO (at Dan Bach's house)
- New Belgium Brewery tour (Ft Collins, CO)
31 July - 1 Aug
- Jellystone campground in Estes Park CO (camping w/ Bach family)
- Hike to Lily's Peak
A little background: My folks split up when I was nine and I grew up with my Dad. We had very little contact with my Mom's side of the family since 1979. My mom's brother Jon had three boys, David, Daniel and Darin. A few weeks before I started on this current road trip, I heard from my youngest cousin Darin through Facebook. Through his profile I learned that he lived in Ft Collins CO. Since I was enchanted by Colorado Springs on my way northeast from Arizona, I decided to make my return trip to Seattle through the Denver area as well. The last time I saw my uncle's family was at a family reunion in Maine in 1986. My summer road trip seemed like a great opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with my long-lost cousin.
So...
After two meandering days of travel from Wisconsin, I approached Ft Collins and sent Darin a Facebook message to see if we could connect for coffee or lunch or whatever. He said yes, and invited along his mother, my aunt Jan for lunch. It turns out that Jan and Darin both live with my cousin Daniel. Surprisingly, they were all planning a camping trip with my OTHER cousin David and his family in Estes Park for the weekend. Jan and Darin very warmly invited me to stay at their house through the week and then join them for the family camp out over the weekend. I said yes!!
While at Dan's place in Ft Collins, I helped out a bit with painting the living room, and had a blast preparing a dinner for everyone. Max had tons of fun playing with the dogs Wallace and Bella. Jan took me window shopping, Dan and Darin showed me the nightlife in town, and of course I went on the New Belgium Brewery tour. It was a great two days!
On Friday we all met at the Jellystone campground in Estes Park, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We were joined by David, his wife Karrie, kids Keelie and Von, and their dog Zack. I couldn't believe how welcoming everyone was, considering it had been 23 years since we'd been in contact! We had a fun time with all the activities available in the campground. Keelie did an AMAZING rendition of "Hit me with your best shot" in kid's karaoke and the gang played bingo for candy bars. We had campfires with fancy s'mores (one variation with Reese's peanut butter cups, and another with marshmallows folded into brownies with fresh raspberries. Yum!) On Saturday while the boys all went fishing, the girls hiked up Lily's Mountain for an incredible view of the valley. And I got to play another game of Triominoes (yay!!) Through the whole weekend Max got plenty of exercise out on his leash climbing trees and chasing chipmunks, thanks to Keelie and Von.
I'll spend the next few days on my own camping and exploring the towns of Boulder and Denver. I've promised Karrie and Keelie that I'll stay with them in Boulder on Wednesday night so Keelie can teach me to play dominoes. I look forward to keeping in more regular contact with this great "new" branch of the family that I've just rediscovered!
(link to slides)
RECAP
27-28 July
- transit to Colorado
- Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa)
- Homestead National Monument of America (Nebraska)
29-30 July
- Ft Collins CO (at Dan Bach's house)
- New Belgium Brewery tour (Ft Collins, CO)
31 July - 1 Aug
- Jellystone campground in Estes Park CO (camping w/ Bach family)
- Hike to Lily's Peak
2 Aug
- camping in Roosevelt Natl Park
NEXT UP (subject to change)
- exploring Boulder and Denver
- Return to Seattle
- camping in Roosevelt Natl Park
NEXT UP (subject to change)
- exploring Boulder and Denver
- Return to Seattle
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