It’s amazing how the scenery seems to change as soon as you hit a state border. The sign welcoming us to Colorful Colorado was set against a dull brown landscape, which is technically a color, but not quite what you expect behind such a sign.
Speaking of expectation, we have a lot of friends all over the west that we hoped to see on this trip. As we headed toward Boulder, I decided to call Perky Mackey and Graham Hubner, each of whom I knew separately in high school and college, who eventually managed to find each other, get married and settled in Lyons, CO. I left a message saying we’d love to see them on our way through Colorado and a few minutes later, Perky called back and said - “It’s great you’re coming - come crash at our house! We have a houseful of guests, but we can find room!” We weren’t fishing for an invitation at all, but it was an amazing gesture that basically describes Perky and Graham. The more the merrier. I tried to explain our van situation, but Perky was more interested in telling us how quickly we could meet up with them than to hear the details of a turbo problem.
Luckily, the most exciting moment of driving I-76 was witnessing a nascent brush/grass fire next to the highway that must have been set off by a tossed cigarette. It was quite a blaze and was completely unattended.
When the grass starts to burn in the middle of nowhere, it could be a while before fire response teams can get to it.
The kids got their first glimpse of the Rockies at about the same time we could see the skyscrapers of Denver. The mountains of Vermont, these were not! Like so many of the landscapes they had seen on this trip, their reaction was slight disbelief, followed by reconciliation along the lines of “well, I’ve never seen this before, so this is how it must be.” I’m sure that they will pack away these images somewhere in their brains. When people say “Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa,” they will have mental images at the ready that include huge mountains, brush fires, tornadoes and truck stops.
As nice as the landscapes were, I was having a tough time seeing past the hood of the van. At our last fuel stop, I had calculated our mileage. We were down to 14.5 mpg against a typical 18-19 mpg for high speed highway driving. Something was definitely amiss.
The gasket was waiting for us when we arrived at the Westminster Mercedes-Benz parts desk. Our Sprinter van fit the part in the parking lot perfectly, but this scruffy dad with two road-weary, rumpled car-camping kids certainly appeared to be a mismatch against all of the washed people wearing their finely pressed attire. $33 was not a bargain for the gasket, but I’ll bet you can count the number of people on one hand who have walked out of that dealership only having spent $33.
The van was in good company here, even if its residents looked a bit out of place.
We made a quick stop for a burrito and quesadillas at Chipotle after a quick decision to drive past the Yelp suggestion for the best Mexican food in Denver. It was a hole in the wall place that was probably amazing foot, but the crew loitering in front of the pawn shop and a bail bond office that sandwiched the restaurant looked a bit intimidating. Sorry folks, I didn't dare to stop for a picture.
There’s nothing like old friends to make you forget about your current worries. We met Graham and Perky and their extended family at the Spirit Hound Distillery, where they were tasting a newly tapped keg of whiskey that they had invested in. I skipped the sips, but had a wonderful visit with Graham’s parents, Betsy and Pat, who I had lived with when I was at the Killington Mountain School and hadn’t seen since. They now live in Lyons, close to Graham and Perky and their three daughters.
Crowd-funded craft distilling is alive and well in Colorado. This tasting had been in the making for two years.
Julia and Kellan were thrilled to have some kids to play with. The fact that there was also a trampoline in the front yard definitely made this the best stop on the trip so far. We took a hike up behind Perky and Graham’s house, admiring the views and helping the kids do some bouldering at the top of a ridge with impressive views. The kids put together a fashion show in which the girls dressed up the boys (as girls) and made them dance in front of the parents to such pre-teen classics as the Macarena and Gangnam Style.
Too much time in the van? Prescription: Trampoline therapy.
It didn't surprise me at all to learn that Graham lives in a house on a cliff.
All of the Hubners are good climbers. No need for a play set when you have this in your backyard.
They had only known each other for about 4 hours. This is how they entertained themselves. And us.
After we put the kids to bed, the parents sat on the deck, catching up and watching the moon rise. I didn’t think about the van at all. Whatever was going to happen tomorrow didn’t matter. The vehicle had taken us as far as the home of friends we love and everyone was laughing and sharing old stories and memories.
Did I mention this was a Monday night? That’s friendship.