Aurora, Colorado

Saturday, July 9th: It felt so good to sleep in! After dealing with Poppy's rollercoaster of health problems, the emotional taxation of Ron's memorial, and getting ready for the trip, I only had to drive 19+ hours to deserve a quiet morning. Got up and had coffee. Cindy was getting ready for a baby shower at the house and Joe was geting antsy about the "heat." Shit, at less than 90 degrees with no humidity whatsoever, these folks ought to try a summer in Bowling Green. Anyhow, Joe took us for lunch, we grabbed some local beer (a copper ale from Boulder), and we headed to the reservoir. In Colorado, you pay for a Parks pass and, for $60, can do pretty much anything. The reservoir has a real sand beach, picnic and grilling areas, a bathroom and first aid facility, a boat lauch and marina, and a taste of the local color (Latino, Asian, Russian, Philippino, and, as Cindy said, the "normal" brand of white folks).

Clouds were rolling in and Joe had a tee-time, so we went back to the house. Cindy fed us again with leftover baby shower munchies. About an hour later, she ordered two of the biggest pizzas ("Monster Mouths") I've ever seen. We watched some Nicholas Cage movie--predictable, formulaic and easy to zone out. I'm counting my blessings though. We've got a long road ahead of us and this has been a nice rest stop after the enormity of crossing the ass end of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, and part of Colorado. Here we go...