Colorado Trip Part 1

I just got back from helping my parents move from California to Colorado. It has been nice to have a relaxing vacation in the week between jobs. That's right; I quit my old job and am starting a new one on Monday.

My parents hired a moving company to take the heavy stuff, but we still needed to drive to Colorado to get the cars there. My dad and I drove his truck. Road trips can be a lot of fun, but I really don't recommend driving through the deserts of Southern California and Nevada if you can help it. It's quite possibly the most mind-numbingly dull scenery it's ever been my displeasure to pass through. The first night we stayed in Needles, and although the Hungry Bear Diner makes a mean Yankee Pot Roast, it was interesting for all of thirty seconds. Half of the buildings looked like the one in the picture to the right, and the rest looked the same, only with cars out front.

My dad and I had plenty of time to talk. He's the smartest man I've ever met, and we always have something to talk about. He knows a little bit about everything, and a substantial deal about a lot of things. We noted how difficult it was to believe the romatic descriptions of the desert when you're in the middle of it. The one thing that kept the trip from being cranium-collapsingly dull was the audio book I brought along, Ender's Game that I brought along with me. I read the book a long time ago, but I never finished the series. Don't let the plot fool you because it's about kids. It's an excellent book, one that really gets you thinking, and it's definitely not a kids' book.

Arriving in Durango the scenery picked up substantially. The forests, half evergreen, half turning yellow in the autumn sun, painted colorful swaths across the landscape. Aside from the occasional cabin most of the houses were hidden from the highway by the mountains and trees. When we pulled in to the neighborhood I was so exhausted that I didn't really pay attention, but when the sun came up the next day it was over a large pond surrounded by patches of grass and reeds I knew my parents had made a good choice. I took a cup of coffee down to the edge of the pond to enjoy the fresh air. There are trails that lead past the pond through the fields around the houses. I would have liked to explore more than I did, but the altitude was making breathing difficult. It's a strange feeling having your heart and lungs work overtime while you've barely broken a sweat.

My sister, her husband (a.k.a. The Father, J. O'Brien) and I went into town one night to see what there was to do. We stopped by the Steamworks Brewery first. The food was good, but we got the beer sampler and all of the beers were too light for my taste. It was like someone who really liked Bud Light decided to open a brewery. Our next stop, though, was the Scoot'n Blues. The music was good, the atmosphere was great, there was a guy with a black eye patch, and there were interesting tables. What more could you ask for? I tried to take some pictures with my phone, and they came out kind of interesting.

The best part of the trip was the Hummer tour. My brother takes people in a Hummer on a tour of the mountains above Silverton for Get Out Adventures. We went all the way up to California Peak, almost 13,000 feet above sea level. At that altitude the effects on our lungs were impossible to ignore. My nephew who is four years old sat in the middle of the seat with his floppy bear and gave us a guided tour. My three-year-old niece was there too, in her car seat. At the end of the tour we drove in to Silverton to eat at Handlebars Saloon in Silverton. The hamburgers were excellent and the Rocky Mountain Oysters were quite good as well. Polish off the meal with some of the best Peach Cobbler I've ever had in my life, and I was one contented little hombre.

Hopefully I'll be heading back for Thanksgiving. They had their first snow the day after I left, and I'm looking forward to seeing the house in winter. I'm going to miss my parents, but the house already feels like home.