I failed to keep a daily account of the first phase of our move to Fort Collins, Colorado, and so I will here attempt to summarize.
On Friday, July 3, we flew Allegiant from Las Vegas to Fort Collins and were met at the Loveland-Fort Collins Airport by Rachel. Rachel drove us to the Marriott where we rented a 2009 Subaru Impreza from Hertz. We picked up Five Guys burgers (and the vegetarian equivalent) to feed the crew who had already driven to the new house. After eating, we started settling in. Steve’s sister, Allison, and her husband, Dennis, were a great help. The realtors who had helped us with the purchase, Dave and Margo, provided us all with pizza for the evening meal. Mary and I inflated the bed we had shipped ahead of us and spent the first night in our luxurious new bedroom.
On Saturday, July 4, Mary and I met my dad, Earl, and his wife, Rhonda, and traveled together to see the new Greeley residence my Aunt Esther had just moved into. Her daughter, Dalene, son, Gary, and his wife, Maureen, were all there to share an Independence Day picnic prepared by the staff. Dad and Rhonda then returned to Fort Collins with us to see our new place. They then headed back to Littleton while the settling in to Ridge Runner continued.
On Sunday, July 5, I experienced the utter joy of reuniting with my (virtually) lifelong friends, Paul and Rob. Rob came with his wife, Suzy, and their daughter, Kelly. Paul brought his granddaughter, Alison, who was delightfully nine years old. The three of us had not been together since going to Chicago for Neal’s wedding in (we’re guessing) 1994. Known as the Three Musketeers at Arvada United Methodist Church, we regaled our captive audience with tales of old that continued even after everyone else got up and left. One of the great things about returning home will be being closer to family and friends.
Monday and Tuesday, July 6 and 7, were dedicated to completing the move in earnest. Rachel and Steve needed, of course, to be at their work which allowed Mary and me to spend some cherished time together. Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sears are all wealthier after purchasing blinds, lawn mowers, and many of the other things that apartment dwellers don’t need (Rachel and Steve were included in the selecting and purchasing, really!) Tuesday evening we all drove down to Westminster to select and purchase a dining room table and chairs, drove by our old townhome and ate supper at the Village Inn where we often ate after Rachel was born twenty-five years ago. I definitely felt like an old man on the drive home as I tried to assimilate how much everything had changed since we left in 1984.
Each lunch hour was spent with Rachel and Steve, and on Wednesday, July 8, we were introduced to the delightful Café Vino. Anticipation was running high for the arrival of Mom and Kim from Billings. They arrived about supper time, and so we had a fantastic dining experience at Jasmine Gardens and then showed them the new house. We spent the day Thursday with them, starting with breakfast at Ridge Runner and continuing on to tour Fort Collins. Kim redeemed the behemoth by carrying a load of big things from the apartment to the house that would never have fit in our tiny Japanese gas sippers. Kim and Kirby had lived here while they were going to school, and she also had to assimilate the many changes. After breakfast at Charco Broiler, Mom and Kim returned to Billings on Friday when Mary and I put the final cleansing touches on the apartment.
Today, we bought fresh produce at the farmer’s market which Mary cooked up in a delicious stir fry; the first home cooked meal in our new house. Dalene and Tommy came over this afternoon while we were potting plants that we had purchased at the market. Tomorrow we will wing our way back to Las Vegas and turn Ridge Runner over to the care and safekeeping of Rachel and Steve. Lunch blogs will resume on Monday along with work. Accompanying pictures can be found on the “photos” link. Life is good.
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