Denver and Family

We have been in Denver for the last week and what a treat it is to see Chris and Christina, Maddie and Nori.  The girls are adorable and such fun.  Our arrival timing was great as they finally snagged their first house in a very hot market, which we got to tour along with Chris's Mom, Cookie.  It was fun seeing her before she returned to Hawaii.

The C & C live in and are buying their home in an area called Stapleton.  They are both going to work at the Children's Hospital which is just a few miles from Stapleton.  It is a very nice planned community of 6.4 square miles with about 20,000 residents.  There are over 900 acres of parks and open space and fun retail services, to include the yummy Four Friends restaurant where we had brunch yesterday.  The demographics of Stapleton seem to be young professionals with oodles of kids.  I mean they are everywhere, mostly under 7 or so.  There were about 20 at the small restaurant, dining and waiting.

Christina, Nori and Maddie, waiting for a brunch table

Chris , Christina and Nori

The Four Friends' Kitchen loans Etch a Sketches to the kids while they wait

Finding an RV spot in the greater Denver area proved to be a challenge.  The first place was close, right across from the beleaguered VA construction project and new light rail construction.  There were acres devoted largely to full time residents living in 5th wheel trailers.  The owner has owned the land for 25 years and is now neglecting the maintenance, charging outrageous fees and waiting for a developer to offer the right price.  I called it the Denver Dump.  Max however was quite fond of the park.  He passed his time watching rabbits cavort right under his window.  He named it Conejo Meadows.

After the weekend we moved to a nice state park for a few days until we headed north of Denver to an extremely nice, efficient and user friendly RV and Truck Service outfit.  The 6,000 mile chassis service is done and we are in their parking lot awaiting some additions to the coach on Monday.  As it  snowed last night, the electrical hookup is welcome.  The morning's excitement was a fox running across the parking area with a rabbit in its mouth.  Max was jealous.

Pancho and Lefty waiting for the Monday work.  Maybe we headed north a bit early?

Raggie was not too enthused to be awakened for this

Oh crap-at least we are parked and warm

The Denver area seems to be a magnet for young California transplants.  The development is everywhere, new housing, shopping centers, light rail and highway expansion.  Sadly, the traffic is part of that and after years on an island with no stop lights, we are eager to get back to a more rural environment.  Cities and RV's are not a mix we really like and most larger cities do not offer close in camping.  The payoff has been seeing family and stocking up at Trader Joe's.  We have make 3 trips since we will be heading for WY and MT where my Traders' app shows no stores in either state.

A funny note.  The variety and idiocy of various state liquor laws never cease to surprise me.  The first Trader's we visited in Denver carried wine, beer and a full selection of liquor,  though it was in a separate, adjacent room.  All others in Denver (and maybe the state) carry no alcoholic beverages.  One store only is allowed.  Of course, you can get pot in numerous locations.

Maddie and Nori are learning to shop at Traders at a good age.

We did a little sightseeing in the area.  The state park had some fun history of the stagecoach era coming to Denver.

We also visited the Greeley Model Train Museum.  The exhibits are amazing, representing the railroad world in 1975, to include an authentic dispatch station from that era.  As fun as the displays are, I got a kick out of all the old guys volunteering there.  They spend hundreds of hours at the museum, to the most certain relief of their wives.

 The scale of the trains is HO and there are also extremely talented (and patient) model makers who replicate scenery, buildings, vehicles and people.

Model trains with a real cabbose, built in the 20's, in the background

You push a button and a forest fire erupts

The conversation with Jake was fun as well.  He told of his Army career operating trains throughout the world.  For five years he ran the train that traveled into Berlin through East Germany.

Jake, the former Army train engineer