Rocky Mountain High

Washington Park, Denver

After hopping from Louisiana to Colorado, we drove right up to the home of friends in Denver. Lee, Dave's longtime ski-and-music buddy, recently moved out of South Lake Tahoe, where his home nearly burned down in the Caldor Fire. He now lives with Heather in a tree-lined neighborhood within walking distance of beautiful Washington Park. It was sweet to spend two nights with them. Score: nomadic life!

With Heather and Lee on a crisp fall day.

Next we drove an hour northwest to Longmont to see what kind of life we'd be living for the next month on a housesit. The young couple (in their twenties) were headed to South America. On our Skype with them earlier, she mentioned they were going because her parents had died. She didn't give us the details on the tragedy, nor did we probe. When we met in person, they were both kind and relaxed as they introduced us to Chula (the black lab) and Peitica (the cat). Peitica is adorable, but we'd soon discover she hated not being in the bedroom at night and would serve as our alarm clock early every morning by stretching up to the knob to try to open the door.

stretchy cat

They were a bit apologetic about the lack of furniture in the house. They had recently rented the place, they explained, and were saving money to buy a home. It was a darling old house built in 1883. A plaque out front designated the date and original buyer, just like most of the homes in the Historic East Side neighborhood.

Our home for a month

I didn't think a spartan house would be a problem for a month. The bed was just a mattress (fortunately, a comfy one) on the floor and the couch was small and low. Thank god for yoga that our "seasoned" bodies are mobile enough to drop to the floor and stand up again. But I soon realized there was no table, not even one in the yard we could bring inside. I could live without a table for a few days, maybe a week...but a month? 

Fortunately it was the weekend and someone was having a yard sale nearby. We jumped in the car and for 30 bucks scored a table and chairs that, after tightening some screws, did the trick. 

A housesitting first: buying furniture.

I sent a message to the hosts asking them if they wanted a free table. If not, we'd get rid of it before we left. They were thrilled to keep it! And it made me feel good to help out a young couple, especially since they were going through a tough time. 

Hanging out with Teddy and Chula

Every day we walked the dog around the neighborhood, gazing at the old homes, some of which were elaborately restored. Downtown Longmont was just a couple of blocks away. It's charming, and it has not one, but TWO, great bookstores. 

A nurse came to give Chula, who has had surgery, laser treatments.

We also spent some time in Rocky Mountain National Park. Days were mostly blue sky and cold, great for hiking around this spectacular place. There are so many trails you could easily spend weeks exploring lakes, waterfalls, and mountains.

The Continental Divide

Lily Lake at Rocky Mountain NP

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain NP

 

Upper Copeland Falls

Being nomads/slomads/traveling retirees/digital nomads means we belong to a tribe. On one of the many online travel groups, I connected with Karen about Baja, since she and her husband Jeff were headed there soon. She volunteered to listen to a draft of the audio of my memoir for any glitches. (It will be released soon by the same company that did my two novels.) And when we discovered we'd be in Colorado at the same time, we made a plan to meet IRL, as they say.

They chose the Dushanbe Teahouse, a unique restaurant with a delectable menu in a stunning, elaborate building. Yes, the place deserves all these superlatives. The building was given as a gift to the city of Boulder from its sister city, Tajikistan, and reassembled upon arrival.

see more pictures here 

Jeff, a longtime resident, is very knowledgeable about the history of the area and filled us in as we took a post-lunch stroll. We also talked about our lives and our plans and our histories like we were old friends. The next week we hung out with them at their beautiful home in Lyons. Karen gave us the Hieronymous Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights" jigsaw puzzle she'd completed while listening to my memoir. A perfect gift for our winter plans.

new friends

Soon, though, the time came for Dave and me to roll on to the next place: Washington ... which is where we are now. My next post will tell you how we got here and what the heck we are doing in one place for a full four months...the longest since we left Mexico more than a year ago.

Happy holidays and tons of love to everyone!