I had really been looking forward to introducing Barry to Bob and Judy so that they could see for themselves what a wonderful man I married and how happy he has made me. I knew that they would like him and I wasn’t wrong. I was glad that Bob had suggested that we not rent our car at the airport but rather do so from Lakewood. Once we were on the freeway I had instant recall of the infamous ‘mousetrap ‘ , the spaghetti junction that has a mind boggling array of entrances and exits going in every direction at 100 miles per hour and how terrified I always was of it. I had rented a room at the Hilton House, a rather down at heel, three star place where the breakfast buffet was served on paper plates and with plastic cutlery – you were even instructed to clean your own table and to put your stuff in the bin! The view, however, was five star!

2nd MAY, 2019 – RED ROCKS, BEAR LAKE, COLORADO

It was such a treat to catch up with Bob and Judy and to familiarise myself with my old neighbourhood from over forty years ago. One of the lovely drives they took us in was up to Red Rocks. The acoustics in this natural amphitheatre are amazing. Back in the day I can recall Joan Baez and John Denver performing there. The venue hosts many musical and dramatic performances as well as graduation ceremonies. The formations are incredible.

3rd MAY, 2018 – DILLON RESERVOIR, COLORADO

The drive through the mountains was spectacular. I’d forgotten how impressive a herd of wild buffalo looks and it was delightful to see all the skiers out so late in the season.

4th MAY, 2018 – ARAPAHOE BASIN

We went higher up into the mountains and were better able to view the majestic Rockies close up. It is one of the most beautiful sites in the world. Watching the skiers glide down the slopes of ‘loveland’ ski area that were so much wider than the snow fields I’ve been on in Australia, had me briefly believing that I might even be able to ski better on them. That was a fantasy that didn’t last long! Look closely at the last three photos and you will see the most incredibly stupid act of a young American teenager who obviously thought that it was thrilling to ride down the steep road shared with cars, lying on his skate board.

5th MAY, 2018 – LAKEWOOD, COLORADO

The lovely parklands around Bob and Judy’s house made for some glorious walks in nature. We loved the trees, the water, the ducks and the birds.

6th MAY, 2018

We had so much enjoyed our time with the Pegg’s and the glorious Colorado countryside. On our last day together we went to downtown Denver to visit the art gallery. Barry and I took a drive to Columbine, the scene of that horrific high school shooting and were surprised to see that it was in an extremely affluent middle class neighbourhood. Violence doesn’t distinguish between economic or social classes. It was sobering to see the sign indicating the ‘escape room’. In the evening we had a fun night at what used to be Joshua’s favourite haunt, ‘Casa Bonita’ a Mexican restaurant/theatre/amusement park.

7th MAY, 2018 – BACK TO NEW YORK

We had to make an early start to catch the six hour flight back to New York. It felt like coming home to return to the lovely Hotel Giraffe and it was such a pleasure to be warmly greeted by the staff. There is an incredible monument in New York that I wished that I had known about earlier that is dedicated to the American Merchant Marines. Dad, of course, served with them during World War Two. The monument depicts three merchant seamen stranded on a sinking ship, terrified, calling for help and desperately reaching out to save one of the crewman from drowning.

8th MAY, 2018 – HOMEWARD BOUND

Our long trip home began with our flight from JF Kennedy airport at 18:10. We crossed the international date line, of course, it didn’t touch down in Melbourne until 8 am on 10th May. It was great to be home!