Train Rides

     One of the perks we receive with our apartment is a pass on the Denver area light rail and bus system.  Our building is located next to the Lincoln station of the light rail. We have already ridden the train two days.

    Our first trip was short--to the Park Meadows station where we walked around the shopping mall.  Today, we rode to Union Station and did some exploring in downtown Denver.

    On the way, we passed this Burlington Northern Santa Fe hopper car that has been beautifully decorated by some tag artist.  While I don't condone tagging, or really appreciate that art form, I did like this drawing.

        In LowDo (Lower Downtown), we saw this interesting sign.  I'm not sure what it is advertising.

    We saw these buffalo along the 16th Street Mall.  Of course the buffalo is the mascot of the University of Colorado, our alma mater.

    Some of the old building in downtown Denver are really beautiful.

    We saw lots of pretty flower pots.

 

    And this is Union Station, a train station (real trains, both passenger and freight) and hub for bus and light rail travel.

    The Union Station interior is beautiful

    We haven't spent quality time exploring the city of Denver for years.  I lived here for most of my life before we were married and we spent years living around the area.  Before we went on the road full-time in our RV, we lived and worked here.  John served churches in the Denver area.  For several years, we volunteered at the Colorado Historical Museum.  What will we find to do during our summers here in the future? 

Making Prgress

A week ago, we moved in to our apartment on the south side of Denver--in Lone Tree.  It has taken a lot of work, but things are beginning to come together.

Before we could go to sleep that night, Eric and John had to put these pieces together to make the bed.

The lamps also came in pieces.  I put four of them together for the bedroom and living room.

We have a table and chairs, an end table and two recliners.

And a bookcase.

Eric gave us a TV.  For a few days, these empty boxes served as a TV stand.

Here is our dining room, just off the kitchen.

After assembling the chairs, we put the side table between them.

Of course, John had to assemble the two night stands from IKEA.

The TV stand from Walmart also took assembly.

Much better looking than the empty boxes!

 After hours of assembly and numerous trips to various stores, we are getting comfortable.  It has been 7 years since we set up a new home, rather than moving our furniture and other belongings from one place to another.  We aren't  done yet, but we are getting there.

We plan to stay here for 6 to 8 weeks, then drive to our winter home in Gold Canyon.  We will spend our winters there and summers in Lone Tree.  We still have the Airstream for occasional trips.

Life at 100+ degrees

 We have been at our winter home in Gold Canyon, Arizona, for just over a week.  Normally, we don't arrive until the first week of September.  One year, we spent a few days here in July, waiting to fly to England.  The heat is oppressive.  The temperature has been 88 degrees when I get up about 5:30 am and 98 to 100 at 9 pm when I go to bed.

Some days we have gotten out for a walk about 6 am--temp 88.  For a couple of days, we decided to escape the heat by driving to the mall and walking there.  Not surprisingly, there are a number of other people--mainly our age--who are also walking.

Thursday,  we were there at the same time the Kid's Club was held.  Children register to take part.  They are entertained by a woman and a person in a bear? costume. It reminds me of TV programs our children watched in the 1970s--Blinky's Fun Club, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

While the children watch the Kid's Club activities, their parents can shop the mall.  Some merchants give discounts at that time.

We were both born and raised in Colorado.  We spent 3 years in the 1980s in Wisconsin.  Dressing warm to go out in the cold is something we are used to.  But walking in 88 to 95 degree heat is another matter.  We get our exercise but I think I would prefer boots and down coats to shorts and a t-shirt at 6 am.

We came to Arizona to leave our trailer.  Then we will return and move into the apartment in the south Denver area that we have rented.  We plan to spend our winters in Arizona and summers in Colorado.  Next week we will return--without the trailer--to Denver to move into our apartment.  We will probably come back to Arizona sometime in October--hopefully before the snow falls in the mountains and after the intense summer heat is gone.

Lifestyle Change

 

 In 1988 we borrowed Cindy’s popup trailer to take Eric to Washington, D.C., for DC88, a Christian conference for young people.  In 1990, to celebrate our 25^th anniversary, we bought a Coleman popup trailer. We used it to get away from phones one or two nights a week while John served as vicar of Trinity, Kremmling, and St. John’s Granby.

We also took it for a month with Doug, visiting the Grand Canyon and returning him to his base in California.

We traveled for a month for your annual vacation, making our first trip to British Columbia as well as Arkansas and Pennsylvania—for the 1997 Episcopal General Convention.  We  baked at Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powel and escaped the heat on a houseboat with Eric for 3 days.

In 2003, you retired and we traveled from May through November.  Our first  trip to Alaska was made in 2004.  We loved the RV lifestyle so much and we found volunteering gave us an inexpensive way to live in it for months at a time at little or no cost.

Beginning in January 2009, we lived full-time in our 5th wheel trailer.  Then, in 2014 we bought a casita in Superstition Views, Gold Canyon, and have been spending our winters here ever since.  We travel in the summer months.  As we age, we are spending more and more time back in Colorado, our home state, during the summer.

That is why we have rented an apartment in the Denver area and will spend our summers there.  We plan to keep our Airstream for a while, taking it for short trips occasionally. 

And so, the next stage of our wonderful life and retirement begins.