Old Friends and a Scare

Since we have lived most of our lives near Denver, when we return we always make an effort to see old friends and some family that live here.

While we were staying in St. Vrain State Park near Longmont, we met our friend Betty for lunch at Goodfellers restaurant in Longmont. Betty's husband, Larry, was on the Boulder Police Department at the same time John was.  He died in March, so it was important to spend time with her.

As you can see, we were seated outside.  A relatively safe way to meet people during this Covid 19 pandemic.  The wind was blowing briskly that day and just as we were leaving the restaurant, the umbrella you see in this photo blew off and tumbled across the outdoor dining area.  Thankfully, no one was injured.

Another day we drove to The Back Porch Cafe in Fort Collins to have lunch with John's sister Cindy.  We had a good visit--and nothing blew away that day.

While out walking our last morning at St. Vrain, we ran into friends Bob and Lindsey.  They were members of St. Gabriel's in Cherry Hills Village when John was rector there.  This is the third time we have just happened to be camping the same place as they were.

After leaving St. Vrain, we moved to Chatfield State Park on the southwest corner of the Denver metro area.  We will be here for 2 weeks.  On our first morning, I noticed a park ranger truck on the road next to our RV with its flashing red lights.  Before I could say anything, someone pounded--very loudly--on our front door.  John opened the door and was told "Evacuate, Evacuate."  I looked out the window and saw smoke.  John turned off our propane tanks and I picked up our computer and two iPads and we hurried to the truck and drove across the road to the group camping area.  This is what we saw as we looked back at our campground loop.

We were watching for several minutes before trucks from South Metro Fire Rescue arrived at the scene.  If you click on the image below, you can see one of the trees in flames.

A couple  of the younger campers had grabbed a bucket and shovel and were going to help fight the fire, but the fire department arrived to do the work.

This is the location of the fire--just across the camp loop road and one space to the southeast of us.  We are glad they put the fire out before any RVs were damaged or people injured.

We will have quality time with our son Eric and his family and with other friends during our time here in the Denver area.  We just hope there aren't any more dramatic events like airborne umbrellas or fires to spice up our lives.