Day 1 (August 22, 2008)
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The trip started with a 800+ mile plane ride from Phoenix to Denver International. Folks met and picked me up around noon:30 and we were off to our first destination - cemeteries in Denver, Colorado. We found everyone we were looking for, with help from the local staff (these are large cemeteries covering acres and acres), said a few prayers, took a few pictures, then ventured onward. It was great to stop and pay our respects.
Our next stop was Brent and Tracy's home about an hour away. Some important tools that I hauled along on this trip was a metal detector and compass. When we arrived the kids were out playing and excited to see grandma, grandpa and uncle Brian. We hugged and started to pull out some items from the car. I couldn't help pulling out the metal detector for the kids, even though it might cause some headaches later. If you have never used a metal detector before, basically they emit a loud obnoxious noise when the detector moves over a metal item. They are really cool tools and necessary to have when you want to find something underground.
My nephew was the first to try it out... after a quick explanation of what it was and how to use it. He promised not to take it outside of the yard and would "be careful" with it. Before long, he was checking out everything... the ground, the walls, the chairs, hair on the dog, the grass, trees, people, etc. Inside the house, it was becoming a bit of a nusaince since the dog didn't like it, and consequently the dog kept barking. After about 10 minutes (may have been longer), the detector and users were banned to the "outside", somewhere in the nether areas of the porch. It wasn't long before the metal detector was discarded for the next activity and left to be found at a future dig site!
Our family went into "catch up" mode with details about work, life, kids, the HOA, the food, and more. It was quite a whirlwind as we had a number of things to celebrate - Dad's birthday, Brad's "moving" and the all too rare event of having all the boys in the same space with ma/pa.
It was a delight to see the younger bipedals of our clan. The enchanting Miss rumbling stream and the taller than a spruce tree, Mr. B, kept going and going and soon tired me out just watching them. I was educated on how to use the drums so that we could sing some AC/DC songs. Tracy sang the lyrics and the kids did the rest with the guitar. I think the game was rigged as I couldn't keep a beat to save my life!
I seem to recall a quadraped like creature that was part canine and mostly rodent that tried to bite me. Not sure what it was but they called it their pet, even though it was about shoe size.
The evening was choreographed and managed by the graceful and wonderful Tracy, with her assistant/chef, Brent. Food was plenty (and good), drink was cold (and good), and altogether the time was great (but short). Pictures were taken to commemorate the time.
A side trip to Boulder with Brad and a trip up the mountain to sleep, was the end of "day 1". The morning was going to be up soon, so sleep was a welcome event.
See Day 2 for more adventures.
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