Boston to Denver

Funny how seeing Boston as a visitor was such a different experience for me than living there. To put it differently, I really enjoyed being there and was able to appreciate New England in a different light. I am sure that being able to stay with friends, especially after NYC, enhanced things. Gibson and Teens have a new 6 month old yellow lab named Maggie that was delightful and Stella, the older lab was the same sweet hound she always was. I missed the Scrapper immediately.

It was fun to know where I was going for a change and Paola and I started our visit in Belmont and then headed over to the Seven Factory. Paola enjoyed a tour, and was intrigued by the process of building one bike at a time by hand. I enjoyed visiting with my old "homies". It was nostalgic in many ways. Jenna and Karl met Paola and I for a nice dinner in Newton Square and we drank beer and ate New England fare and gossiped and chatted into the evening. It was a muggy, moist but lovely time.

The next day we headed to Newton to visit International Bike Centers (a great shop if you're ever there) and then into downtown Boston for our final visit. I was thrilled to NOT get lost and Paola was happy to have made some American electronics purchases for her friends. And, just like magic, it was a perfect day---the weather was beautiful, humidity was not there and there was a nice breeze. To end the evening we went out for sushi in Brookline. It was in fact the first sushi place that Mike and I ever went to in Boston before we even moved there. We were 4 gals out on the town. It was "fantastic" (it sounds better in Italian).

Gibson offered to take Paola on a motorcycle ride the next morning to Harvard square so Paola could relax before heading back to Italy and I left before the crack of dawn to fly to Denver. I was amazed at how smokey Denver was---from the far reaching California fires. But I was happy to be out of humidity. I couldn't even see the big mountains until I was near Colorado Springs. Had a great visit with another one of my favorite accounts and then it was back to Denver for a relaxing evening before heading home.

From Denver to Reno I was on a flight with some Minnesota Fire Fighters who were heading out to help in California. They were from Ely, and were impressed that I knew where that was. I bragged a bit about my Minnesota geography by telling them I went on my honeymoon in Grand Marais. It's amazing to me how vast this country is and how different the people are from coast to coast---yet the same too. It was a fun time and I am glad to be home even if I can't see anything in all the smokey haze. I really wanted to ride outside, but the air is awful so I enjoyed the Tour and rode the trainer. For once, I can have the house all clean, laundry done and shopping complete for Mike who will come home from Oregon tomorrow night. He always has everything spic and span when I get home...so it is nice to do the same for him for a change.

The coolest thing was the phone call this afternoon, "Sweetie, I won the race!" Taylor takes the last stage in his race in Cascades (he raced master's for the first time because he couldn't get out of work early enough to do the Pro1/2). He's still got it!