The Road Trip, part 4

Day 3 -- Denver area

Monday morning, the weather was gorgeous -- sunny, cool, light breezes. I had breakfast on the back porch with no company except Chinook, the dog who lives at the home we're visiting. I love a quiet morning alone; Val and the kids slept in, as did their cousin Kyle. Father Mike was already off to work, and everyone else was flying home from visiting their grandparents (my in-laws) in Alaska. So it was very much quiet time, and the day's plans called for only a short drive later in the afternoon.

We needed the downtime after the long driving days, so we goofed off all morning. The kids pulled some tricycles out of the garage -- far too small for their cousins, having long since outgrown them, but perfect for little ones.

Around 3:00, we headed out for the one trip on the day, up to Centennial, just south of Denver. My aunt and uncle, Erica and Steve, had moved here a few years ago, a fact which I had completely forgotten until my father reminded me (boy, did I feel dumb, but they had lived near San Diego for decades and that's where we had visited them previously), suggesting a visit since we'd be in the area. So we did, giving them a chance to see their grandniece (last visit: age seven months) and grandnephew (never). Plus, they would have their granddaughter Danica, about a year older than Amalie, for a few hours after school (year-round public schools are not rare in Colorado).

Carson fell asleep on the drive up, and so stayed sacked out on a bed for about two hours, and Amalie immediately ran off with Danica and another friend to play Barbies with a passion. So much for visiting face time with their great-aunt and great-uncle. Kids, sigh.

Carson eventually woke up, and Danica's mom Candy came by to collect her. It was good to see my cousin for a bit, even briefly. They left, and the rest of us went to dinner, where Carson revived fully and was at his expository best, followed by a visit to Dairy Queen (the good kind, with vanilla and chocolate custard, and chocolate, cherry, or butterscotch dips; in Austin, all we get is vanilla with chocolate dip, feh). Carson almost set a world record for getting his face messy. Afterward, Uncle Steve perplexed him with his car remote, getting Carson to touch the car and setting off the lights and horn, confusing the poor little guy somewhat. We visited for a bit longer (Amalie playing solo with Barbies -- Danica has her own Barbie-loaded bedroom in her grandparents' house, though she never stays in it), took some pictures, and said our good-byes. It was a delightful visit. Ec & Steve's home is very welcoming, spacious, flows well, and beautifully appointed. They have no second thoughts about their move to Colorado.

Amalie gets a hug from her great-aunt Erica...

...as does Carson.

The trip home was annoying to me, because I-25 has almost no lights between Centennial and Monument, we were very low on gas as we finally approached our exit, and the high, thin air (and it was overall uphill the entire way) simply kills the engine's compression. It runs fine, but power is limited. When we pulled off at our exit and gassed up, I made sure to fill with the mid-range octane (which up here, is 87, the "regular" back in Austin; the regular in these parts is 86 or even 85). I may buy one tank of super to ensure getting over the high pass with relative ease.

I was tempted to go to the Rockies-Nationals game Monday night, but easily shook it off. Visiting family was better, and I've been to Coors Field before.