COLORADO....EYES, ENGAGEMENT PARTY, DRIVE BACK TO NAPLES
October 20, 2001, Saturday- dropped off Hobbes at his vacation resort for the next two weeks. He did great as the girls took him to the inner sanctum. No turning around and giving me those big brown eyes…"why?".
Back to the coach and Jerry and Lois arrived at 10:20 to take us to the Fort Myers, about 40 minutes north. Outside, for short term parking armed guards did a full car search. I'd imagine that at busy times there is no advantage, timewise, to try for these spaces. Arrived at 11:15 and had to wait 15 minutes for the Jet Blue ticket counter to open. Number two in line. Our turn and it turns out to be our lucky day…the computer has selected us for a full baggage and "wand" body search at each leg of our trip. As a reward for having all of our belongings removed from the suitcases and then repacked by the security staff, they checked our bags through from Florida to Denver. Normally they don't do that with a four-hour layover. Without this bonus we would have had to retrieve our bags from the carousel, carried them back to the ticket counter, and had them searched again. Also, they were nice enough to give us "emergency row" seats….love that legroom.
Going through the security checkpoint you now have to take your computer out of the bag so that they can do a mechanical bomb search. A salad lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen provided a diversion so that it was only an hour wait for boarding. As they started boarding the plane they called us and a few others up to the counter….this time for a full carry-on search and a "wand" body search. For some reason at this airport all of the "security" folks didn't look like third world folks getting entry-level jobs. All were middle-aged Anglos with attention spans longer then a few moments. Again as a bonus, they escorted us on the plane for early boarding (I think this is again to prevent us from being contaminated by others in the airport).
Our first Jet Blue flight. An A320 airbus. Nice, clean and with flat screen TV's on every seat back….free 24 Direct TV channels. Departed and arrived early. 95% occupancy rate. Pleasant flight attendants. Positive change of pace from United and the other "big" boys.
Chatted with Phil and he's off for another cruise on Holland American….leaves Tuesday morning for a south bound cruise out of San Diego. I guess he likes the big boats. I think this is his 6th week (actually a 10 day cruise) on the big boats.
Sitting at JFK for 4 hours we tried, as best we could, of using our free weekend AT&T minutes….so called everyone we could think of but only had a limited success in finding folks home. We did catch up with Naomi and John, Mom, Rob and Debi. Not all bad having the extra time.
Arrived at Denver, met Steve and were on the road by midnight. So, it was 3 AM Florida time when we finally hit the sack.
October 21, 2001, Sunday- headed up the hill to Vail with Steve to meet Cami and Becky. Not in order, but we visited the Ford Amphitheater, Manor Vail, Lodge at Vail, The Evergreen, Lionsquare Lodge, the Marriot, the Westin, the Bavarian Castle, and the Vail Golf Course Restaurant. By the time we returned to Cami's house for dinner, we were spinning. A few more hours of "wedding stuff" and we were ready to head home. First we had to pick up the Porsche from Debi's garage. By the time 10 or 10:30 rolled around we were in dreamland.
October 22, 2001, Monday- up and at them early. 45 minute ride in traffic to drop off the Porsche for service. Debi picked us up and off we went to her house to see her new great condo. We were not disappointed. The place is magnificent.
Then off to check out shelves at the Home Depot and "the Container Store". Next, 10 furniture stores looking for chairs and couches, mirrors and accent pieces.
Back to Debi's to hang pictures, then dinner with Debi, Steve, Karen, Phil, Jimmy and Madd in Cherry Creek. Poor Phil. He has to fly out of DIA tomorrow morning, and the security checkpoints have been 3 to 4 hours in duration.
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October 23, 2001, Tuesday- Susan's eye doctor appointment was a mixed blessing. Her eyes checked out well. The PRK eye is correctable by glasses or contacts to 20/30 or 20/40, but the doctor want's another reading in January before he will surgically tweak the eye. We were expecting the procedure to be done at this visit and had even set up a laser time slot. Had he needed another reading of the eye to determine that it's stopped it's curvature changing, we could have one done each month during our travels. So now it looks like it will be just after the new year in Denver for close to 2 weeks.
Next, over to the Container Store for the closet shelves for Debi's apartment. With brackets of 6.5 feet long, off came the top of the Porsche and down the highway we went. It's a good thing it was warm and sunny today. The remainder of the week will be cold and windy.
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A stop at Costco got us some needed long sleeved sweaters and shirts at real low prices. Also, gas for the car at 20 plus cents lower then the surrounding area.
Dinner was the greatest with Bill, Lani and Molly at their home. Besides adopting Molly, officially, in May, they recently added a 7 year old yellow lab to provide company for their chocolate lab. It was the new dog's birthday, and Molly helped bake a cake and sing happy birthday. The photos say it all…..
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October 24, 2001, Wednesday- off at 9 to get some blood tests that Dr. Bill recommended. Then, off to Debi's where we hung the Elfa shelving system in her laundry area. They went up easily and do look and work fantastically. She should be happy….
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Lunch at Zaddie's in Cherry Creek….a good deli is something that Denver has and Naples lacks.
Walked through Cherry Creek North and found a great engagement gift for Becky and Steve, and an unbelievable wooden floor art, 3' x 5', that Susan fell in love with. It's being shipped to Naples and should arrive just after we return next week.
October 25, 2001, Thursday- off to Dr. Bill's for an official visit. First pulmonary lung capacity tests which I failed, having results well below where the standards are set. After some bronco dilators, my capacity came back towards normal, but still below. Next, an allergy test was performed with several dozen pin pricks on my back. After 10 minutes, it confirmed I was allergic to cats, big time, and small time oak trees, strawberries and avocados. Not too bad. Lastly, we went for a chest x-ray to make sure that my diminished capacity wasn't caused by a more serious source. Fortunately the x-ray came back negative.
Afterwards, over to Costco where we got a George Forman Grill for Debi (she can't, under Denver laws, have a real grill on the outside patio). Stopped at the Safeway for some salmon steaks and the needed accompaniments, and broke in the new grill at Debi's. She looks great, her place looks great, but her company announced today that within the next few weeks, 20% of the staff is being laid off. Everyone is fearful.
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October 26, 2001, Friday- dropped Steve's car off at the dealer….another joy of $900 service….the timing belt was starting to go.
Susan got her hair done….she still looks like a movie star to me J. I got some prescriptions filled, purchased a book on comparative religions at the Tattered Cover Book Store, and then we checked out the George Forman grill for Florida. Two large sized outdoor models with stands. We'll look when we're back in Naples.
Dinner with Craig and Debi at a new upscale Mexican Restaurant….very trendy and very good. Left at 10:30 and the streets were jammed with young adults hopping from bar to lounge to restaurant. Definitely a happening place.. LoDo.
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October 27, 2001, Saturday- a loop around Washington Park, twice, with Steve and Becky and Angela (Becky's friend from England), got our feet moving. Nice for after a week of being almost couch potatoes.
Lunch with these guys plus Debi and Craig at Whole Foods…..too many choices of great foods.
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Tonight was the greatest….the "Engagement Party" at Paul and Cami's. Their home was elegantly trimmed for the affair, and about 40 costumed folks arrived. Steve and Becky were the "Owl and the Pussycat". Cami and Paul were the King Arthur and Guinaver. Susan and I were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I think the best for originality of the world's greatest lovers were friends from work that came as Steve and Becky, down to the hairdos and dress. Very cute. Lots of toasts and a few roasts. Many laughs.
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October 28, 2001, Sunday- packed up and said good bye to Steve. Hit the road just before 11 and headed south towards Raton, NM with planned eastbound turn towards Amarillo. Pulled into a convenience stove in Raton, and the Porsche wouldn't start. Everything on the dash was OK but no cranking. We are now 200 miles south of Denver and 200 miles from Amarillo. Hoped that it was the starter motor. Got lucky, pushed it backwards down a slight incline and popped the clutch. Vroom…..drove to Amarillo, arrived at 8 PM. Shut down at a Holiday Inn. No crank on a restart try. No Porsche service in the yellow pages. Pits again.
Checked on the web….270 miles east in Oklahoma City is a dealer, or 470 miles in Dallas or Fort Worth. Will try a few phone calls in the morning, and hope we can get a push start to get going…..
October 29, 2001, Monday- a few phone calls, and the dealer in Oklahoma City doesn't open service until 9….can you believe that? So the only thing to do was to start driving. Called the guy in Oklahoma and he would have to order a starter, rebuilt I think, for just under $300. Normally 4 days for shipment. That won't work. Called the big dealer in Fort Worth…..no starter, but for $625 we could have a new one in a week. Going from bad to worse. Called our Denver dealer and got the number of other agencies from Dallas, Plano (a Dallas suburb) and Naples. The dealer in Plano has a starter motor, for $200+ he thinks, and the service department is open until 7 PM. We are there…..in about 6 more hours. Rolled in at 3 PM to a dealership with more Porsche's then GM dealers have Chevies. Out by 5 PM, with perfect timing to get caught in the Dallas rush hour(s) traffic. Stopped for an early dinner at an Outback Steakhouse. Interesting law…..it's a dry county, but if you fill out a form, and sign your name, you belong to a club and it's OK to drink.
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After dinner we wanted to get out of the loop traffic, and headed east on I-20. Now it's dark. Lots of exits with no services. No gas stations, motels, etc. for about 40 miles. Well, we wanted to avoid the AM traffic.
October 30, 2001, Tuesday- found a driver's license place a mile from our motel. Opens at 8. We're waiting in line by 7:45. Get in and I pass the eye test. Susan reads the first parts using her left eye, but the right side….forget about it. It's a good thing that she had a note from the eye doctor that her corrected vision is okay to drive with. New 6 year licenses, and $24 each, and we're down the road. Arrived in Pensacola at 7:30, grabbed some seafood at a little joint across the street, and we're ready for the last 630 miles for tomorrow.
October 31, 2001- Wednesday- on the road from Pensacola at 7:30. Florida is a big state….rivaling Texas….300+ miles from Pensacola, on I-10, eastward, until I-75. South for another 330 miles to Naples. Easy ride, arriving at 6 PM. Stopped at the food store for some supplies and a BBQ chicken. And by 6:45 we were done with dinner. Called Jerry and Lois to say hi, and found out that Carol and Peter were there for dinner, but were flying home on Thursday. So, back into the car and catch up for an hour plus on "what's happening".
Noticed that most of the landscaping cleanup that we had contracted was finished. A little more to go, but it looks 100% better.
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Listened to the news at night and heard that a hurricane may be brewing off of Honduras and heading north. We will have to keep a watch over it's path. If it's coming this way….jacks up and away we go.
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