June 1, 2002, Saturday- a split day. Susan went with Becky and Cami to get their hair done by the girl that's coming to Vail for the wedding hairdos. Off they went at 8:30 to Winter Park, and they didn't return until after 3 PM. Meanwhile, Steve and I took a 2 hour hike, about 1700 foot of vertical, behind Heritage Park in Golden.
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Susan and I joined Steve and Debi's friends at the "Funkie Buddha" bar. It's certainly a different world for us. Hundreds of young folks dressed to the nines, looking good, making the scene. Chatting with their friends the night passes like the breeze. Next thing we knew it was almost 1 AM. As we exited the bar, we couldn't believe there were still kids waiting in line to get into the place. Thank goodness for crowd control or it would have been impossible to more through the area.
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June 2, 2002, Sunday- Happy Birthday to Debi, Robert and Steve. Wow, 30 years old today. It's a good thing that only the kids get older and we don't. Lunch was with Debi and then we helped her decide on some of the decorator touches for her condo. We looked for mirrors, towels, dining tables and other items. Decisions and more decisions.
After 5 PM, Debi, Steve, Becky and Cami arrived at the coach for a birthday dinner. Shish kebobs with spicy chicken sausage and jumbo shrimp on the grill, yum! Some wine and beer to loosen up and the party went until almost 9. Paul, after flying cross country, even joined the group. We discussed wedding details reaching the final decisions.
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June 3, 2002, Monday- by mid morning we were shopping by Steve's house for ingredients for Susan's famous challah. It's for Friday nights rehearsal dinner at Manor Vail. So, three large breads were on order to give at least ceremonial portions for 75 people. The process takes over 6 hours. Yeast, dough, raisins, sesame seeds, time to rise, more time to rise, time to bake, time to cool. Naturally they looked marvelous and filled the house with incredible aromas.
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Steve's freezer is a size by side. The challahs wouldn't fit. So, over to Debi's freezer which is top/bottom unit. Whew!
Naturally it was in the mid to upper 90's for the last few days. Today starts the change to some wet weather, which is desperately needed. Every one of the counties in Colorado have been declared a "federal disaster area". We got lucky, as we left one of the stores, it started hailing. We were in marble sized hail. Other areas had 3 inches of golf ball sized hail. Rain tonight and into tomorrow. Highs will be in the mid 50's. Of course, tomorrow night is the bachelor party for Steve at the Rockies baseball game. Brrrrr!
June 4, 2002, Tuesday- rain and wind during the day. Hobbes was getting ripe from being so wet. Definitely it will be bath time before the wedding.
I met Steve before game time when, fortunately, the weather cleared with blue skies. A few drinks with his friends in LODO outside of Coors Field, and then about 20 of us headed for the left outfield seats. Through the eighth inning, the game was great with a score of 4 to 4. The devastation came quickly in the top of the 9th when the Dodgers scored 6 runs. End of contest. Afterwards most of us headed over to another watering hole for a drink or two to finish out the night. Ben and Brad were nice enough to give me a ride back to Golden before they headed up the hill to Vail. Late night for me, later for them.
While we were carousing, Sue, Debi and Amy caught up on things with a dinner in Cherry Creek.
June 5, 2002, Wednesday- an early start for us up the hill to Vail. First stop at the liquor store to set up our order for the tent party. Based on Tom's suggestions, we purchased a bottle of red and bottle of white for a taste test this evening.
At 11:30 we arrived for our dentist appointment. We now have the shiniest teeth in town.
Then, on to Singletree where we saw Phil at his new house, happier then a pig in you know what. He discovered a space that was closed in by the builder behind his garage. By adding a door and some light to this place, he now has a large storage area. Nice find. Just don't tell the county since the footage exceeds the limit permitted.
After that we joined Sally and Allan for a late lunch at their golf club in Singletreee. Good food and good conversation.
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Over to the Town of Vail to check on the RV parking at the Parking Structure, and finally over to Art and Anna's to see them, Rach, Jake, Ben and Brad. My how Jake has grown. Now 20 months, walking everywhere and talking up a storm. We tried out this morning's wines and got lucky. Lucky that we tried it now and weren't embarrassed by serving it for 125 people. They were lousy.
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Last stop, over to the Lord Gore to meet with Andre and finalize the menu, wines, etc. It looks like everything is in good hands.
June 6, 2002, Thursday- the morning was spent fighting with the computer printer. Our project was name tags for the rehearsal dinner. Card stock, a match to the invitations, were table cards 4" x 4.25", not quite large enough to get stacked into the printer. Finally, after getting some to print and other to get torn in the wheels, I was going nuts. Brain storm- feed the stock taped to an 8 ½ x 11 sheet. Perfect!
A phone call this morning reminded us that we had a dinner date with Bill and Carol at our place. But first we went to the liquor store to try new suggestions from our Vail party supplier.
Bill and Carol arrived and we all approved of the new white and red wine selections. Dinner was at "On the Border" Mexican grub. Good and spicy!
June 7, 2002, Friday- went to our accountant's office to cover some of the Merrill Lynch fee structure deductibility options, and then lunch at Il Fornio. Amongst other topics, we covered work options.
Then, after picking up Hobbes (another 96 degree day), and finding covered parking at Park Meadows, we found some clothing options for Susan and myself for the wedding weekend BBQ and rehearsal dinner events.
June 8, 2002, Saturday- finished shopping with Debi for some mirrors and accent pieces. Also, some new clothes for the wedding weekend were in order. Glad to help point her and drag her : in the right direction. Afterwards, installation of the pieces acquired completed many of the projects. One still elusive, after 10 or so stops, the vacuum belt in the upright Eureka couldn't be located. Maybe next week we'll find it at a vacuum store or on line.
June 9, 2002, Sunday- another day of running so much, we saw ourselves coming and going. At 10 we arrived for the opening bell at Costco. Dry goods, sirloin burgers and boca burgers were gathered for the Saturday BBQ. Next, over to Wild Oats for the 50 salmon burgers, but they didn't have the brats that we wanted. Over to King Soupers. They only had 4 of the brats that we needed. Up the hill to Vail, drop off the goods at the freezer at our old house, and over to City Markets. There we ordered 50 brats for next week's pickup. Whew!
Back to Art and Anna's to visit with Brad, Rach, Jake and Debi as they finished their 8 mile hike from the top of Vail pass back to the house. They were beat.
Quick turn and headed back to Evergreen where we caught up with Becky, Steve, Cami and Paul. Today's projects included stuffing welcome bags, working on the seating plans for 156 folks attending the wedding on Sunday, and seating for the 75 attending Friday night's rehearsal dinner. By the time we finished, it was dark around the fire pit table on the lower patio.
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All during the day, evidence of the extreme fire danger in Colorado was evident. One fire, 50 miles south of Denver in Hayman, has burned 35,000 acres. The smoke plume reached 25,000 feet high, and dust and ash blanketed the Denver area, forcing an atmospheric advisory. Another major fire was the Coal Seam fire in Glenwood Springs. The Hayman fire was started by an illegal campfire, while the Glenwood fire was started when an underground fire that's been burning for years vented itself on tinder dry forest. This Glenwood fire, now at 7500 acres, has caused the evacuation of all of West and North Glenwood Springs. 80 structures, 24 of them homes, have already been destroyed. Temps today over 100 with 50 mile per hour winds, didn't help the firefighters.
June 10, 2002, Monday- the running continues. Dropped off the coach at K&C RV for a lube, oil and filter. Meanwhile, replaced the vacuum belt on Debi's Eureka, and then headed to the DU area for a doggie u-wash. Hobbes now looks sparkling white for the wedding. Continuing south we returned an extra shirt at Nordstrom's, and then got some last minute nail polish and beauty supplies. Finished with a lunch at Costco, and back to pick up the coach at 2 PM, $324 poorer.
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Back at the ranch I created purple labels for the "rooming surprise bags", and printed on fancy card stock, the wedding table story. These projects took the remaining afternoon and early evening time.
Forest fires still devastating. The Hayman fire went to over 70,000 acres and may force the evacuation of 40,000 people as it approaches the suburbs in south west Denver. The Glenwood fire still had the City of Glenwood under extreme watch and concern as the fire burns on both sides of the interstate, but they reopened the highway today, saving a 6 hour detour around the closed area.
June 11, 2002, Tuesday- house cleaning in the morning, shopping at Costco for dinner, pick up Mom at DIA, and return to Debi's for dinner. Glad that Mom is doing better with only some short coughing spells. We brought salmon fillets over to Debi's along with the trimmings. Steve, Becky and Angela joined us.
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Good news or bad news? Our digital camera with 4000 photos started acting up. Last thing that we need was to spend another $500 or $600 at this time, but the positive side is that we didn't get caught with a defective camera at the time of the wedding.
Fires now have burned over 80,000 in the Hayman fire and it's zero percent contained. Glenwood is now 5% contained. Not good.
June 12, 2002, Wednesday- more running. We left the coach at 10 and didn't return until after 6. First I visited Steve's "Gentlemen's Quarter" salon for my wedding do. Naturally a fancy place. Massage on the shoulders and then the scalp. Finally, it was a hot towel over the face while being shampooed. Amazing what they can do in 15 minutes for $26 plus tip.
Next the search for a replacement digital camera. Mikes Camera, then Circuit City and finally Wolf Camera. The model that we liked…bought at the Littleton store but had to pick it up at the Highland Hills store….unless we wanted the demo unit. Add to it a 128 meg memory card and an extra lithium battery and wow, $800 goes fast.
Then to Costco and King Soupers for food for tomorrow's birthday party. Dropped that off at Steve's place and hit the road at 5:15, the height of rush hour.
Tonight I finished the name tags for the rehearsal dinner while Sue double checked the lists for Saturday's BBQ. Lots of details.
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June 13, 2002, Thursday- the day of the wedding is getting closer. The arrivals are starting. After filling the car, and we do mean filling (Hobbes had to sit on Sue's lap to make it to Steve's house), we arrived so that Sue could start the birthday feast. Meanwhile I headed up to get my tuxedo fitting.
Back at the ranch, Steve's place, Rach, Brad, Jake, Deb, Debi, Robert, Art, Anna, Sharon, Mike, Naomi, John and Steve arrived. What a fun night. Birthday wishes to G"Ma, Debi, Rob, Steve, Deb, Naomi and Sharon. Lots of names on the cake.
Fortunately the Vail crew, three cars full, brought our goodies up the hill to Vail, saving us more packing.
The winds died down today enabling the firefighters to start containment. Now at 5% for the Hayman fire (over 100,000 acres burned). About 150 square miles. They estimate it will be 60 to 90 days before the fire is fully contained, not fully out. It's the biggest fire in Colorado's recorded history at it's present size. Wow! The Glenwood fire is now 25% contained.
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