Cheezer and Louzer

Click the thumbnail image here to see the larger version of this talent chart we made. We got the idea from a Winnie the Pooh book the boy has. Notice how the boy gets three columns for his talents but his parents only need one each.

Here’s a video of the boy pretending to be a character from the cartoon called Ben10. The main character in the show, Ben, can turn into this four-armed thing by smacking the Omnitrix he wears on his wrist. The boy has a toy version of that on in the video.

So, we actually did it. We left California. After 40-some years, the wife and I packed up our son, our pugs and our stuff and came to Colorado last week. It’s taken me a bit to get settled here and re-connected but now I -can tell the tale. (As background for anyone not familiar with the story, my employer was acquired last year and the new company’s technical people – like me – are all based in Colorado. They wanted me to move here and we wanted us to move here, so it was a fait accompli.)

The moving truck came last Thursday and packed up most of our stuff. I expected some well of emotion when it drove off at the end of the day, but no. It was mostly just relief to have that task completed. We have been preparing in one way or another for this move since last June so I just wanted to get it done with mostly. We went to my younger sister’s church to watch my niece’s play that night and that was a nice way to say goodbye. My Mom cried when we had to leave, but that was OK. We love her too.

We slept on air mattresses that night and the boy thought that was great – like camping indoors. The drive to Las Vegas was first up then and it was pretty non-eventful. We packed up both of our cars with the stuff we decided not to pack on the big truck and our two small dogs (namesakes of this site). We bought a pair of those personal use walkie-talkies for the trip and they turned out to be very useful. With my wife in her car and me in mine, we had to coordinate the route a few times and just chat other times to stave off the boredom.

We got to Vegas around five in the afternoon and checked-in to our room at the La Quinta. We went to my elder sister’s then and had a wonderful dinner. She made steak for my wife and salmon for me plus desserts, so yummmmmmmm. We got to meet her nice neighbor and two sweet little girls. The boy got to stay over night then and hang out with his cousins, whom he loves dearly. I’m sure the morning came too soon for all of us and we had to get back on the road.

This next leg of the trip was the longest – 460 miles from Vegas to Moab UT. The drive was pretty though, with passages through the Virgin River Gorge and the green valleys of Utah. I did this drive once before, about 15 years ago and I didn’t remember how green Utah along highway 15 is. We made stops along the way to give everyone fresh air and let the dogs walk around. We visited Cedar City, the I15-I70 intersection and a ouple of more spots along the way. Once you turn onto I70 to go East, the rest of Utah is pretty samey-samey. Red rocks, big buttes, lots of desert sand and scrub brush. You definitely know you are in a very remote place and keep a silent prayer going for no breakdowns. About 5 hours of that and we finally got to Moab. It’s about 30 miles South of I70 not far from the CO state line.

Even as you approach Moab, you can tell what kind of town it is. There are trucks carrying off-road vehicles everywhere and motorcycles and mountain bikes and ATVs everywhere you look. Once in town, we found our hotel easily and checked-in. The town has that little-town-that’s-grown-up-around-tourism feeling. The restuarants and hotels and most local businesses are all geared for serving the off-road enthusiasts. Everyone else walking around there has raccoon eyes from wearing goggles in the sun and that extremely tired but really happy look going on.

We left Moab Sunday morning then, ready to see the Rockies. No disappointment there, about 1 1/2 hours into the drive down I70 East again, you start the climb and the mountains are beautiful. I was surprised how at first, they are red rock buttes, like in Utah, but pretty quickly you get back to green valleys and “mountains”. There are lots of nice little towns you could stop in and get re-supplied; probably nice places to live too. The road turns from long straight runs to more windy and curving. You’re either climbing or descending now all the time.

We stopped for lunch in a really pretty valley town called Glennwood Springs and had lunch at a 50-’s style drivein with charbroiled hamburgers and really good shakes and root beer floats. Mmm… From that point on, we pretty much hauled butt through the rest of the drive, so close to our destination we could almost imagine it was just over the next mountain ridge.

We stopped once more on the way down into Denver to tank up and walk the furry boys. We got into Arvada at about four and met with the folks from our new apartment home. I’ll post a separate note here in a bit describing all of the local stuff. All in all though, this trip went really really smoothly. No car trouble (except our SUV’s inner door handle gave out) and nobody hurt or really sick. We’re happy to be here now but we’re sure to start missing you all as time goes along. I don’t think we’ll likely drive back to NV and CA next time, but you never know. It was an adventure I’ll always remember.

The photo album is online here.