Colorado

Colorado -- Halloween Preps

October 25-28
Written October 26+

Dear Family and Friends,

This is the story of our America Trip - Colorado edition.

The trip from Washington to Denver was uneventful, but tiring: an hour drive to the airport, three hours of waiting for a delayed flight, four hours of flying, then waiting for bags, pick up the Hertz car, and finally an hour drive up to Longmont.

No sooner did we arrive at their house than Rich and Jen invited us to attend his therapeutic riding lesson. Rich has been in the program for a few years now and he clearly has benefited from the program. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see him and other kids enjoying the experience. The Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center has a broad program for using horse riding as a mechanism for helping both kids and adults with a wide range of disabilities, both developmental and physical. The Center team, professionals and volunteers, provide a wonderful experience for everyone, including for proud grandparents.

For dinner, we went out for steaks, since that's what Marianne wanted and it was her birthday after all. We ALSO celebrated Rich's birthday from two-days earlier. He is ten. Marianne won't say.

Friday included minor shopping and looking around while Rich was in school, but the evening highlight was his school's "Fall Ball". This was a chance for kids and parents to try out Halloween costumes and generally have fun. The young Trotter family went as "Beaker" and "Doctor Bunsen Honeydew" from The Muppet's and a generic mad scientist. Oma and Opa went as ... Oma and Opa. Where do the kids get all that energy!!

Saturday held more outdoor activities, despite the initial snow on the ground. (It melted pretty quickly.) We started with a trip to the Longmont Farmer's Market where we indulged ourselves in giant pretzels, sugar for Rich and salty for Oma and Opa. They were called "Bavarian" and we had to admit that the taste was close to the twisted dough prepared in Munich. Of course, there was also American food like cookies and tacos. All healthy.

After we got back from the Market, we drove into Denver for "Boo at the Zoo", another chance for Halloween costumes and party food. For me, it was a chance to try more animal pictures, but it was more fun just being Opa.