Our 25th anniversary in Colorado - the going part

We returned last Saturday evening from our whirlwind trip to the wilds of Central Colorado where we spent our 25th wedding anniversary with our friends Stan and Margie. They live a few miles outside of a small town called Basalt, just off of Route 82 between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, and about 9,000 feet closer to heaven.

Now some of you might be familiar with Glenwood Springs -- besides being located in the stunningly beautiful Glenwood Canyon, off of I-70, it's known for its thermal baths and "vapors," and has been a point of retreat for folks suffering from lung ailments since the 19th century. In fact, John Henry Holliday, better known as "Doc" Holliday since he was a dentist before becoming a gambler and gunman -- spent his last days in Glenwood Springs. Suffering from advanced tuberculosis, known in his time as "consumption," Holliday died alone and virtually penniless in the Hotel Glenwood. He was reportedly buried in the Pioneer Cemetery (known at the time as Linwood Cemetery). Anyway, I'll have more to say of Doc Holliday later along with photos.

So, a week ago Monday Susie and I packed our bags, called a cab and headed for the Providence train station.

Now I remember coming into this station in the fall of 1987, shortly after it was built -- and the bathrooms haven't been cleaned since. Like so many other aspects of our infrastructure it is tired, worn and in sore need of repair.

Anyway, we took a very chilly Amtrak regional train down to Newark airport. Along the way had the privilege of listening to a woman -- apparently a therapist from the Metro Park area of New Jersey -- counseling her patients by mobile phone for nearly the entire trip. Except for the last half hour or so when she was yammering on about how she had recently visited a NYC jewelry store to check out used Rolex watches and was shocked at the watch she wanted cost $33,000, yada yada yada.

From the Newark airport station we hopped on the air train to the terminal and then caught a shuttle to our hotel in Elizabeth, NJ -- we had an early flight out of Newark on Tuesday so thought we would be well-rested and ready to go.

After we checked in to the Renaissance Marriott -- and "Renaissance" is not exactly the word I would use to define that place -- we headed downstairs to the restaurant for a sandwich. We walked into the dining room and were confronted by three banks of more than two dozen TVs! Several different channels going at once, although thank the gods there was no sound. Still it was bizarre and stupid. And the food was mediocre and grossly overpriced -- but hey Tony Soprano has to eat too, ya know.

A good night's rest and we were out early the next morning for our connecting flight to Atlanta -- and a nice bumpy ride it was too, thank you very much Delta.

While waiting for our connecting flight there was a young family of four, husband, wife, son, daughter and what appeared to be two grandparents sitting just a few feet from me. They were all waiting for a flight somewhere else other than Denver.

Anyway, I watched as the father pointedly, completely and utterly ignored his children. He was all decked out in a fishing ensemble, as was his son, and carrying a special backpack designed to tote fishing rods as well -- and I watched in amazement his apparent complete withdrawal from his family. When his 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter came up to him to hug close, he showed no warmth, not even a sign of acknowledging their presence until one of them asked him a question and he gave the tersest of answers. No affection, no love, nothing -- nor did he show the least interest in his wife or his/her parents. But they soon boarded their plane and were gone down the jetway.

Atlanta turbulence notwithstanding we had a relatively bump-free ride west and were soon in hot n' brown Denver hurtling off in a shuttle bus to Alamo rental.

About four hours later were were pulling into Stan and Margie's driveway. The weather was wonderful, the air -- what little there was of it -- was crisp, clean and full of promise.