Erin & John arrived back in Denver on May 11th. Fortunately, we can say that they will not have to return to Cuba ever again. Erin’s next posting will be to Barbados, and she and John will be going there sometime in late July. Meanwhile they have two months home leave to spend here in the States.

The Arkansas River in Buena Vista.

After spending a week with Sue (I was still in Europe), they decamped to Buena Vista–that’s Byoo-nuh Vista” (rhyming with “beautiful”) for non-Coloradans. While they were there, Sue and I twice made the two hour trip to this little tourist town to visit with them. We had never spent much time in the town and were very pleased with what we found. The drive from Denver to BV is incredibly beautiful; much of the time you are traveling through South Park, which is a grassland flat within the basin formed by the Rocky Mountains’ Mosquito and Rampart Mountain Ranges, where the cattle population far outnumbers the people.

Buena Vista or BV is on the Arkansas River and provides great hiking and river sports. This time of the year, the water is still very cold, but lots of people were kayaking and river surfing. We stayed on terra firma, but enjoyed walking along the Arkansas. The highlight of our first visit was a trip to the Royal Gorge and a ride on the Royal Gorge Railway, a somewhat pricey but delightful way to spend a day, admiring the scenery and the engineering marvel that it represents.

We enjoyed our first visit to BV so much that we asked Erin if we could bring Charlie for an overnight. She happily agreed, so we made the return trip after being back in Denver for only a couple of days. Charlie enjoyed the town and the opportunity to hike and spend time in nature. John is a hiking enthusiast, and he found a trail, Twin Lakes, that provide a good challenge for Charlie and something doable for me. John and Charlie teamed up and hiked the entire trail while Erin and I contented ourselves with navigating only about two thirds of it. Both “teams” had a good adventure.

The hot tub at Erin and John’s Airbnb rental was also a big hit.We couldn’t get anyone interested in a Wizard card game, so we all spent the evening watching The Green Book, a recent movie depicting what it was like for African American Blacks to travel in the Jim Crow era. It’s pretty shocking to watch, but probably doesn’t convey the real evilness of that period in American history. A good choice for our mixed age group crowd.

Twenty four hours, surrounded by adults was just about enough for Charlie so we headed back to Denver the next day–but I think it was a very successful outing all things considered. We were happy to see how much Charlie and John were able to bond over the hiking experience.

We just heard from Erin & Charlie, they are heading back to Denver from Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National Park. We are looking forward to their report on their experience.