Reflections of the Rockies

I have just returned from five wonderful days visiting my friend Patty in CO. She's the kind of friend who makes you quickly feel as if no time has passed since you last shared a glass of wine and good conversation. We had so many wonderful stories to revisit--Istanbul and our rug purchases, those rare camel bone boxes, Shirley Valentine vacations, Grand Cayman, the Del Mar Fair and the Bing Crosby Building, Redlands and the parties we had there, educational publishing and all the characters who've been part of that world, and so much more.

But we also created some new memories. The Rockies this time of year are spectacular. The aspens hadn't begun to turn, but we could hardly complain about the 70 degree weather, the bright blue skies, and the occasional high white cloud. Steamboat Springs had great shops and a topnotch restaurant, Cafe Diva. Highlights there were the elk medallions and the watermelon and goat cheese salad--unbelievable! We passed, though, on the hotsprings at Strawberry Creek when we learned the place was "clothing optional" after dark. It was also such a remote spot that we thought we had driven onto the set of Deliverance!

One day after lunch, we rocked on the porch of the Stanley Hotel--Stephen King's inspiration for The Shining. It wasn't the least bit scary, but after dark, in the dead of winter, with Jack Nicholson lurking down some hallway, it might be a different matter.

The meandering streams and the fishermen we occasionally saw along the banks made me even more determined to learn how to fly-fish some day soon. Patty, ever the great hostess, also ordered up some herds of elk (the ones that had escaped being made into "medallions," anyway) for our drive through the mountains--several hundred in the meadows near Estes Park. It was an amazing way to end the summer and reconnect with an old friend.