(Re)connections

The last time I had seen a sign like the one above was over five years when I was on a storm chase trip with a group of meteorology students from Valparaiso University.  Our pursuit of storms took us to the High Plains of Eastern Colorado, where we witnessed all chaos break loose in the skies above after four days without storms.  We left the state under cover of darkness on I-70, with a severe thunderstorm following us, which dumped so much hail that plow trucks came in for the clean-up.

The last time I had received a hearty Colorado-style welcome from my relatives clustered in and around the fine city of Denver was eight years ago.  So it was certainly about time I had a chance to go back to the wonderful state of Colorado.  I was very pleased the opportunity came recently to do just that, as I joined with much of my family there for a weekend in celebration of my Great Aunt Carmen's birthday.

Indeed, this trip was all about reconnections, starting when I boarded the Amtrak California Zephyr train at Chicago Union Station, which I rode to Denver Union Station.  I had ridden this line going eastbound 19 years before when my family took a great long train trip as a vacation, looping around the western United States.  This ride would be my first time riding westbound on the California Zephyr.

Ah, how wonderful it was to pass through the resplendent suburbs along the BNSF Corridor headed out of Chicago toward Aurora, and then to pass through vast fields of Illinois (see picture below).

Between Sandwich and Princeton, IL

Then it was time to cross the Mississippi River to pass through Iowa field, the first time I crossed the Mississippi River in over three years.

The Mississippi River crossing, just east of Burlington, IA, with the US 34 bridge off in the distance

While passing through Iowa, I thought of one particular line from the movie State Fair:  "I owe Iowa-y more than anyone can pay, so I think I'll move to Californi-ay"--since I was on the California Zephyr passing through Iowa.  Another special moment came on the train ride when we stopped in Ottumwa, IA, a city whose name stirs up strong memories on my Mom's side of the family, being where my Grandfather Martin grew up.  When I stepped off the train to stretch my legs there, I was fully aware of how fitting it was to be in this town on July 26, the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the traditional names of the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Here's the sunset over south central Iowa, west of Ottumwa.

While the destination of my trip was ultimately for a family weekend, I also relished the opportunity to experience camraderie with others along the way, especially fellow passengers with whom I shared the train ride--one of a few reasons why I enjoy Amtrak long-distance travel so much.  As my Abuela likes to say, "Happiness is making friends along the way."  And that literally happened later in the evening.  There were two gals sitting behind me, and at one point, one of them got up looking for a trash receptacle.  When I noticed her looking around, I indicated to a trash receptacle not too far away.  She was so glad to hear me say that, and then she said, "You're my new best friend."  I then got talking with her, Alex, and her friend Kenzie, for a little bit.

Later that night, the train reached Omaha, which turned my thoughts to the St. Augustine Mission on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska, up the Missouri River from Omaha, and Father Dave, who just moved from being mission director there to a new assignment in Omaha.

The next morning, I awoke to a splendid sunrise (see picture below) over the fields of northeastern Colorado--though there's a small possibility that maybe it was in southwestern Nebraska.

My feelings soared up as we traveled through those wide open Plains, continuing along Route 34, which the California Zephyr nearly paralleled from Chicagoland, all the way through Fort Morgan.  (We traveled along part of US 34 in eastern Colorado when navigating around a storm on the storm chase trip five years ago.)  Ah, what beautiful country it was in Colorado as we neared Denver, and I beheld the scenic view of the mountains coming into focus off to the west, which is one big reason why I enjoy visiting there (see picture below).

I enjoyed some more conversation with fellow passengers as the train made a series of maneuvers, backing up into Denver Union Station.  Upon our arrival, I exchanged high-fives with Alex and Kenzie, grateful for sharing in their company and friendship for the 20-hour ride, before disembarking.  I then walked over to another platform at the station and boarded RTD's new B Line train to the Denver suburb of Westminster, where my cousin Laura and her husband Doug live.  This line had literally just opened a couple days before.  It was exciting to take in the new public transport offering in the Denver area, as the RTD is expanding its routes significantly.  And I appreciated the convenience of boarding the B-Line just feet away from the Amtrak platform at Denver Union Station.

After getting myself settled at Laura and Doug's house, I departed for my day's outing.  I stopped by the National Center for Atmospheric Research on a lovely mountainside just beyond Boulder to view their museum on weather, and also visited their library, which I enjoyed seeing, with all its meteorology materials (see picture below).

I then headed through Boulder, which was an interesting city drive, onto US 36 toward Estes Park.  I made a short stop at Rocky Mountain National Park, as I wanted to visit a national park during the National Park Service's Centennial Year.  I found a nice spot to walk around at Lily Lake.

Thanks to the fellow visitors who took the two above pictures of me.

It was so calm and peaceful, with a distinct rustling noise in the trees as the wind blew, which I found out later were aspen trees.

I then got on US 34 headed east to Loveland, then cut north towards Fort Collins, with the scenic mountain views to my left as I traveled through open fields.  I then arrived at the apartment of my good friends Nathan and Aura Lee, where I spent a good chunk of time visiting and catching up with them over dinner.  It was wonderful to see them happily married for over a year now, and tending well to life as graduate school students at Colorado State University.  I was also honored to be their first guest in their new apartment.

I then enjoyed a pleasant drive back to Westminster along I-25 through the open country with rushing breezes across my face.

I spent almost all of the next day, Thursday, at Aunt Carmen's house in Denver.  It was wonderful being back at her place, receiving her kind hospitality.  I also enjoyed a lovely walk around her neighbor, making a point especially to climb up a hill with a water tower at the top, and great views of the Denver skyline, the Metro Area, and the mountains (see the three pictures below).

The Denver skyline appears in the center of this picture, off in the distance.

The Rocky Mountains are faintly visible in the distance.

In the afternoon, her son John and his wife Charlotte, and their granddaughter Jenesis arrived from California, and we spent the afternoon and evening visiting, as we awaited for the arrival of my parents and Abuela, the last people to arrive from outside the Denver area.  I went with John and Charlotte for groceries, which was my first visit to a King Sooper's, a grocery store chain in the Denver area.  We were glad to receive Mom, Dad, and Grandma Vel, who experienced a significant flight delay, but were nevertheless in good spirits upon their arrival (see picture below).

My Mom is a pinkish shirt to the far left.  My Dad is just to her right in the picture, in an orangish shirt.  My Grandma Vel is to the far right in the picture.

The next day, Friday, I took advantage of the opportunity to bike around the north Denver Metro Area, going from Westminster to Old Towne Arvada, finding some nice bike trails to use.

In the afternoon, our grand family weekend together commenced, when we assembled at Aunt Carmen's house to make our carpool arrangement.  I met up with Cynthia and Mark Grubbs, whom I had seen back in April when they came to Chicago, as well as their children, Mark and Jennifer, both of whom I hadn't seen in a while.  Before leaving the Denver Metro Area, we stopped at Fort Logan National Military Cemetery to pay our respects to Uncle Leonard, which I specifically requested, and to which Cynthia, and the others, agreed.  Then, we were off into the mountains, for an approximately 2-hour ride on scenic mountain-view roads to Cripple Creek and the Alpine Vista Retreat vacation rental home we had for the weekend, enjoying the ride with the Grubbses.

John took this photo of me at a grand welcome sign, just outside of Cripple Creek on Colorado State Route 67.

The city is at an elevation of 9494 feet above sea level, and we had to go up a road 800 feet to reach the house.  So we were pretty close to 2 miles in elevation, which made quite a difference with cooler temperatures than at the mile-high elevation in Denver.

After we marveled at the grandeur of the house (see picture above), and got settled, with a drawing from a hat used to determine who would take which room, preparations for dinner commenced.  Meanwhile, the five of us present under the age 30 (see picture below) headed into town to amble around for a few minutes before going back for dinner, and to welcome the two other family groups who arrived later in the evening.

The "Under 30 Club" in downtown Cripple Creek, taken by a person enjoying the evening downtown.
From left to right: Jennifer, Jenesis, me, Chris, and Mark

We made so many wonderful memories all throughout that weekend.  We spent time hanging out at the house, playing games like Bunco (see picture below) and Ladder Golf.

We enjoyed each other's company and hearty laughs.  We had a fine time gathered together on Saturday afternoon showering Aunt Carmen with gifts and loving sentiments to celebrate her birthday.

Aunt Carmen is beaming as she comes to the table with the family for cake, gifts, and loving sentiments.

The accolades certainly got started early on Saturday as my Grandma Vel started gathering people she saw awake as early at 7 AM to sing "Las Mañanitas" to Aunt Carmen.  It was special for me because it was the first time I had ever been with Aunt Carmen on her birthday. (And come to think of it, this was also the first time I had spent time in Colorado with Grandma Vel there, too.)

We spent some time in town, too.  Cripple Creek (see picture below) is a nice place, once a big mining town.

We attended Mass at a lovely church, St. Peter's (see picture below), with a guest priest from Kenya, talking about his missionary work.

There was also a sign at Bobbie B's Ice Cream Shoppe that claimed Cripple Creek was where the root beer float was invented, and I enjoyed a root beer float there (see picture below).

Dad got this picture of me at Bobbie B's.

There were other nice shops, too.  And I enjoyed seeing the herd of donkeys that wander around town (see picture below).

Charlotte took this picture of me keeping calm as the herd of donkeys approaches me.  I was grateful for her agricultural expertise when interacting with the donkeys.

I also had opportunity to take hikes up a ridge that overlooked the town and the valley.

Mark Grubbs, Sr., got the pictures of me above and below.
In the above, you can see the house we stayed at near the bottom of the picture.
In the picture below, you can see the city of Cripple Creek near the center of the picture, off in the distance.

At night, there were great views of the stars from the wrap-around porch, and during the day, there were times when we could view rain shafts.  And I woke up early both morning to watch the sunrise over the mountains--on Monday, I watched the whole transit from the sun's first rays to the disc of the sun emerging from the mountains (see picture below).

And in addition to Aunt Carmen's birthday, I also had the chance to mark the birthday of Colorado on Monday, August 1.  I felt some songs stirring within me on Monday morning as a group of us sat out on the porch overlooking the valley, awaiting our departure back to the Denver Metro Area, and I burst out "America, the Beautiful", with "spacious skies" above us, and "mountain majesties" all around.

When we stopped for a meal at the Hungry Bear restaurant in Woodland Park, and our waitress found out toward the end of our meal that it had been Aunt Carmen's birthday, she brought out a cup of hot chocolate and led a singing of "Happy Birthday" for her (see picture below).

Heading back to Denver with John, Charlotte, and Jenesis in their truck took us along roads I recall from the storm chase trip 5 years ago, as we traveled along I-25 from Colorado Springs to Castle Rock, to have a chance to view the Rocky Mountains, and especially Pike's Peak, which I gazed upon once more, in all its grandeur.

After getting back to Aunt Carmen's house, Laura, Doug, Mom, and Dad accompanied me to Union Station, which provided Laura and Doug their first chance to ride the B Line, which was exciting.

Dad took this photo of our having some fun before boarding the B Line at Westminster Station.
From left to right: Laura, Mom, Doug, me.

In the couple of hours before my train came, we ambled around in downtown Denver.  We rode on the Mallride bus to Civic Center, and then walked over to the Colorado History Center--which was free of charge in celebration of Colorado's Statehood Day--to spend a few minutes looking around at exhibits about life in Colorado, which covered a good amount about the state.  (It's also where the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign was that appears at the start of this post, a photo which I believe Laura took me, or maybe Doug.)

A giant map of Colorado on the floor in the museum, with Dad and Doug walking around on it.

And then, it back to Union Station to board the California Zephyr train to head back east to Chicago, just like I did 19 years ago.

Mom got this picture of me, all excited and ready to board the California Zephyr at Denver Union Station

While waiting in line, I met up with four women from Pennsylvania who all rode the same train as I did from Chicago to Denver.  As the train headed out of the Denver Metro Area, I got some great views of a stunning sunset over the mountains (see both pictures below).

I was up early the next morning to take in some views of the sunrise over the fields of western Iowa (see picture below).

While taking in the sunrise, I had a fellow passenger get this picture of me in the sightseeing/observatory/lounge car.

And despite the rain, which was fell throughout much of our time in Iowa, I stepped off at Ottumwa to get a "postcard" picture, and thanks to the fellow passenger who took it (see below).

I passed some of the time in conversation with a woman named Peggy sitting next to me, especially as the train entered the Chicagoland area.  I got to pointing out many places along the route, especially when we got to Berwyn, where I could see Clarence Avenue from the train, one sign among many of being back home, just like the Sears Tower as we entered the railyards just south of Chicago Union Station (see picture below).

While exiting Chicago Union Station, I saw an advertisement for Colorado (see picture below), which immediately took me back in my mind to the wonderful vacation I had just had there.

With this trip, I got to add to the "Infinite Stories" that Amtrak makes possible, as it says on this ad in Chicago Union Station, which was right next to the Colorado ad.

I tend to have a deliberate reason for the shirt I wear each day.  As I packed for this trip, I decided that on Saturday, Aunt Carmen's birthday, I would wear a shirt I purchased commemorating Pope Francis's visit to the United States back in September 2015.  I felt it was appropriate to wear this shirt on that day because of the title of his trip, Love is Our Mission.

Charlotte got this picture of me along a street just north of downtown Cripple Creek.

Indeed, Love is our Mission.  Pope Francis said in his homily at the Concluding Mass for the World Meeting of Families, before a million people gathered in Philadelphia, that the love God shows us we show to one another, starting in the family:  It's where we cherish the relationships we have with those closest to us, and learn to support one another, helping each other through the difficulties we face in life, aiding each other in our various pursuits, offering little acts of kindness to one another day by day.  That is the kind of love we celebrated as we gathered to mark Aunt Carmen's birthday.  What love she has shown to her children and beyond to the succeeding generations, especially as I experienced in her gracious hospitality.  This love keeps on giving, as our wonderful throng experienced in each other's company on this weekend.

And the love doesn't stop there.  As it truly represents the love God has shown us through the Paschal Mystery of Christ, it pours forth and envelopes others.  It allows us to engage in meaningful relationship with other people, as I experienced on my train rides, enjoying the company of fellow passengers, and even visiting with my dear friends in Fort Collins.

Indeed, love is a source of great joy, something to give thanks to God for, something to celebrate and experience each and every day.  I think one of the best parts of this vacation was reconnecting with the love of the family I spent time with during a marvelous weekend.