July 4th in Cheyenne WY July 5th to Fort Collins morning of 6th on to Arvada CO

Arriving Cheyenne around 8PM in time to celebrate the 4th I was directed to a parking lot behind the Frontier Days Arena.  I had time to cook Spinach & cheese Ravoli sauteed in olive oil with chopped Poblano peppers, pesto and tomatoes as the fireworks were scheduled at 9:35PM. Tired, I had driven 359 miles from Evanston, so pasta and a welcome glass of pinot, and man was I set for the show?  

Well it was not to be; not yet anyway. Almost precisely (oxymoronics are needed here) at 9:35PM  the sky let loose with the threatened storm. Citizens of Cheyenne scrambled to collapse chairs and run to their cars as the storm dumped heavy rain, flashing lightning and near instant thunder. Several cars left, ambling slowly by, but most stayed.

High and dry*, I had a front-row seat; no need to move. After 35 minutes one could feel the storm abate and move East. Soon after the fireworks began lasting about 30 minutes. I left during the finale to park for the night at Starbuck (free WiFi) on 21st Street.

*After 7 years  and 80,000 miles the Swanky-Tank's roof began to leak when it rained but only when the nose of the parked vehicle was higher than the rear. The Pleasanton CA Mercedes dealer declined to look at it.  Calling around I discovered the Airstream dealer in Fairfield, CA had a positive pressure system they rightly claimed was near foolproof. High pressure air is introduced into the sealed-off cabin and the roof is showered with water. The bubbles indicate the source of  the leak. In our case it was the factory seal aft on the passenger side. Kaboom: fixed.


A morning visit to Cheyenne's Nelson Museum of the West located within a block of the Lincoln Highway. It was with the populist President Jackson a military leader during the War of 1812, later Military Governor of Florida, that the shameful treatment of earlier tribes began in earnest. 


My professor friend, Rod Bell, offered an intriguing explanation of populism. "Often an indication that significant change in governance is needed." James Monroe was elected in 1816 ushering in the post war "Era of Good Feelings" as coined by Benjamin Russell, in the Boston Federalist newspaper Columbian Centinel, on July 12, 1817, following Monroe's visit to Boston. But after the Monroe Doctrine so completely divided the country with the establishment of the Mason Dixon Line, it was anything but that.  Please see Dr. Bell's comment below.  

 

 I then drove south to Fort Collins for another night of storms. 12 seconds of a 25 minute hail storm that threatened to put dents in the Tank is recorded in the video, above.  This time from the Whole Foods parking lot (also 24/7 free Wifi). I shop Whole Foods with some degree of ambivalence. But the WF in Fort Collins has to be the best I've encountered. Not only do they have the organic vegetables, good seafood and all, they have a pub.  

The Ft. Collins Whole Foods has a pub.

On the road to Arvada CO to meet up with Nancy and Pat Godsil. Nancy is arranging a dinner with Lee and Frances Chouinard and David D., two additional mile-high residents who are classmates of our 1961 Stephens High School, Rumford, Maine. The valedictorian of the graduating class 25 or so years before that was Ed Muskie, Lee's uncle. Here are Nancy & Pat at my Maine destination, Webb Lake, several years earlier. This photo was taken after 3 sets of tennis on the clay courts in Weld, Maine.

Now back in Arvada, Colorado tucked into the foothills of the Rockies....

 We left to meet Lee/Fran and David at Angelo's Taverna in Littleton, about 30 minutes south. David and I had not connected since our high school days and it was good to meet him again. Lee, who once rode his bicycle from their Florida home to their Summer Camp on Worthley Pond, Maine, while Fran drove their vehicle stopping every night to meet up, is a tall, lanky, affable guy who must have chosen basketball rather than skiing as a kid. Those were the two team sports available in the cold Maine winters. He and I were on the verge of keeping up, perhaps on the tennis court but we never found the right time to do it. Nancy and Pat and I exchange holiday greetings, and occasional emails. Finding these people willing to share time together after 58 years is truly a blessing. We all enjoyed our evening swapping memories and catching up on our lives today. After dinner Pat drove us back to their home where Nancy opened a good bottle of Pinot and we chatted on their back porch watching the sun complete its arc on July 6, 2019.

  Next stop the Platte, Broken Bow, Grand Island, destination Omaha