2 WEEKS IN BOULDER, CO October 8 - 24, 2013

We left Park City, Utah, early Tuesday, October 8th for the long drive to Boulder.  We were spending the next 2 weeks at my brother Kurt's home to do some remodeling for him.  Well, Paul would be doing the remodeling, I would be enjoying the beautiful fall season in Colorado.

  Paul was excited to be back in his favorite work mode...tearing out and designing two new bathroom spaces. The evening we got there, Paul and Kurt took sledge hammers to the jacuzzi tub where a new glass shower and shelving unit would be redesigned.

 

After many long days and lots of hard work the new bathroom was coming together.

 Then it was time to start on the second part of the project, adding a bathroom in the basement bedroom.  By taking a third of the existing closet Paul was able to reuse the space and make a darling half bath for the guest room. For such a tiny space it took almost every kind of skill: plumbing, electrical, framing, hanging sheet rock, painting and all the finish work, but it was so worth it.

  From the first hole in the wall to the finished space, the room was perfect!

 While Paul was hard at work, Foster and I relaxed and took advantage of the beautiful views everywhere.

 We walked the neighborhood and up into the beautiful Chautauqua area with views of the Flatirons just north of Kurt's home.

I loved the crisp air and the amazing trees everywhere we looked.

 The trees were in the brightest shades of reds and oranges, such a treat to see the changing season.

 
Most afternoons, Paul had errands to do or supplies he needed so I'd do the driving and we'd stop for a wonderful cappuccino at the local coffee house, PK's favorite afternoon break.  These were almost too pretty to drink.  

 Not only did I get to see the fall colors but we woke one morning to the beauty of the first snowfall.  This is Kurt's 1970 VW van covered with lots of the white stuff, already melting by mid morning.

 Most days Foster and I walked up to the Colorado Chautauqua which is located in Boulder and was started in 1898.  It is the only Chautauqua west of the Mississippi thats still in operation since its heyday in the 1920s. The Chautauqua was an adult education movement across the US very popular in the late nineteenth century, bringing entertainment and culture to the community with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers and specialists of the day. The Chautauqua in Boulder still maintains much of the original intent with many summer concerts and performers in a beautiful setting.  There are wonderful hiking trails so Foster and I took some short walks each day as well as stopping for coffee in the dining room in front of the fireplace.

Kurt and Laura had tickets for The Book of Morman about two days before we were leaving and with some searching on Craig's List we found 2 more for us. Such a fun night, with appetizers and drinks before the show. What a fantastic way to end our visit.

 Then it was time to pack up and drive further east with St. Augustine as our destination. So, the boxes were attached once more to the back of the SAAB, Foster was settled into the back seat and off we went...

but we made a short stop first at the Denver Airport to surprise our niece, Ali.  She was flying home for a long birthday weekend and our timing was perfect to spend an hour with her before we took to the long open road across Kansas.  Though we got a late start that day we did make it all the way to Hayes, Kansas before stopping which had us almost half way across!