My Great Colorado Deluge Experience

Coming from the sunny and humid New Orleans the previous week, it was an even greater shock to transition to not only much cooler temperatures than normal for a September Boulder, but also a very very wet one. The first day of constant rain was mostly just 40 people sitting at tables with an attitude of "I'll nick an umbrella from the hotel". The second day was glum for most of us, and nearly suicidal for most local Bouderites as rain for more than an hour is typically the maximum. The third and fourth days of constant rain was a growing empathy for how drowning rats must feel with a certain "who cares" if one has an umbrella or not. It wasn't just a little sprinkle. I mean RAIN. Constantly. Add dam breaks in a couple counties and .... well, you can imagine.

Personally, my heart was crushed. I did go out for the conference and it was well worth it, but secretly, I was very homesick for Colorado and needed the "other mountains" in my life. Not only could I not see them despite being right next to them, but I had no way to access them even by foot. Let's just say the pathways were blocked....

At least I managed to get into Idaho Springs and Nederland for our mountain village "fixes" before the Deluge actually started. Eric got his pinball hour and I got my street wandering. Unfortunately for Eric, he fell in love with the fantasy setting machine, but it runs about 10k for the cheapest available. While it is truly awesome to hit trolls with the balls, it looks like Captain Hook will be our sole pinball entertainment at home :)

The essence of Colorado, for me, is sitting 8k feet up just outside of Nederland and staring at the gorgeous lake; something I did often while living there and that I do every time I visit, although the winter vistas are much more stunning. Someday I'll have a second home there. Some day! (Thank God that dam didn't break .... *shudder*)

Meanwhile, while we did get a taste of helping clean up from rock slides on the road, which was one of the more enjoyable and rewarding community efforts I have experienced, we were mostly trapped and wishing we were ducks. More tragic were the restaurant closures of my favourite places. Apparently the locals felt the urgent need to resolve the rivers flowing through their yards and pull their belongings from the lakes in their homes. While the absurdly huge Challenger that Eric and I rented was able to get in many more places than other vehicles, no one was traveling certain paths.....LOL....