Denver 2019 day 6 Nil sine Haburgii Bisono

June 25 2019

We slept a little late my last day, as Titi was working and it's the best way to keep us quiet.

Abuelita came with us for a supply run for Rosa and Anabelle’s alone days in Colorado.  We were in the cosmetics aisle looking for nail stiffener far too long for me to not make a fool of myself.

Nearby was a set of kids character based mask/sunglasses that I’d put on and wander back.  My attempts to communicate the identities to Abuelita were far more on the hysterical side than educational.

“Yo tengo Batman por favor.”

During one of my costume changes they went to another department, unintentionally (so I’m told) misplacing me for a bit.

We reconnected (likely since I had the car keys) and though it was a short trip home, Pigeon provided some excellent interpretations to Gilbert and Sullivan and Chuck Berry.

As we set out for a rare mid-day around the lake walk, we found the parking tag from the Peruvian restaurant from two days ago still wedged under the windshield wiper.  It was a nice illustration of the completely rain free period of our trip.

Anabelle performed some jump rope champion showcases and worked on ideas for this year’s Christmas play.  Insane planning runs heavily in our family. 

Artsy pictures were on tap again. We scored an interesting one of a giant mutant dandelion, which would be relevant if I included it or had any idea where it was.  I finally fooled one of the red winged magpies by pretending to photograph a thistle.

However, the magpies all fooled me as when I got home and double checked Anabelle’s bird call book for their range, I learned they were really red winged blackbirds all these years.  So much for being educational.

We tried to determine where Hope the bunny went during his hiding times, and if it was possible that he was escaping completely and returning for the free food. This didn't seem to be the case.

When we set out for lunch, it started pouring.  Luckily, the in car entertainment made up for the lousy visibility of the mountain scenery.

Pigeon was in rare form rocking out to the Doors “Break on Through.” However, I think the highlight of the show was the simulated synchronized swimming to Ariel’s “Part of Your World.”

We reached El Rancho as things dried up.  The Latin waiter we had last year when all of us were there served at what rapidly became our booth.  Possibly due to the use of Spanish all around (except me) Anabelle happily learned apple juice was available, despite the waitress being confused by the concept the other night.

The proper mix of bison burgers wings and sides came to the table, and things were good.  Rosa and Anabelle were planning on having half of their burgers now and saving the rest for dinner. That plan lasted right until they tasted them, and we all cleared the table nicely, as I predicted, since absolutely everything was way better than the Wild Game place.

My second prediction, that someone would ask, “Is Yogurtland far from here?” before we finished eating came true as well.  I do know this crowd.

On the way out we saw one Pepsi umbrella hidden behind the porch, no doubt a relic of a past age at this Coke concession.

For the first time in the entire vacation the herd of bison was clearly visible as we drove by the exit for the Buffalo Overlook. 

No one cared.

The Red River Hog Review continued, first to a selection from The Greatest Showman.  Then Anabelle switched to the Monkees and Beatles playlist.   Pigeon’s most stirring performance came to the tune of “Yesterday” which Anabelle rechristened “Pig Ballet.”

Absolutely hysterical.

We had our final frozen yogurts together, and drove home.  Since we needed to bring luggage to the car, every single one of the spaces we had used throughout the trip near Titi’s house was full.

I gathered my travel stuff and the three of us entered Hi Ho Silver Hooray for a final drive as a trio.  The mood made the songs all too sad for any pig choreography.

I bid them farewell and worked my way through security. With the Godzillas, Carnegie collection additions and my belt buckle in the scanner, the attendant stopped it, rolled it back and said, “Somebody likes dinosaurs!”

Sadly none were to be seen on the floor in the area of the airport I started at.  They didn't show up until I worked my way further in by the rickety old plane hanging from the ceiling. 

I'm guessing it’s there as a “be thankful you’re not travelling in one of these,” reminders.

My gate was at a dead end, by a large section of plastic covering up construction.  Anabelle hid the sloth Alamo in my luggage so I wouldn't be lonely.  I sent them a picture when I found it.

I used what became dubbed as “The creepy app.”  The IPhone “Find my phone” feature allowed me to track their progress home on Rosa’s first long Colorado drive. Luckily Anabelle is an excellent navigator, since they had to rely on paper directions. Siri had spent far too much time in the land of local herbs to be of any use.  Rosa felt she needed a pina colada by the time they got home.

In what can only be termed a miracle in the modern age of travel, my flight was nowhere near full.

In fact for the first time in twenty five years (when - for a work flight to Utah- we got stuck on the tarmac for five hours after a previous delay and many passengers gave up) I got a whole row to myself!

The older Airbus plane had no monitors in the chairs, but was already roomier without the empty spaces.  The safety lecture was done old school live in the aisles.  It was complete with all the “Unlikelys” that memories of Richard Jeni’s bit had me laughing uncontrollably throughout.

I buckled Alamo in next to me and sent my family a farewell picture before shutting down electronics and digging into analog entertainment.  I finished Stephen King’s history of horror I’d been working through since the flight out and started on Neil Gaiman’s Stardust.

There was turbulence from thunderstorms the whole way, providing spectacular lightning flash views on most of the trip.  This made it easy to get the entire can during the beverage service as the attendants basically ran the cart down the aisle tossing passengers’ selections to them to allow them to belt in again quickly.

We landed a full half hour early. This, of course, meant there was a plane in the way at the gate, and we exited on schedule.

My sister picked me up (Thanx Kim!) I gave her the dinosaur puppet from the trip, and I made it home at 2AM to prepare for a bleary eyed next day at work.

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