Golden

March 7 – March 31, 2021

Home is where you feel at home and are treated well.

Dalai Lama

This blog is short on content but big in meaning. The time out taken from travel over 3 weeks in March was a much needed reprieve from our new normal to one where we took care of the administrative end of the journey, giving the production of a blog a temporary rest. We will return to the normal fun of gathering the words and photos when we hit the road again in April.

Our time in Golden was truly special. It reminded us of just how extraordinary a place it is from the deep friendships we’ve made to the access to nature we share. It is a place we call home not because of the wood frame house we own but because of the people and surroundings.

We want to thank all of you who showed up while we were there whether it was a lovely dinner, meeting in your back yard, a run along one of the amazing trails from town, a beer, a phone call, or a miss because schedules were too busy. A special thanks to our friends who allowed us to stay in their luxurious basement apartment. This act of kindness goes well beyond anything we could have expected. 

While in Golden, we were able to spend some quality time with Lysette’s sister (Toby’s grandmother) and when they drove to Billings, I made the trek to Nebraska to spend an evening with my daughter and grandson, which was awesome.

And it wouldn’t have been a TWT stop if we didn’t experience a major weather event. We had over two feet of wet spring snow during our stay, reinforcing yet again our ability to deliver weather, in this case moisture, to places in need. We didn’t ski while there but saw plenty of folks making ski runs down Lookout Mountain. Unlike winter Stormy McStormface in Texas, the grocery stores had food and the gas stations had gas as this state has the mechanisms in place to manage and to allow us to enjoy these events.

Spending time running the trails, riding bikes up Lookout Mountain and even one short painful swim in the Golden Recreation Center pool reinforced the awesomeness of Golden. The town also has done a remarkable job of creating a safe culture during the pandemic of wearing masks even when outside, managing businesses for the upmost safety of staff and public, and those abiding did so with an apparent sense of duty to the community. As we have traveled around the US, the care we saw in Golden for our fellow humans to control this nasty virus was exemplary, so hats off to the citizenry. 

The team got physicals, prescriptions filled, and mostly healed or managed known ailments. We scheduled our vaccines for Grand Junction, got taxes done, truck and trailer registered, and basically caught up on administrative stuff. The truck went in for an inspection and total fluid change, coming out with high marks. The trailer went in for service resulting in a very frustrating experience with the service department of the business where we had purchased it. We cleaned everything, reset, restocked and now we are prepared for more travel. 

We camped at the Clear Creek RV park for two nights before leaving Golden. We can’t count the number of times we’ve run or walked past this park along the Clear Creek path and dreamed of the lifestyle those staying there were living, and now we got to play the part. It was a nice place with remarkably clean and updated facilities. 

As we drove out of Golden there was a bit of emptiness through the team, like saying goodbye for now to an old friend, with the knowledge it isn’t permanent. This was an opportunity to fill our hearts with fresh memories of home. The longing to be on the road again is still strong so we are keeping the momentum going. 

Thanks again to all our Golden friends and family. This town is our home and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

As update to our travels, we are currently sitting in Goosenecks State Park just outside Mexican Hat, Utah. We received our first vaccination in Grand Junction on April 1, (no fooling) and with our next one scheduled for April 29th, we plan to play around down in this area of the southwest until then.

The TWT Team