Monday, July 4, 2011

Back in the USA




After over a month of waiting, we finally made it. I had to return to the States a couple of weeks before Anh's visa came through but she finally got and was able to get to Colorado without any problems. When I saw her coming up the stairway at the airport, the smile on her face made all the waiting worthwhile.I met her with flowers, an American flag, and a big kiss. She looked great in her red top and red hat.





Our first stop was to head to Boulder and drive by my house. We couldn't go inside since I have someone renting the place right now but we were able to see it from the outside. We drove up into the foothills behind my house so that she could see the open space at the base of the Flatirons and look down upon the city. Boulder is beautiful this time of year. They had a lot of snow during the winter and quite a bit of rain in the spring so everything was green and fresh.








The Pearl Street Mall in Boulder is one of my favorite places to hang out. There are plenty of good restaurants and places to have a beer while people watching. We met my good friend Chris and his daughter who had come to Vietnam over Christmas. It kind of felt like old home week to see a lot of the people I haven't seen in over a year. Everyone seemed to like Anh, but why wouldn't they?

We got up early the next day and headed up into the Mountains. There was still a lot of snow in the high country and Anh had never seen snow before. It was a beautiful, sunny day with puffy white clouds and, once we had gotten up into the high country, enough snow to play around in it. We drove over Loveland Pass, the highest all-year road in the US and stood on the Continental divide before driving down the other side to the ski area of Arapahoe Basin. The ski area was still open even though it was late June. We didn't try skiing ourselves because I didn't want any broken legs this early in our trip. 


My son and his family invited us over to their house for a homemade Mexican dinner. It was outstanding. I had forgotten how good real Mexican food can taste. It was also fun to play with my two granddaughters, Cody and Alex. 


Four days after Anh's arrival, we boarded a plane again and flew to Kansas to see my mother. Anh had not met my mother yet and was really looking forward to getting together with her. I think the two of them are going to hit it off great together. It's hotter than hell here, 105 degrees. Much hotter than Vietnam so we are spending most of our time indoors.



No comments: