A Week's Respite from the Heat

We spent last week in Colorado. A new destination for us. We had been thru the Denver Airport before, but never got out to explore. I had a show to work at the Colorado Convention Center, the AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference. Lots of engineers and scientists who specialize in rocket propulsion and spacecraft attended the conference and a few actually came into the exhibit hall to look at the various booths from vendors like Lockheed, ULA, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Some even stopped by our booth to look at the engine testing equipment and high precision rocket parts we make. My lovely wife accompanied me on this trip, and we took a few days of vacation after the conference concluded.

We drove up to Breckenridge, and had a nice lunch in the cool mountain air. There was a small street festival going on that seemed to focus on the gold prospecting history of the area. The ride back to Denver was brutal though, as I-70 was packed with people heading back east, out of the mountains.

We also had a chance to have dinner with some old friends we hadn't seen in a long time, Tom & Julie retired in Littleton a few years ago. It was great to see them again. We had a great time dragging up old memories of our days as young test engineers, and comparing notes on how our families have grown up.

We drove up to Ft. Collins, and spent a few days with our friends Larry & Amy, whom we haven't spent much time with since we both retired from the big aerospace firm in November of '06. They are doing just fine, and gave us the grand tour of Ft. Collins, the New Belgium Brewery, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Big Thompson Canyon, and even a herd of buffalo. We got to see their new grandson and their son & daughter-in-law, as well as Larry's brother and sister. All-in-all, a really fine time was had by all.

Our flight home was uneventful, and even though we had a great time, it was good to get home and see the doggies and sleep in our own bed again.