Go West! Kissing Cousins in Denver

Bill and Susan had already left Wichita Falls to visit their daughter in Denver.

But Sue's brother Bill was gracious to offer the garage door "open sesame" 

code to us and allow us to stay at their house for the first leg of the trip.  

Travel is half mental.  And to my mind, a launch point toward Denver that is already 150 miles out of greater Dallas and all of it associated traffic and highway construction is indeed a start with the invaluable peaceful mind to get a long journey started with the proper view to the horizon.  So, we arrived to the empty house in the evening, rose quickly in the morning, a quick top off of the tank at the Jolly exit off of Highway 287 and then we cruise westward with a rested and peaceful mind at an expeditious rate of 75 miles per hour.

Lunch was scheduled for Clayton, New Mexico, ten miles across the Texas panhandle border.  We often stop at the DQ, not so much for the flavor of their menu, but for the local flavor on this particular Dairy Queen's walls. Back at the turn of the 20th Century, the notorious train robber, Black Jack, was captured by the sheriff's posse outside Clayton.  He was hanged for his crime.  But a close examination of the black and white photos of the towns folk dressed in their Sunday best, posing beside Black Jack on the gallows before the execution, and then the after after photos; reveals that the rope was too long and Black Jack's head popped off on his way down through the gallow's trap door.  I am not sure what is says about my constitution, but I find it titillating to enjoy my Tropical Coconut Ice Cream Blizzard while seated next to a discrete photo of a recently headless train robber.

Alas, we ended up a the historic Eklund Hotel for lunch. I ordered the chili verde rellenos, but they were out.  It must have been our waitress' first day on the job, as she was clueless on how to wait tables.  She failed to clear our dirty dishes before bring out the next plate, she then asked if we needed anything - and then when I made a request, she begged off, saying she needed to take an order across the room.  An hour and a half later, we were on the road again, with an enchilada substituted for the desired relleno.   

Over Raton pass and then north on I-25 to Sue's Cousin Carol.  WE met up last year with Carol (me for the first time, and Sue for the first time in 30 years) for another Mott cousin wedding in Nashville, TN.  We had a terrific time with Carol then, and decided to press our relationship and ask her to put us up for a night at her place in Denver.  She agreed, despite the fact that her house was going on the market the next day as she was planning to move to Spokane to close to her daughter and grandson.

Kissing Cousins, Carol and Sue - of the Mott Family Line
Discussions around the kitchen table using Grandma Mott's china
Carol sold this house a few days later and moved to Spokane

We earned our keep by identifying Cretaceous fossils she had collected in Wyoming and labeling them. [For the record: a bone fragment from a therapod dinosaur (femur?), belemenites (cephalopoda), gryphea sp., an possibly an oreodont]  We had a fun and vivacious conversation before bed.  then it was out the door for a few to-do items in Utah.

Sue helps Carol to prepare to move by telling the begonias
they can no longer hang around here

Bye y'all!
See you in Spokane