Our Colorado trip, part 1

We were there ten days, but they flew by.  Still, it feels good to be home, sleeping in our own bed, working in our own kitchen, etc.  We arrived in Golden on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 21.  It was good to see Mom again - it's been a year but she seems just as vital as ever, at age 95.  On Sunday we accompanied her to the ballet in HD at the movies.  Live, from Moscow, the Bolshoi presented Le Corsaire, a drama full of pirates and Turks, with some lovely pas de deux and ensemble dancing, notably an "animated flower garden."  Watching in the movies, we get to see the dancers' faces, which is fun.

On Monday, Mom, Jenny, and I did a little shopping - the Dutch store with cookies and cough drops to take home; a wonderful Mexican market with delicious bread; the post office; and the grocery store/pharmacy.  It was a nice day to rest before Tuesday and Wednesday when Paul, Jenny and I headed out to explore the Plains in the eastern part of the state. 

The landscape is entirely different from the awesome Rockies and we passed through some sad, small towns along the way.  Farming and ranching are big here, but Jenny said that many young people have left for Denver and other places to look for work.

We visited three National Park Service sites, with our first stop at the site of the Sand Creek Massacre, which is eight miles over gravel roads from the main highway.  It was sad to learn that so many Native Americans were slaughtered here.   Our park ranger, Jodi, gave an excellent talk.  We went up a windy hill to a monument and overlook.  As you can see the sky was brilliant, but it was very windy.

From there, we continued toward Granada and the Japanese-American Relocation Center called "Amache."  It was a large site with barracks and common buildings which are no longer there except for a few rebuilt structures and lots of cellar holes.  There is a museum in Granada but during the school year it's only open with an appointment.  We could drive through and were impressed (not in a positive way) by the sheer size of the "center."  The map shows all of the sites around the country during the 1940s.

I have read quite a bit about the Japanese relocation, including Tallgrass

by Sandra Dallas (which I plan to re-read since she based the story here), Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida, The No-No Boy by John Okada, and The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  This tour really brought the sadness to life for me.  I was impressed by the cemetery we stumbled upon.  It contained the bodies of men from Amache who volunteered to fight for the US in WWII.

From there, we headed to a motel in nearby Lamar and dinner at a Thai restaurant which was quite good.  More tomorrow...