Welcome To Denver

The Mile High City….Denver, Colorado….land of promise and dreams for myself and my then boyfriend.  Thirty three years ago, the view of the city and the Rocky Mountains took our breath away as we drove in from the east.  We had taken our time getting here…but the closer we got, the more anxious we were.  The lure was a new adventure….the mountains, it was the reason we came.  It was our dream to see them…..to hike in them…..to backpack in them.   We were finally here.  We contacted our friend from Virginia and found his house in Denver.  He had generously offered his home to us until we could find our own place.  While we appreciated the gesture, we were quite anxious to begin our lives on our own in our new state.  

The first order of business was to find a place to live and get a job.   Denver was booming when we got there.  During this time, many people were migrating west from the east…people anxious for something different after a tumultuous start to the decade.  The west was calling, and people came.  We were fortunate that on our second day we found a small, furnished one bedroom apartment  that we could manage for several months on the money we saved.   Now when I think about it, it was amazing we were able to get an apartment without current employment.  I suppose it was because times were a little simpler back then.  We had a place to live, now we needed to find jobs. 

I started my first and only job in Denver on this very day thirty three years ago…..March 23rd, 1977.  When I left Virginia, I had been working as a desk clerk so that is what I set my sites on when I came to Denver.  I was a little hesitant at first because I didn’t view this area as a tourist area and believed that hotels may be limited.  I was pleased to discover I was wrong.  I applied at one location but obtained a job at another hotel the company owned….Stapleton Plaza Hotel and Office Building was located right across the street from Stapleton International Airport.  

 It was a beautiful atrium hotel with an athletic center located off the walkway between the hotel and office building.  The dining room, Antares, served exotic entrees such as buffalo, snake and other interesting dishes.  The lounge featured live entertainment and the coffee shop was situated with seating in the atrium.  It was also an extremely busy airport hotel.  We hosted many conventions as well as famous individuals and rock bands.  

My former boyfriend was just as lucky when it came to employment.  The apartment we had moved in to was due to get new carpet but they let us move early since we were in need of a place to live.  When the carpet layer came that day, we were both home.  Don was a Denver native, very personable and very helpful when he discovered we were new to the city.  He filled us in about places to go and places not to go.  When we were talking with him about looking for employment, he asked if my former boyfriend had any experience laying carpet.  When he replied he did not, Don shrugged his shoulders, said it didn’t matter and offered him a job.  He said he could train him.  It was too good to be true ~ we had found an apartment and we both had jobs a week after we had arrived! 

We became friends with Don and his wife Linda.  Our first real adventure in the Rockies was to Rollins Pass and the eastern entrance to the Moffat Tunnel with them ~ and it was a four wheel drive adventure as well.  The Moffat Tunnel cuts through the Continental Divide and provided Denver with access the western part of the state.  Again, the quality of these thirty three year old images are not the best ~ and these in particular suffered from some particularly bad processing which caused the images to take on a reddish tint over the years.   

The view from Rollins Pass was amazing.  While we had ventured into the mountains prior to this trip, we had never driven in quite this far before.  It was love at first sight. 

The beauty of this area, as with many other places I visited, was the ability to get away from it all ~ literally.  There were no crowds waiting in line to take a photo of a spectacular view….no traffic jams, no airplane noise to disturb the quiet beauty.  The lakes that doted this region were all ours…..the fields we walked through were ours alone to enjoy.  We brought a picnic and enjoyed it by a beautiful lake created by glaciers….we took what we brought back out with us, leaving the area as we found it.  I think we even managed to tire out our friends Great Dane, Solomon.  🙂 

This was definitely one for the memory books….but there were more to come.  We had a good start….we found an apartment, we found employment…our new life was just beginning.