Judy
and I moved to Colorado in 1968. Neither of us had been here
before. Neither of us had family here or even knew anyone here. In
fact, we didn’t even know we were moving to Colorado until we topped the hill
on Highway 36, looked down on the town of Boulder, and immediately recognized
it as home. Up until then, all we knew was that we had piled everything
into our 1966 VW Bus and moved out of Southern California.
Judy
found us a place to stay. Student housing, otherwise vacant for the
summer, where we could rent a room for $40 a week.
In
between each two rooms was a kitchen room to share, but renting the kitchen
would cost extra, so we just got the room. Lucky for us though, within a
day we met our neighbor Chuck, who had rented the opposite room, and the
kitchen. He had a new set of pots and pans but didn’t cook. An
immediate agreement was reached that benefited both parties.
After
Judy and I both got jobs, we could afford to put down a deposit and move a few
blocks away to an upstairs apartment on Madison Avenue for $140 a month.
Less rent altogether than the $40 a week. We put a little charcoal grill
on the deck/passageway next to our door. We spent Christmas there.
We
stayed at the apartment until the house on Elati Court was built and we moved
into our first ever house together. Another break on rent. Our
house payment was $133 a month.
The
garage and wheelchair ramp have been added since, but otherwise it still looks
like our little house.
In
1972, we bought the Louisville house.
It
has been remodeled since we sold it and looks considerably spiffier now.
The
two big maple trees are still in front. A garage has been added, and the
pelican weathervane we put on the peak of the house is still there.
We left this house of 30 years to live full time
in the motorhome. We left Colorado as we had arrived, in a bus.
