another eye opens

I flew into Denver, and Andy met me at the airport with his cousin’s daughter Melissa and his niece Avery — they were waiting by this amazing VW bug completely covered in beads.

We headed west up into the Rockies to the town of Dillon, where Andy’s family had found a gigantic VRBO (vacation rental by owner) with a beautiful view.

Unexpectedly, the lot next to the house was under construction, but it made to my eye a picturesque ruin.

The occasion for this gathering was to memorialize Andy’s Aunt Helen, who died earlier this year. I never met her, but this trip was a happy occasion to meet Andy’s mother’s other sister, Jean, whom I liked very much.

For Andy, family trips center on time spent with his beloved niece Avery…

…and equally beloved nephew Nathan, seen here in the embrace of Andy’s mom Brooke, aka GeeGee.

The kids’ mother is Andy’s sister Becky, who wowed the assembly with her killer mac-and-cheese whose secret ingredient was bacon. This was a crowd that loves its bacon. As who wouldn’t?

I got to meet almost all the relatives I hadn’t met before, including soulful young Preston, seven-year-old son of Andy’s cousin Heather

When we weren’t watching the Olympics, we headed out to the outlet mall, which was a lot less interesting than the farmer’s market in Dillon, where I picked up some fresh local peaches and tomatoes and a Greek olive with Thai curry tapenade (not pictured).