My first house in Fort Collins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nOne-half of a lifetime ago<\/em><\/strong>, I moved to Fort Collins after living in Germany for 3 years. I was so fucking excited to be moving back to a place I had my heart set on since first visiting it some years earlier. I had visited several times while working for HP in Washington and it seemed like everything Seattle wasn’t. Seismic Shock #6 was set in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSteamboat Springs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAnd boy-howdy, I sure did love living there. Almost everything about it (less the winter nosebleeds and summer hay fever) was fucking fantastic! But my career was never the same after my experience abroad, and internal politics became increasingly hostile to having software products in a hardware-oriented company. I had a fantastic experience building an incredible home in a nearby canyon, only to pack it up 6 months later and move to Atlanta for my next series of major earthquakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
After the afternoon thunderstorm yesterday, should be smooth sailing to the Fort.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tStunning drive from Laramie to Fort Collins on Highway 237<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe first part of the trip was interesting, passing Elk Mountain and became fabulous once on 237 out of Laramie. We arrived in Fort Collins just in time for another rainstorm. Looks like throngs of kids for weekend fun at the campground!<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMy old friends Maggie and Dan Matheson kayaking in Alcova Reservoir in Wyoming. They introduced me to the whole travel with your house thing some years back, and life has never been the same since!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
We hooked up with old friends Dan and Maggie. I’ve known them for half a lifetime too and have had several excellent adventures together of varying types over the years. They got me started in this RV after a visit to Florida in their own Excellent Adventure. Dan cooked some steaks, and Jake got to display his terrible table manners his dad taught him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe Cache La Poudre River. Its name to an incident in the 1820s when French-Canadian trappers, stranded by a snowstorm, were forced to bury some of their gunpowder along the banks of this river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nA morning walk on the nearby Poudre River was the ticket early morning followed by some more rummaging around down inside my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Half a Lifetime Ago*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/audio>* Sung to the tune of Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
I moved back and feverishly caught up and overpassed my Eurovision experience. I had experiences of a lifetime. As hard as I tried, I never felt like I fit in, though.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMy house for over 4 years after moving back. I had some great memories in the house, including soaking in the jacuzzi after skiing all day and sitting in the car for 2 1\/2 hours to get home!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI bought a great new house with a huge basement for my first true woodshop. I spent hours down there. I rode the hell out of my Trek bike and started swimming for the first time. I skied every winter, achieving the coveted “Forty Days on the Slopes<\/em>” title for one season. {That ultimately resulted in knee surgery in 1995, followed by a complete replacement 25 years later}. Life was the proverbial ‘Good<\/em>.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tOur fledgling Mechanical Design Division was located in this off-site leased building. It was a ten-minute walk from my house. The first year or so before we moved to the permanent site was great. I would walk home, eat lunch, and smoke some herb before heading back in the afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMy professional time at Fort Collins was a mixed bag. I got to work on the CAD products for a while and did a lot of traveling. I became dissatisfied and even thought about becoming a PDM consultant (bad idea). HP’s internal politics turned the tides against having a software group as part of a hardware oriented company that was trying to recruit other software companies. The writing was on the wall.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSo what did I do? I built a fucking monument to myself. A stunning mountain home on the side of a canyon outside of town<\/a>. <\/em>It pretty well consumed me the last two years I was there. It was truly the experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, I lost my access so I can\u2019t see how it’s turned out 30+ years later. I did some checking and there is practically no information past when I sold it in 1996<\/em>. Probably for the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
To complete the experience, while driving around in the now totally unfamiliar neighborhoods I spotted a 1960s era Sunbeam? This was the first sports car I ever owned while in college. I pulled up and quickly snapped a shot. A Sunbeam Tiger in immaculate condition. Like a beautiful woman running by in a dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Same as it ever was
\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHorsetooth Rock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWe did have a nice drive up past the infamous Horsetooth Rock area – as crowded as ever with boaters and bicyclists! Some housekeeping (including a new coffee maker) and a wonderful afternoon with Maggie, Dan, and Dan’s brother John, whom I have also known for quite a while now. Jake was conked out but gave us another performance when the killer bratwurst were served! Yum!<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMargarit (Maggie) and Dr. Dan with the two traveling dudes in their beautiful backyard in the hamlet of Fort Collins. They used to own a cabin in the mountains that was wonderful!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe campsite is nicely situated on several large man-made lakes. The kids seem to really enjoy the fishing.!<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBig fun lakeside at the campground near LaPort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
My oldest friends from my time at HP are Barry and Diane Odbert. Barry hired in around the same time as I did in 1985. They moved to Germany several months before I did and were there for most of the time I was. We moved back to Fort Collins around the same time and did a lot of stuff together.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBarry & Diane Odbert somewhere in the Alps. The fucking Alps, Dude!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWe had a great time and caught up on all that stuff that happened oh so long ago. I met their lovely daughter Mary Rose was there too. She recently earned her doctorate as a Shakespearean and Early Modernist and publishing a book of her poetry next year. Wow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Same as it ever was. Back on the road to see what next Excellent Adventure awaits. My bed, so deep inside my head, is as comfy as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe lonesome friends of science sayWith thanks to John Prine & Dave Tubridy<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/My-Private-Idaho.jpeg\")