I left the Denver area about 8:30 Sunday morning, back onto 470 west, then north to I-70. Drove I-70 to Richfield, Utah, where I had booked a stay in a Fairfield Inn (I was a bit wary about not booking reservations after my experience going to Denver from McPherson). The next morning I got a fairly early start and drove into Las Vegas about two in the afternoon. The trip down to Henderson took longer than I expected and I got lost a couple of times trying to find their place, but eventually pulled into the driveway of Mike and Patty Clauretie. Mike and I were graduate students together and on his first job after graduate school, at Shephardstown, West Virginia, we were able to visit when the three of us, Jane, Beth and me, were living in Arlington, Virginia. Mike and I would often meet at the annual economist convention and we both could tell tales about that, but at another time. We have stayed in touch and have visited over the years when they lived in Las Vegas, before the move to Henderson. Patty was returning the next day, so I had arranged to visit for two nights so I could visit with Patty after her return.
Mike and I spent the remainder of the day catching up, including interesting stories about each of his boys: Kevin, the entrepreneur, and Sean, the artist. After a couple of hours of chatting and (me, Mike no longer drinks) drinking beer, we took his Tesla to a local, and nice, Italian Restaurant where we had antipasto and veal parmigiano sitting on the deck outdoors with a splendid view of the LA strip. After dinner we returned to their home and chatted further and watched a game on the boob tube until my time to head off to bed.
I got up early the next morning and fixed myself a cup of coffee and took it outside to watch the wildlife (lizards and humming birds) while I had a cup or two of coffee. Their back yard is small, but nicely arranged with artificial turf, a few trees and other plants along the wall that surrounds the property. A very pleasant way to start the day. After breakfast, Mike came out and joined me. About 11:30 Patty rolled in from a trip to the Mayo Clinic to check on a heart issue which turned out not to be an issue.
Patty and I have a common interest: genealogy. For Patty, it was finding out about her birth parents (she was adopted and raised by a family across the Sound from Tacoma, Washington). Long story short, she found three siblings, a half brother in Portland, and two other half-siblings, brother and sister, in New York. Despite some initial reluctance, they all visited and learned about each other. And, of course, I had to tell her about Vilma and other findings on this trip. Afterwords, Patty and I made a run to the store to pick up steaks, potatoes and salad makings for dinner. Their youngest, Kevin, might be able to come to dinner, so we fixed enough for all. He did show up about seven and we had a really nice time talking about his encounters with the police and other events. Kevin should have been a lawyer.
The next morning I packed up and loaded up the car, then said my farewells. I am really looking forward to seeing them again before the year is over. It’s always nice to spend time with old friends.