Historical Posts representing Adventure Continues: Second Quarter

Steamboat Springs was in some Chaos with the ski mountain closing right after Christmas in 76. The locals were in a world of hurt while us transients made our plans to move on. I went back to Indiana for Christmas, said my goodbye’s to my hoosier friends and packed up my VW Bug with everything Connie & I would need for a new life in Colorado. My father-in-law’s was impressed for how well I packed my car. I remember how excited I was to know what my next step of the Adventure was going to be. It felt so great to have the freedom to move to this beautiful state where I knew we could get jobs and prepare for the next adventure. Connie was doing the same in Indianapolis and was starting to lay some plans for our May wedding there.

I had secured us an apartment in Westminster, CO, near 72nd and Federal. Connie remembers it was furnished at $160 per month. Definitely a starter apartment but nice. We arrived in early January of 77 and all was good. I took the first job I could get which was a night janitor position in a large hotel on I-25 near downtown Denver. During the day I was looking for a better job. Connie landed a job as hostess at another large hotel in Denver taking a bus to work. Soon I landed a job as a chemist at Colorado International, a chemical formulating plant in Commerce City. This job was good in that it seemed like I was following what my education had prepared me for. However, things did not totally add up for this business. I was given far more responsibility than I deserved.

Connie lasted in her job until the National Western Stock Show rolled into town. Her hotel was strategic for the hosting of the stock show where many of the wealthy ranchers came to play. The story of her dismissal had to do with her response to one of these rich ranchers who was being extremely rude. Her response back to him, that she could be just as rude to him did not fly with her boss and she was immediately terminated. She did find another job that worked out much better. A positive from our time in Westminster was our motivation to drive into the mountains for great skiing. It was good prioritization of our recreation budget. And a tidbit about my old friend Steve. Turns out he found a way to return to Kansas City for a visit and on his way back got nabbed in Russell, KS, for possession of a few joints. He used his only phone call to call me to see how much money I could wire to them. Funny how the amount I could send turned out to be his fine.

I started asking more questions at Colorado International and even had my brother, a lawyer at Monsanto, do some research on this company. They needed someone who could run a Gas Chromatograph to validate various herbicide and pesticide products that they were formulating. But it did not take me long to question why we were buying raw chemicals and then packaging them to be sold at a loss. This was not a sophisticated operation and when my brother told me the owner had 22 chemical warehouses around the country, activities started to add up to a mafia type operation.

Lot’s of strange things happened at Colorado International before I was able to quit latter that Summer, but I sure knew that I did not want to be apart of what ever was really going on there. The plant was destroyed after explosions and fire in December, 1977.

Our wedding on May 7th was nice. Married in the Butler University Chapel with a dinner reception for close friends and family at the North Willow Farms Clubhouse. I never really thought about how stupid I looked in a powder blue tux but that was my favorite so I went for it. Connie and I fulfilled the wedding expectations for our families but we were ready to return to Colorado where we were set to move into a nicer apartment complex in Boulder. I think this is when I realized Indiana was a good place to be from. Some advice for men, you should not get married the day after your birthday especially near the yearly holiday of Mother’s Day. This celebration gauntlet generates far too much tension.

Once in Boulder I started focusing on completing my IU degree at Colorado University. I validated my Colorado residency by living there for a year. And to my great surprise I applied for a government scholarship to help with my school expenses and I received all that I needed. Making very little money in 1976 set me up well for my scholarship request. We did not know what the future held but we were both into the Adventure.

Next Post: Boulder Colorado

Boulder is a college town in a beautiful setting next to the Flatiron foothills, but in the summer of 77 it had its own post Vietnam era independent vibe. Connie and I truly enjoyed living the good life in Boulder.