DAY 79: A Chance Meeting??....Nah, Simply Meant To Be!!

DAY 79:  Durango, Colorado - September 16, 2010

What a fun day we had today!!

First off, I slept in.......ahhhhhhh......so wickedly nice!  I've got to tell ya, this vacation thing is really working for me cause I wake up when I want; Chuck brings me coffee in bed......read for an hour.....instant message my sister......check my email.....all before ever taking my big fat web-toe out from under the covers.  Yep, life is G-O-O-D.........

But today, we helped our neighbor named Chuck move his stuff out of his old 5th wheel trailer to his NEW 5th wheel trailer he bought yesterday.  It's nicccccceeee........it's a toy-hauler (which means it has a garage) to store his motorcycle trike EXACTLY like ours in (except different color) ......has an upstairs kitchen which is way cool......and lots of other stuff too!

We finished up with the move, he hauled it back over to the KOA we're staying at and then we all headed to downtown Durango to have dinner at my sweet friend, Ann Holland, from Mt. Vernon friend's new restaurant called Balcony Bar and Grill.  Now I had explicit instructions from Ann to look this friend of hers up and give him a hug from her.......and I was prepared......phone camera in hand and his name etched in my feable little memory bank.  Unfortunately, it was his day off.......so a hand written note had to do!

This place of his was crazy busy which is good for Ann's friend; bad for Chuck, Chuck and Liz (that sounds like I"m stuttering....haaaa).  Somehow we found a great table, which surprised us due to all the people standing around supposedly looking for tables, but we thought we just had the "Luck of the Chuck's" with us tonight.  We continued to feel lucky UNTIL the live band started playing..........playing 4 feet away from our table.  UGH.  We couldn't hear a thing each other was saying and resorted to lip synching from that point on.  I have to admit; we were pretty dang good at it too!  Chapped lips and all!

We were then joined by Jim, our neighbor we had met in Moab, Utah over a week ago and then also met up with and toured Mesa Verde with, this past Tuesday.  He had since moved on to Durango, rode the train to Silverton and back to Durango today, and then met us for dinner afterwards.  But here's where it gets really interesting..........

Similar to the Cousin story I wrote about earlier this week, this might get a little confusing......so try and stay with me here......

Jim, the neighbor we met in Moab, is from Florida.  He lost his wife to cancer 6 months ago and was on the road traveling for several months just trying to figure out the next step.  We then move from Moab, Utah to Durango, CO.  A new neighbor arrives the day after we get here whose name is Chuck and from Indiana.  Chuck lost his wife to cancer 5 months ago.  Both had been married 45 and 46 years respectively to their wives.  So, lets recap:

* Both of their wives had recently passed away.
* Both lost their wives to cancer
* Both wives died 5-6 months ago
* Both wives were almost the same age....64
* Both couples had been married 45-46 years
* Both men were traveling alone figuring out the next step

* And both were neighbors to Chuck and Liz

You simply CAN'T tell me that was an accident.......a "chance" meeting.......No sir-ee.......that, my friends, was meant to be.