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Cafe Berlin had been pleasant indeed. Bonnie and I had met Lisa for lunch and we had a nice long chat. But all good things end and we found ourselves sitting on the RTD 120X Northbound.

We like the bus. The hyper-practical side to me counts the change and finds that it is cheaper than driving to, and parking in, downtown Denver. The fun side, yes there is one, just enjoys looking out the window from the high vantage point of a big bus while someone else does the driving.

All the front-facing seats were filled as we filed onto the bus and we took one of the bench seats that face the aisle. A man, maybe late 30s/early forties, "I'm older than I look" we found out later, occupied the seat facing us.

The bus negotiated the maze of downtown construction and were sailing along I-25 when the first question came.

"Does this bus stop in Westminster?” our fellow traveler asked through the noise of a bus traveling 65mph. I assured him that it did, at the Wagon Road Park N' Ride. At the same time, it struck me a strange question. After all, the bus is an express, making only one stop. A stop at 88th and then ending at Wagon Road PNR.


He went on to explain that he was going to watch his son play his first football game. "Does Huron Street pass close to the Wagon stop?" I assured him that it did pass right by Wagon Road PNR. He did seem somewhat confused about the name of the school however. Bonnie helped him out and after some discussion, determined that he was looking for Legacy High School. I told him that it was about a mile north of Wagon Road. I was guessing. Locations of high schools are of minimal interest to me at my age but I do know there is a high school up Huron.


I ventured that it would be a nice walk on a pleasant fall day like this. And indeed it was, mid 70s, clear blue skies, early afternoon.


The next statement put me on guard. He complained, remember it was noisy, about some "crack in his foot". He went on for a few minutes about this malady, first pointing at his shoe, then placing his foot on the floor of the bus. "The doctor hasn't been able to do much about it". Good shoes, which his decidedly weren't, was the only short-term solution.


He then went on to tell us that he was a veteran and “had served a couple of tours in Iraq”. I asked him if he was still in the service and he said no, he had a medical discharge. That is when Bonnie said that he didn’t look old enough for all that. "I'm older than I look"


The conversation then turned back to his son, he confirming that the high school was a mile away, and going on to tell us that he was divorced. His ex wouldn't let him spend much time with his son and this was one way he had of being with his son.


By this time, the bus had exited the highway and was negotiating the tunnels that lead to Wagon Road.


"Does Huron pass close to Wagon? . . .Wagon Road" he corrected himself. As the bus made its way to the drop-off point, I pointed through the front window of the bus. "Huron is between us and the large Avaya building you can see." Just then, some cars went down Huron, "Right where those cars are going".


The bus had stopped and people were getting off. We said our goodbyes and wished him luck at the game.


The bus was a large, articulated bus with a rear exit. I expected him to take the rear exit but he didn't. He chose to go out the front exit, right behind us.


As we got off the bus, I told Bonnie to go to the right, towards the shelter. I followed, glancing back over my shoulder. The man stopped after exiting, moved our way, then turned and slowly walked across the vast parking lot towards Huron.


We walked quickly to our car. Soon the garage door was going up and we were home.