We were able to spend a solid 14 days in the states – the most ever since we’ve left Colorado in November 2010 – and we were welcomed with more rain than what Colorado has seen in years.  Interstate 25 was closed Thursday evening (Sept 12), 4 hours after we landed in Denver.  We were likely the last car to drive down i-25 for the next 48 hours.  News spread internationally – we were getting phone calls and emails from friends in Sydney asking about it!  Crazy.  My cousins in Boulder had their basement flooded (picutres below).

Comment from my Uncle Joe on September 13, 2013: All safe. Water in basement, but everything we cared about up and out. The family and neighbors were superstars. Came close to being unscathed, but not complaining in what they’re now calling a 500-year flood. I welcome the opportunity for focusing on what’s important, and redoing the basement with the boys and friends. Patrick Glynn will probably run the show with Lloyd Linnell acting as counsel. All photographs and disk drive safe. Even the LPs and old comic books. But most importantly, everyone is sleeping now, safe and sound.

Newspaper Headings: “Flood conditions stretched about 150 miles, from Colorado Springs north to Ft. Collins. Saturated soils left water with no place to go, and puddles turned to ponds throughout the densely populated Colorado Front Range. Rainwater swelled rivers and creeks, overtopped dams, flooded basements, and washed out roads. By September 16, authorities had confirmed six deaths, and more than 1,000 people remained missing.”

“President Barack Obama first declared a state of emergency for Boulder, El Paso, and Larimer counties, with an additional 12 counties added September 16: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Morgan, Logan, Pueblo, Washington and Weld counties.”

“The event ‘was likely a 100-year flood (or more accurately: a 1% probability per year flood),’ the report states, and that all-time record or near-record precipitation was recorded during the week of Sept. 9-15 across the Front Range.”

The downpour that inundated parts of Colorado this month was a once-in-a-millennium event for those areas, according to an analysis by the National Weather Service.

Fortunately, we were still able to enjoy what Colorado is typically known for: the sun & Broncos sunsets!  Despite the chaos with the weather, it was good to be home again.