This morning I had my favorite traveler's menu breakfast of fruit, meusli and yogurt. Lacking the abundance of inexpensive in-season mango, pineapple and papaya usually involved in this dish, I helped myself to a can of Safeway Tropical Fruit Salad in Light Syrup from my sister's pantry. Masked by the crunch of the granola and the opaqueness of the yogurt, all in all it was quite close to the real thing.

I'm back at my sister's place in Pacifica after a week in Colorado for Jen and Larry's wedding. They live in the town of Superior, just southeast of Boulder against a backdrop of snow-dusted Rockies all along the western horizon. The mountains almost look like paper cutouts set against the crystal clear autumn sky. I haven't felt that crisp, cold, dry and wonderfully pleasant chill of fall since... I don't remember when. We don't really get that here in San Francisco. And speaking of paper cut outs, we went to the real town of South Park and I got my photo taken with the town sign.

Jen and Larry did all the planning for the wedding by themselves and they did an amazing job. Jen made a stunning bride and the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception all went off beautifully. I hid in the bathroom when Jen threw the bouquet.

In preparation for the wedding,I got my hair cut for the first time since Christmas in Pai . It was kind of sad to say goodbye to those dry brittle ends that have been with me through so much.

My cousin Dawn (father's sister's daughter) and her husband Jim live in Denver. I hadn't seen them since I drove cross country from Connecticut to California in 1997, and regretfully hadn't really ever gotten to know Dawn very well at all. I embraced the time we had together and left feeling so happy to have gotten to know this part of my very little family.

On a perfect clear Saturday, they took me for a ride up to 11,000 feet to Vail (one of Colorado's best ski areas) to see the Aspens at their peak. Mountainsides covered with millions of delicate, round, tinkling bright yellow leaves glowing in the afternoon sun greeted us as we wound our way up to the snow line. I once again failed to take photos (I still can't find my misplaced camera charger).

Looks like my tendency towards losing things hasn't stopped just because I've finished traveling. Somewhere between San Francisco and Denver I managed to lose both my cell phone and my prescription glasses. Of course, I also lost my camera charger and Palm Pilot, and the MP3 player Jai gave me as a gift malfunctioned and my computer is on the fritz. I believe it's time to invest in a label maker and stick my name and address on every last thing I own and maybe just surrender to the idea that maybe I am supposed to live a low-tech existence.

I'm driving down to visit my grandparents near Fresno tomorrow and will return on Friday.