In last Friday’s post, I talked about meeting Lara Schiffbauer and her family. Another writer I’d wanted to meet for a long time is Susie Lindau. I followed Susie’s blog long before she had her double mastectomy and the whole planet started following her.
My wish finally came true on this vacation. Pictured below, Sharon (standing) and I relaxed and visited with Susie and her husband Danny on an outdoor patio at her favorite restaurant, whose name escapes me.
A grin on his face, Danny introduced himself as Mr. Susie Lindau. I guess that’s the price of having a famous wife. Well, she’s certainly famous in our circles anyhow.
The Lindaus waited patiently as we chased our GPS up and down the street the restaurant was on. For a town its size, Boulder, Colorado, has a good bit of traffic, and it grew thicker as we finally approached the right end of the street. Crowds of pedestrians strolled up and down the block around our destination, and the city fathers picked up an idea from Boston, changing the street we were on to one-way against us.
It was well worth the trouble getting there. Susie and Danny are both delightful people who went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Danny is in the real estate business, but both he and Susie make sure their work doesn’t interfere too much with their skiing. After all, they live next door to some of the best skiing on the planet, so why not keep their priorities straight.
Susie is over a year beyond her cancer and surgery, and she’s doing great. Both of them exude good health as well as friendliness. I’m so glad we managed to put this meeting together.
Arriving early in the afternoon, we decided to do a little sight-seeing before our dinner. Sharon found a couple of things that interested her in the AAA Tour Book we brought with us. She’s a fan of Celestial Tea, so when she saw their headquarters listed in the book, she had to see the place. It turned out we would have had to wait an hour and a half or so for a tour of their plant, so we passed on that, and I’m glad we did.
Had we waited there, we wouldn’t have had time to go to the Leanin’ Tree Museum, and that would have been a big loss. I’d never heard of Leanin’ Tree greeting cards, but apparently an awful lot of people have. Their plant is in Boulder a few blocks from Celestial Tea, and they operate a free art museum on the premises.
Most art museums I can drive by without slowing down, but I love Western art, and that’s what this place is all about. The lawn in front of the museum contains a number of Western statues, and the building itself houses dozens and dozens of high quality Western paintings.
When I think of Western art, the first names that come to mind are Remington and Russell, but I found a jewel here. I’d never heard of Bill Hughes, but his huge scenery paintings blew me away. I couldn’t quit looking at them.
If you ever have occasion to go to Boulder—or even Denver—don’t miss Leanin’ Tree. And arrange to meet Susie and Danny, too. I’d add Piper Bayard to that list, but you never know when she’ll be globetrotting to England or France.
What memorable vacation have you taken recently?
What memorable people have you met?
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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.
For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.
Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.
David N Walker 
David, I would love to meet Susie some day, too. She is such a fun and fun loving person! I had the pleasure of meeting Renee Schulz-Jacobson and had a blast doing that. Gosh, there are so many of you folks that I’m dying to meet!
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Ooh, Renee is one of the ones I’d most like to meet, but I guess you have to be in upstate New York or somewhere in Florida to meet her.
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Next time I get to the DFW area, I’ll give you a shout. 🙂
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Please do!!!
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It’s just the most lovely thing when people get together. This world is filled with wonderful people, and I’m grateful for the internet that can bring them together. 🙂 (Susie sent me via her party post!)
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Thanks for stopping by, Catherine. I totally agree with you.
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Hi Dave – I detoured over here from Susie’s blog. I love her use me and abuse me days.
How exciting that you actually got to meet the famous Susie Lindau in person!?! Some day I’m going to get to Colorado and drop in to say “hello,” as well. Sounds like you had a blast in her home town.
Here’s a link to one of my recent blogs. If you get a chance, swing on by and leave a comment.
Good to meet you. I”m a writer as well, so perhaps we’ll have some common friends.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
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Thanks for coming over, Patricia. I’ve seen your name on Facebook. I suspect we do have some WANA friends in common.
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I want to meet Suse too, but she lives 15000 km away…
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That might slow you down a bit.
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Reblogged this on Susie Lindau's Wild Ride and commented:
It’s always wonderful to meet blogging friends in real life!
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I agree 100%. Thanks, Susie.
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Thank you so much David! We really enjoyed meeting you too.
You picked the best spots to visit in my neighborhood. Come again soon!
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Hope to do that, Susie.
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Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
I hope to meet some of the American bloggers I chat to online in person someday. Better start saving for the flights. 🙂
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I hope you can do that one day, too, Emma, and I hope I’m one of them if you do.
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We’ve shared a lot of wonderful memories traveling the last 24 years, and I’m excited about visiting Norway in 2015. ~ Love, Wife
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Should be beautiful scenery, Sharon.
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