My sister Mary Alcocer and her husband Tony ventured out to Colorado for a short vacation earlier this month. It’d been just over a year–the August 2013 wedding of Tony’s son Michael in California–since Monica and I last saw them. Their plan was to split time between Pueblo and Boulder, taking the first half of the week seeing some of the sights of southern Colorado, and then spending time with our brother Mark in Boulder.

The Alcocers took a somewhat circuitous route getting here: Oakland to Seattle to Denver. It took over 12 hours to get from their home in Santa Rosa to their hotel here in Pueblo. The same trip flying non-stop into Colorado is at least five hours less (I know this because I once led my wife and daughter on a similar non-linear path between California and Colorado, saving about $80 in airfare. To make a long story short, any family oriented air travel I book now requires Monica’s approval). But when I saw them the morning after, they appeared fully recovered from their long travel day.

They came by the house and we visited for a good while before walking over to Martinez Café for an early lunch. Afterward, I suggested heading out to catch some of the fall color up in the Wet Mountains along Highway 165. The aspen had peaked a few days earlier, but still made for some impressive vistas.

We made a stop by Bishop’s Castle, too. For first time visitors like Mary and Tony, Jim Bishop and his castle can make an impact. He’s built nearly all the castle himself, fueled in part by an anti-government fervor. I’ve been up there a few times and am, more of less, immune to Bishop’s views, although I am impressed with his castle. After listening to his muttering rant about civil liberties to no one in particular, Mary remarked that “we’re certainly not in California any more.” And Tony, while marveled by Bishop’s industry, was astonished by some of his construction techniques.

The Alcocers didn’t have much of a set itinerary for their time in Colorado. The Pueblo portion of their visit was underscored by a relaxed, unhurried spontaneity. But there was one place Mary really wanted to see: the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame up in Colorado Springs. So with the aid of (read: in spite of) a trio of Smartphones and the Google App (“Okay Google…”) the following morning, we found ourselves at the Skating Hall of Fame, housed in a modest building near The Broadmoor, the posh hotel nestled against the mountains on the southwest end of The Springs. We bumped into a couple from Texas in the parking lot who, while still seated in their car, were debating the merits of actually paying to enter the facility or heading over to the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

As memorable as Torvill and Dean, Dick Button, and the “Hamill Camel” are, the Figure Skating Hall of Fame left the three of us underwhelmed. Mary noted that given the amount of promotion elite  ice skaters receive, and the glamour surrounding the sport, the place should have offered more. On the way out, we bumped into our friends from Texas and they felt the same.

Our next stop, another destination selected by my big sister, was bit more interesting: The American Numismatic Association Museum, better known as The Money Museum on the campus of Colorado College. It houses a collection of rare coins and monetary notes that includes the lone surviving three-dollar gold piece minted in San Francisco in 1870  and now valued at a cool $6,000,000. After that, it was lunch at the Phantom Canyon Brewery, followed by a quick stroll around Garden of the Gods, then a stop in Manitou Springs for ice cream (For those of you wondering what Monica was doing while her husband was playing family tour guide, she was busy at work, establishing a new sales record for mid-term election advertising at the paper, over $250,000).

At dinner that night, the subject of home improvements came up. What were going to do with Enedina’s recently vacated room? How do we like having a basement? Monica mentioned her next home project was going to be adding a cat door to our rear storm door. That was all Tony needed to hear.

He decided to do a clandestine installation of the cat door the following day. After a trip to Harbor Freight Tools and an exchange of cryptic texts (Me: Elvis has left the building. Tony: Rosebud.), he got right to work with Mary and I chipping in with some light assistance. It took him about 40 minutes or so to do the job.

Monica worked late that evening and met the three of us for dinner at The Shamrock brew pub. She had no inkling of Tony’s handiwork until she saw the video as we waited for our food. And yes, she was very surprised and even more grateful. Mission accomplished.

Mary and Tony left for Marco’s place in Boulder, and the second half of their vacation, the following morning.

There’s an adage about how family visits often test the patience of its members that goes something like, “good to see them, good to see them go.” But with Mary and Tony’s time in Pueblo this go-around, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.