A Fort Collins Kind Of Fourth!

I drove up to Fort Collins from Denver yesterday to celebrate the 4th of July with my sister Susan. We had planned on attending the big 4th of July celebration that was taking place at the Avery House (an historic home built in 1879 and owned by the Historical Society), but when we arrived discovered it had ended at 2:00 PM. What kind of 4th of July celebration ends at 2:00?  Obviously, a Fort Collins kind of one.  In any case, a series of historical posters, with photographs and text, were still on display, and so we did learn quite a bit about Fort Collin's history.  For one thing, the Northern Hotel, a fixture on College Avenue, was built in 1873.  For another, Old Main, the most historic building on the Colorado State University campus, was burned to the ground back in 1970 as a protest against the Vietnam War.  Pretty sad.

Fortunately, the Fort Collins trolley was still running.  The first time we tried to board, it filled up fast, and so we had to wait 30 minutes or so for the next run.  The trolley goes from downtown Fort Collins, right in front of the Avery House, to City Park and back, down Mountain Avenue, a beautiful parkway through one of Fort Collins oldest neighborhoods.  There was a technical problem along the way (the trolley is one of the town's original cars, dating back to 1919).  The problem had something to do with a compressor, but fortunately the mechanic for the operation was on board (always a good idea to take him along) and was able to get the thing running again.  There is also an even older car, built in 1909, that they are restoring, too.  I imagine that might take some time, but meanwhile everybody on the trolley seemed to have a fun time.  What a hoot!