Welcome to Pueblo!

Our first guests, techincally, were Tim and Corey, who drove the truck and helped us move in. But the first people to visit a furnished and unpacked home were Dave and Cindy Grunert, who arrived on Thursday the 14th to spend the weekend on their way through their cross-country road trip. We enjoyed some rest and time at home, but also took our guests to a few places around town to show the city's flavor.

We took a long walk by the Arkansas River on Friday.

There are a lot of fountains for splash play downtown in Pueblo.

Actual cacti growing by the river:

More riverwalk art:

Angelo's downtown has a cool opportunity: kids can build their own pizzas!

On Saturday, we paid a visit to El Pueblo History Museum. We learned a lot about our adopted city.

Like, that we were living in Aztlan!

And that Latinx people in Pueblo have living memory of segregation. Several people shared stories of separate water fountains, bathrooms, etc, and of being disallowed from health clinics, to name a few examples.

We're proud to be associated with an effort like this, from CSU-P

There were a lot of cool relics from the Chicano movement in the 60s and 70s:

And the kids had plenty to engage them, from little historic play rooms to crafts to dress-up!

True story: I saw a guy wearing pants like these at the Mexican restaurant where we ate tonight:

Lots of Puebloans remember being migrant field workers.

We'll be sending Miles to school in District 60. I'm pleased to learn about the activism that led to District 60 being funded and equally supported by the state.

The three faces of mestizo: Spanish, Indigenous, and in the middle, the mestizo.

Jon and I made maps of our lives to show our family's movement:

And we toured the model of "El Pueblo," the trading post that sits where the city of Pueblo now exists.

The folks living in El Pueblo were Italians who married indigenous and used Moroccan technology and Spanish language. This is a very culturally diverse area, despite demographics which indicate that it's mainly "white" and "hispanic."

They had a place to show what neighborhood visitors represent, and also, what Pueblo means to you:

The top two are mine and Jon's.

Dave and Cindy's visit also gave us a chance at a date. We took a walk in the comfortable desert night, and then sampled the beer at the Irish brewery. The moon and the murals outside made a magic sheen over a lovely evening together.

Who will be our next visitor?