Monday, June 30, 2008

And Finally Home

Returning home after a wonderful vacation is always a culture shock. It's always wonderful to get back but it is tough to get back in the swing of things. It was two weeks on the road with no thought of the housecleaning, cooking, laundry and day to day events. It's always fabulous to sleep in your own bed and to see all the kids and grandkids again. The part that I dislike is sorting through the mail -- all 31+ pounds of it -- and checking the answering machine messages. Sometimes the technology of today seems to bog us down more than we care to imagine.

The last few days on the road were as much fun as the rest of our trip. We were able to visit with our dear neighbors who recently moved to the Colorado Springs area. As well, we shared a wonderful dinner with the widow of my husband's Navy flight partner. Both visits were such a highlight in our trip.


One of our stops along the way home was in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was a lovely town to get out and walk. We toured the old train station with all the history behind it. It's hard to imagine traveling in such luxury these days.



I believe that I mentioned how both my husband and myself love to get off the beaten path on our road trips. He is the driver and I am the map reader. Although we do have the navigational system in the car, there is nothing quite as exciting as having maps strewn all over the car seat. The roads that we end up on are also NOT necessarily on the maps. We found some great ones this trip. This was a wonderful side road or "old road" that ran along a highway that we were taking. Driving on it enabled us to view a beautiful owl that was sitting on a fence post. I believe he was as curious about us being there as we were about him.



There was one outside of Gunnison, CO that started out as a wonderful paved road and then turned into a gravel road which passed through a beautiful grassy valley filled with ranches, cattle, wildflowers and aspen groves. It eventually took us up to about 11,000 feet and we found ourselves in snow. We saw only one other car on the whole drive on that road. I wonder why.








Another took us through a beautiful pine covered forest where we saw a striking fence made of old skis. Both of these roads were dotted lines on the maps and they were just what we love.





We arrived home Saturday afternoon and all was well as home. The house, animals and plants were well cared for by our willing daughter and SIL.


Sunday we celebrated our granddaughter's 7th birthday. It was a few days late as they have had the chicken pox in their family. Half of the children had received the vaccine and the others managed to get the pox in two groups. Their assigned doctor did not believe in giving the vaccine. They recently were able to switch physicians and they were in the process of getting caught up on the vaccines. I guess they will not need the injection now.

I hope that everyone will enjoy their July 4th weekend and will have a safe one as well.

16 comments:

  1. We also loved taking "the road less traveled" You certainly got some great pictures.
    So glad you had a wonderful trip. Going through mail and papers seems like such a huge job.
    I remember our own two getting the chicken pox. My husband also got them (in his 30's) Was he ever sick.
    Our HMO actually took pictures of him as they said they hadn't ever seen a case as severe.
    I'm all for the vaccine..
    xo

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  2. Sounds like your trip was just wonderful. But there is nothing like your own bed and pillow.

    Oh my, we have those chicken pox and measles pictures in our family albums too!!!

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  3. Beautiful photos, chicken pox and all!
    Glad to have you home again, safe and sound.

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  4. Great pictures even the kids with the chicken pox.

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  5. WOW, I forgot what chicken pox looks like! I know my sister got it when she was about 18 months old, and ended up in the hospital for a few days. I'm sure I had it at some time, but don't remember it! I heard there was a group around here who want to get their kids together with other children who HAVE chicken pox so they can get it naturally and get the immunity by GETTING chicken pox! They believe the vaccine isn't safe, and it's better to have thier children get it in a somewhat 'controlled' environment than possibly getting sick from the vaccine, or having whatever side-effects may come with the vaccine. I love the pictures you've gotten straying from the 'beaten path'!

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  6. Welcome home, Mary! Your whole trip sounds so wonderful. I love the photos from Colorado: isn’t that a gorgeous area?

    The pictures of your grandkids with the chicken pox are priceless! You can show them to their respective fiancés one day when they get engaged. It'll embarrass the heck out of 'em! :-)

    Have a great Fourth. See you next Tuesday at the guild meeting.

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  7. Thank you for all those lovely pictures and your commentary with it. It certainly made me want to visit these places.

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  8. Welcome home! Oh, those chicken pox don't look fun at all! I hope they clear up quickly!
    ~Kelli

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  9. glad you had a great time..
    Oh. chicken pox..
    I remember those..lol

    Have a happy 4th of july!

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  10. What roads you found!! My hubby would never do that but I would love it!! I think we see too many movies..smile!! Bad things happen!! Crazy I know.
    You had a great time. Chickenpox..OH those are awful things. Both my brother and I had them and our children. But now the kids don't get them which i think is great.
    Sandy

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  11. My family and I love road trips too! Just a month ago we drove thru Cheyenne, Wyoming on our way to Denver. It's so beautiful!

    You took some fantastic photos. I love the fence made from old skiis!

    Glad you had a great trip and that you're safely home again.

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  12. I really, really enjoyed these holiday pictures. Just what interests me. Love the barns with the quilt blocks...now how to talk my DH into doing that!!
    The cropping looks very wet, presuming all that rain comes with the tornadoes.
    $3.69 a gallon fuel will iterest DH, is that cheaper than what you are generally paying, what kind of price is yours now? We are at around $1.70 a litre.
    Cheers, Tarcey

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  13. Welcome Home!!!

    I loved all your photos! Glad your trip was wonderful!

    Wow! I have not seen chicken pox since I had them as a little girl! My kids have all been vaccinated from them so they never had them but I remember having them twice! The grand kids are beautiful even with them!

    Thanks for sharing!
    Happy 4th!

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  14. Well, I have to say that your grandkids are taking the chicken pox very well! So cute.

    We like to take the smaller roads as well. Great pictures! A co-workers just moved to Gunnison last month. We have never been into Cheyenne to check it out, though we live only 50 miles from there. I did get up there to the shopping center one time years ago when our ladies used to go Christmas shopping together, and we always liked to try different malls, but never in to see the historial parts. Crazy, eh?

    Hope you had a great 4th - we did, though it was a bit fractured as we made our way to 3 different places in one day - the fireworks were the best ever, and the little girls were so fun to watch as they enjoyed them. The babies got to stay home with great-grandm and grandpa, so that was a huge help.

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  15. Wow! What beautiful pictures. Off the beaten path is really the way to go! That birthday cake was pretty too and looks so yummy!!! I must agree, too, that there's no place like home!

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  16. Glad you are home safe and sound! Yes, it is always so good to get into ones own bed! You certainly saw some beautiful sights along the way, those pictures are gorgeous. I especially like the one with the fence made out of skis! That is soooooo funny, but what a great funky idea.
    Those poor grandkids! I haven't seen chicken pox like that since I was a kid in the olden days! I had them even IN my mouth! Hope they all are over it by now.
    Happy Birthday to Miss Granddaughter!
    Been watching the news about all the wild fires in CA. Hope they are not near you! Is this year worse then normal?
    Dad and I just took our walk. It's misting as the fog is thick this morning. We're supposed to have hot humid weather this week, not my favorite as you know! ha!
    We were on the coast yesterday and it was beautiful. We all ate too much lobster but I guess that goes without saying!!

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