I'm here! There has again been a significantly long break in blog writing but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing posts in my head all the time. The person who invents telepathic blog writing will have my business.
Anyway, we are currently on an extended road trip from southern California back to Washington. This is our big "seeing the sights of the West" trip and so far we have covered Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Crazy Horse monument, Mt. Rushmore, and Devil's Tower. We have stayed in Vegas, Grand Canyon, Durango, CO (great little town), Denver, Scottsbluff, NE, Rapid City, SD, Gillette, WY, and are currently in Cody, WY on the way to Yellowstone. It's hard to remember what room number, what hotel, and what town we're in...
Making things more interesting is the fact that DH has to have kidney dialysis every few days, so we had quite a time planning this trip around cities that had available dialysis facilities on the days that it was needed. So far it's going well.
We started by visiting our Princess and Prince Charming and granddog Olive in Las Vegas. We had a good time with them, as always. Aren't they cute?
You can click on any photo to make it larger.
We first got to meet Olive in April when she came to the desert to celebrate DH's birthday with all the kids. We took her shopping at the street fair and found her some 12th dog gear.
Here's a photo of the whole gang from that weekend. It was so nice to have all our kids, their partners, one granddog, and my sister in town for the big birthday weekend. We went to our favorite restaurant in Palm Springs and had a wonderful time.
Back to the trip; we headed to the Grand Canyon from Vegas. We've tried to plan our drives so they won't be too long and have generally been successful. We have time to stop and look at things along the way without having to worry about driving in the dark. The Grand Canyon was spectacular, as expected. We had time to do a short walk along the south rim the day we arrived and then drive out and see more of it as we left the next day. Amazing!
Wildlife!
We were able to stop at the Four Corners Monument (a wish of DH's) and stand on the spot where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. It's kind of a fun thing to do. There are also lots of things to buy (!) as the Native American artists have multiple booths set up in the area. We bought a beautiful hand painted vase that will look lovely in our lake house. An early anniversary present from DH; much appreciated and a wonderful memento of this adventure.
That night we arrived in Durango, CO, a wonderful little town along the Animas River. Our hotel was right on the river and had a lovely view. We were able to go for a nice walk and see downtown, then walk back along the water and have an excellent dinner on the outdoor deck. A great day!
From Durango we drove to Denver. We weren't expecting to have to traverse multiple mountain passes in the rain. Not the most fun. And somehow it's always my turn to drive when the tricky conditions arise. We made it safely to a suburb of Denver, where we walked through a lovely park in the cool, rainy conditions. Come on, it's supposed to be the end of May! Luckily, I travel with a selection of hand knit wool scarves, shawls, and sweaters. I even made some mittens for this trip!
We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then did a little photo shoot of my Shaken or Stirred cardigan that I had finished in February. It's come in handy several times already in the last few days.
The next day as we took off for Scottsbluff, we made a quick stop in Fort Collins to visit The Loopy Ewe. I've been a loyal customer of theirs for years, although I don't need as much yarn now as I did when I first learned about them. I attended their annual Spring Fling in 2008 and 2009 when they were still in St. Louis, and had a great time and met wonderful people. The owner, Sheri, is an awesome, lovely lady and I got to visit with her and renew our acquaintance while shopping in their enormous store. I appreciate DH's willingness to indulge my yarn habit and make a special plan to stop by this fabulous place.
I'll wrap up my tale for today and pick up where we left off in the next installment. Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend everyone!
Anyway, we are currently on an extended road trip from southern California back to Washington. This is our big "seeing the sights of the West" trip and so far we have covered Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Crazy Horse monument, Mt. Rushmore, and Devil's Tower. We have stayed in Vegas, Grand Canyon, Durango, CO (great little town), Denver, Scottsbluff, NE, Rapid City, SD, Gillette, WY, and are currently in Cody, WY on the way to Yellowstone. It's hard to remember what room number, what hotel, and what town we're in...
Making things more interesting is the fact that DH has to have kidney dialysis every few days, so we had quite a time planning this trip around cities that had available dialysis facilities on the days that it was needed. So far it's going well.
We started by visiting our Princess and Prince Charming and granddog Olive in Las Vegas. We had a good time with them, as always. Aren't they cute?
You can click on any photo to make it larger.
We first got to meet Olive in April when she came to the desert to celebrate DH's birthday with all the kids. We took her shopping at the street fair and found her some 12th dog gear.
Here's a photo of the whole gang from that weekend. It was so nice to have all our kids, their partners, one granddog, and my sister in town for the big birthday weekend. We went to our favorite restaurant in Palm Springs and had a wonderful time.
Wildlife!
We were able to stop at the Four Corners Monument (a wish of DH's) and stand on the spot where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. It's kind of a fun thing to do. There are also lots of things to buy (!) as the Native American artists have multiple booths set up in the area. We bought a beautiful hand painted vase that will look lovely in our lake house. An early anniversary present from DH; much appreciated and a wonderful memento of this adventure.
That night we arrived in Durango, CO, a wonderful little town along the Animas River. Our hotel was right on the river and had a lovely view. We were able to go for a nice walk and see downtown, then walk back along the water and have an excellent dinner on the outdoor deck. A great day!
From Durango we drove to Denver. We weren't expecting to have to traverse multiple mountain passes in the rain. Not the most fun. And somehow it's always my turn to drive when the tricky conditions arise. We made it safely to a suburb of Denver, where we walked through a lovely park in the cool, rainy conditions. Come on, it's supposed to be the end of May! Luckily, I travel with a selection of hand knit wool scarves, shawls, and sweaters. I even made some mittens for this trip!
We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then did a little photo shoot of my Shaken or Stirred cardigan that I had finished in February. It's come in handy several times already in the last few days.
The next day as we took off for Scottsbluff, we made a quick stop in Fort Collins to visit The Loopy Ewe. I've been a loyal customer of theirs for years, although I don't need as much yarn now as I did when I first learned about them. I attended their annual Spring Fling in 2008 and 2009 when they were still in St. Louis, and had a great time and met wonderful people. The owner, Sheri, is an awesome, lovely lady and I got to visit with her and renew our acquaintance while shopping in their enormous store. I appreciate DH's willingness to indulge my yarn habit and make a special plan to stop by this fabulous place.
I'll wrap up my tale for today and pick up where we left off in the next installment. Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend everyone!
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