All Good - Our Trip, Part 2

Sunday morning we awoke to snow and predictions of 12" by nightfall.  Hmmm...we wondered what this might mean to our day's plans.  I determined, though, that no matter what happened, I would not let it ruin my day!  While I ate breakfast (which were really, really good at this hotel - we were never hungry by lunchtime and often just skipped that meal) that morning I noted with amusement a family loading the shuttle to the airport.  They were obviously NOT used to snowy weather!  It was snowing furiously and the wind was whipping it all around.  Their two children wore only flimsy windbreakers and Mom and Dad had no coats at all.  Mom was barefoot, save for her strappy sandals.  Southerners!

While still in bed we had flipped through the channels and found a message given by Charles Stanley - we figured that could count as church.  We wanted to visit this large antique mall we heard about, so we set out in our little rented Mazda.  We found the place and waited patiently for them to open at noon.  Only, they never did!  Apparently, they believed the reports about the coming foot of snow and decided not to open.  We found our way to the Brass Armadillo instead.  We have one of those here, too, but of course, they don't have the same things.  We spent a long time and a lot of money there!  I got a few little things for the kitchen.

That evening we went to Olive Garden - that had a sign on its door informing the public they had lost their liquor license due to a violation of some code - hah!  Then we went to see "Safe Haven" at a theater.  Nice movie with a surprising twist at the end.  I really like Josh Duhamel!

And that foot of snow they were predicting?  Denver got about 4".

The next day, Monday, we headed west of Denver.  We saw gorgeous scenery like what I have up at the top.  I've seen pictures like this before, of course, but seeing it for real is just something else.  Unfortunately, all my photos have this black dot in the left corner, though - there's something wrong with my camera.  Other than that, though, I have a slew of beautiful pictures.  I got a real kick out of the trailer courts we saw as we drove up the mountains.  They just seem so incongruous in such a beautiful setting!

We spent most of the day in Georgetown, which is a quaint town of buildings all built in the mid 1800s.  The town is a functioning city, though, today.  They have all kinds of shops there and Paul and I had so much fun exploring them!  We bought all kinds of stuff.  I found a new purse at an art gallery and I found the Colorado sweatshirt I wanted to come home with.  We ate at a cute little restaurant (not cute prices, though!) called, "The Happy Cooker."  And, yes, that bothered the English lover part of me!  Just today, this railroad picture Paul wanted arrived in the mail.  There was no way we were going to be able to fit that in our luggage!

After Georgetown, we drove up into the mountains.  It was very cool!  Paul kept stopping the car every two seconds to take pictures.  We have a disgusting amount of mountain pictures that nobody in the world will be interested in (except us).  For this one, he said, "Quick, kiss me!"  I obliged, not realizing he had the camera
pointed at us!

That evening we drove back down into Denver and finally found the Downtown Aquarium, which also has a restaurant.  It smelled like fish, which actually surprised me.  It probably should not have, huh?  Anyway, we had a nice supper there.  We then did a little bit of walking in downtown Denver, which was beautiful (and cold) in the moonlight.  Our last night of vacation...sigh...

We then returned our rental car.  While we were waiting to get into the place, an ambulance drove up two cars behind us, lights flashing, wanting to get in!  The spikes were still up on the ground at the rental place so we were afraid we were going to pop the tires of the car, but they weren't going down and there was this ambulance behind us, demanding entry!  We never did find out why the rental place needed an ambulance.

We relaxed the next morning at the hotel and enjoyed our last yummy breakfast.  Then, we engaged in the arduous task of cramming everything we had bought into our luggage!  It was not easy, but we managed.

And here I am, at the airport.  Our flight wasn't officially listed as delayed, but it was.  And we discovered there is precious little seating in the Denver airport, despite its huge size.  Eventually, though, we took off and landed in Omaha - where it was snowing.

We ended up driving home in the worst snowstorm!  Will had called that morning to let us know that the weathermen had totally missed the storm.  Everyone woke up and discovered all this snow on the ground; schools were cancelled, etc.  They were cancelled the next day, too.  But I figured if Paul could manage the little tin can we had rented in the Colorado mountains, then he could surely keep our van on Interstate 80.  And he did.

I was anxious to see the kids, especially the girls.  Anytime they had been left before, it was permanent.  I felt it so important to get to them to show them that we would pick them up, just as promised.  But you know, by the time 24 hours had passed since our return, I was ready to leave again.  It was so nice to be kidless for all those days!

The trip was a total investment in our marriage.  We needed it more than most people were aware.  We needed it probably even more than we were aware!  We came home feeling refreshed, renewed, in love, relaxed, and already throwing out ideas for our next trip.  And then, a few days later we attended a wedding, which kind of kept that "mushy" feeling going.  That night Paul suggested we watch our own wedding dvd, which we haven't seen in 5 or more years.  That also helped. 

It's all been good.  I'm so glad we went.  The memories we created, the embers we stirred up will help us, I think, through the minutia of our daily lives for awhile.  That will be good.

Being married is a good, good thing.