Cabin Time and The Road Home

My battery was dead and we finally were able to get me a charger in Alamosa on the last day. After traveling around so much we decided to hang around at the cabin. Walt, Gloria, and Kendra came for a lovely visit. The kids did archery and BB guns and we relaxed on the porch. it was beautiful and touching to see the milky way galaxy. There are so many more starts in the sky than we can see here in California on any given night. I wanted to get a few family pictures. That doesn't always go over well, but I  was pleased the family tried for a minute or two at least.:) With Emmy going off to college soon I wanted to have some pictures and time together.

We drove home to California through Utah. It is not our usual way, but with my parents in town we have no reason or desire to come home through Los Angeles. I loved passing by Moab and the red rocks in the area of Zion's nation park. We stopped at one arch an got out for a little.  Visit Lance and Dawn again was nice. We watch  as the boys played football, Emmy joined in this time, and we talked together. The first time around Lance smoked some yummy meat and we had s'mores. It is so nice to have family there to stop, visit, and stay with. It was very enjoyable. I loved that Taylor and Celia played in the backyard together for hours in their fort/playground area.  We liked passing through Utah and seeing temple and peeking for Andrew and tasting the best donuts around from P market. Most importantly we are making great family memories. and I'm glad I can document it at least in part her for my memory.

New Mexico

The rain and clouds, rainbows and sweet clean air are amazing in this region of the southwest that we were visiting. We were able to go to Santa Fe and on to Albuquerque to visit Grandma Jean. I love to see the pinion trees and the adobe style houses and even the sideways street lights. It make me feel like I'm somewhere very different from home. We were trying to explain to Grandma about the delta breeze in Sacramento and just then we experienced something that felt like it in her backyard. It was nice to sit and visit and watch Celia play hide an seek with her little fairy toy and count the many frog decorations Grandma Jean has around. She is doing great. She made mac and cheese casserole for us and we had some yummy cream cheese and jalapeno jelly while her and Bri ran out and got KFC for us. The kids did well Celia danced for Grandma Jean and they all played with Bo, the dog. It was a lovely visit and we made a day of it. It is great to just pack out cooler and go.After having car trouble I felt more than ever that having a car is freedom. I'm grateful I can drive and that we can zoom around and see things. Brian is so kind and nice to his Grandma Jean. It was touching to me to see his connection to her and his support and comfort he brings. He is such a great man.

Beauty, Family Time, and Great Country

We are coming up on the middle of July and things are just now slowing down enough to get recorded here.We had a lovely time visiting family and traveling to our places that we love in the West. We have had a drought here pretty bad. Our lawns are turning yellow and we are restricted to watering twice a week. My folks kept our new sequoia trees we planted this spring a live and my favorite hibiscus tree as well. On our trip to the cabin, we encountered all sorts of rain in Nevada. It made for a nice green view like I've never seen in that dry state. In Utah we arrived on fourth of July and to our surprise there was a gauntlet of fireworks it seemed. We drove from Salt Lake to Payson and saw fireworks going off on both sides of the freeway the entire way! What a great site to behold. It was the perfect ending of a great first day of vacation. I loved that we talked about our country. We took our usual route through Gunnison and the blue Mesa Reservoir . I never tire of the beauty there.

We did a few things a little differently on this ride to the cabin. We stopped at Chili's For dinner in Alamosa. Spencer has been doing so well in public places. I love our family time and it makes me happy when we can all be together out having fun and eating out.  I noticed my battery light had come on an my engine light that day, but we had made it. We took the long way to Taos and saw wild horses, we visited the cure town square and shopped at the shops just in time. There was rain incoming and the town closed up fast. On the way back we visited the Rio Grande river gorge. This time Spencer didn't throw anything off it. We are finally wise to his intentions of doing that on every bridge he visits. Joseph and Celia got neat stones and souvenirs from a friendly street vendor there.

The next day we went to Zapata falls. It was still a rough road too the top and Spencer didn't quite know about this hiking business, but we made it as a family. Celia Emmy and I got a little wet and climbed on rocks and walked through the river to get a closer look of the falls. It was so loud and misty. the water was barreling out of the sky and hitting the rocks below. I loved it! We had every intention to go to the sad dunes after, but our tire light turned on. We decided to go into town do some laundry and get the tire fixed. We ended up at Pizza Hut(tradition after any sort of difficult hike). Little did w know the alternator on our car had was tiring out. It wasn't to bad we rolled into antonito called AAA ad after a long while we were delivered to the cabin and the next day it was taken to town and fixed up. We visited Chama Trujillo Meadows and our new fun spot cliff view of the Brazos. Of course we visited many family dollars and little shops and restaurants throughout our visit. I wrote down a list of cabin activities and I think we nearly did them all! We even discovered the best Pizza ever and the cutest Lodge gift shop around. We drove up the Alamosa and down the Platoro which is backwards from our normal trek and we saw  the cutest fawn you ever laid eyes on. Celia was in the back of that van saying He aren't I as cute as the Fawn? Of course she is, but you can tell how we were ooing and aahing over that beautiful creature. We tatered at Tater falls. I think the rocks are getting more smooth and slippery each year. Extra clothes is a must for everyone next time!

Tahoe, relaxation time

We had a spontaneous trip to Tahoe. Spence had not been feeling well and  I mentioned it to  friend. She offered to let us use the rest of their time at their condo in Tahoe. It was absolute big, beautiful, and clean. It was very relaxing and even though not all the family could be up there at the same time with is it was a reprieve that I appreciate. We were able to go for walks rest inside and watch movies. Isn't that what vacation is all about? Well, the fire alarm did go off and we had to exit the building for a while. We did make one of our  walks a hike that was longer than expected, but both were great adventures and memory builders. Even the drive back was long, but beautiful I wanted to go around the lake and take the 50 home from North Star. The view made it worth the time in the car, the stop at McDonald's and a u turn were fine, and singing to keep myself awake. There is always a silver lining to our clouds. Life is good, our relationships mean the most and I will cherish these times with fail, with friends, alone or some combination thereof.