Day 3 Visiting Old Places

It is so nice to wake up and know we are right where we need to be.

Last night's sleep was soooo much better! Comfy bed, more room for all (because Jake slept on the blow up mattress), and breakfast included. yay!!

It was awesome to be able to open the curtains and see the mountain range from our window. Ryan was SO excited to see the mountains, but especially excited there is snow on the top of them!

Plans for the day are to go visit Berit. Berit and her sons were neighbors of ours for two different houses. Funny, but awesome. Her son Lars, was a best friend of mine while growing up. We were the same age, and hung out a lot with each other while growing up next to each other. When we moved into Smoky Hill, we moved away from them, but continued to stay in touch with their family. In high school, I moved back to Michigan, and didn't see him again. After graduation, Lars enlisted in the army, and tragically, stepped on a land mine in Kuwait. My mom and I went back to stay with Berit during the funeral time. It was horrible:( It was so nice to see her, and it is always so easy to sit and chat with her because she knows my whole family and the history. She lives right by Cherry Creek Resevoir, so Scott and the kids went on a little walk while we chatted.

 Jake found a cool cactus while just "walking down a trail". He also saw a ton of turtles, which he absolutely loves!!

The End of Day 2

We have arrived!!!! We are in Aurora, Colorado, where I grew up. It was getting dark when we arrived, but I do recognize streets, buildings, and landmarks. It is weird to know that twenty eight years have gone by since I have been here. I am excited to go and see my old stomping grounds in the morning.


After last night's fiasco with sleeping arrangements, we decided to make a run to Walmart to buy a twin size, blow up mattress. This way, everyone has a normal amount of room to sleep. I don't know why we didn't do this years ago!!

Day 2 Continued

With Scott being such a die hard, Longarm fan, he was quite excited to see a historical sign with an indication to Buffalo Bill Cody’s Homestead. Once again, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and such a great day to walk around this homestead. We saw his old house, the buildings that go along with it, and the enormous barn. There were no horses in the barn, but it was packed with saddles, old covered wagons and carriages, and tools used in regular barn life. Amaya loved it.

This is upstairs in the barn. It reminded me of the barn from the movie Footloose! It was awesome!

Day 2 Continued

Nebraska is one LOOOOONG state to drive through if you are going east to west. We took a few detours while driving through.

We stopped at a real Pony Express outpost. It was in Gothenburg, Nebraska. It was a small cabin, but impressive in its quality and ability to endure all of this time. The kids thought it neat, but had more fun walking around the park.

 

Ryan got a small, wooden, rubber band gun.

Freedom Rock

Freedom Rock is a huge rock in Menlo, Iowa. It sits on a corner of a dirt road, and for many years was vandalized with graffiti or obscenities. An artist painted it with memorabilia to honor our American vets, and since then, the rock has remained untouched by vandals. It appears that the artist paints a new design yearly, and honors different vets, with each new paint job. It is very cool to see how great “Bubba”, the artist is able to make it look as if the flag is draped over the rock.

Ryan found a dead, baby garter snake. He has never held a snake before. I let him know there are possibilities to see many more snakes on this trip.

Ryan had a few words to say about the snake, for his eulogy, before throwing him closer to the weeds and the lake. (now he will be someone's lunch). 

(On a side note: Amaya had gone back to the car before we took a group picture in front of the rock. She came running out of the car, without any coaxing, to be a part of the picture!! Baby steps with a teenager:) yay!!!!!!!

Day 2 A Smile!

Day 2 out west.

Our stay last night was fair. Jake ended up sleeping on the floor because the bed was just too small for any three of our family to fit in one bed together. He said he was alright with sleeping there.

This morning, when opening the curtains to peek outside, we saw multiple jackrabbits. The kids really enjoyed that; they were munching on tall weeds, sucking them in their mouths like long spaghetti noodles. There were two really big ones chasing each other. 

There were also many orange tipped, black birds flying around and landing on various tall weeds. I caught a glimpse of Amaya smiling at this!! I told her “this is the first smile I have seen this whole trip”, and she agreed. Then she started noticing the landscape with the rolling hills and the different textures of the different growing vegetation and commented on how pretty it was. FINALLY!!! I think she just may be getting into the trip now!! The whole time we have been planning this, she has not wanted to go and has just wanted to “stay home”. I knew she would love it once she saw the new and different life/culture/land, awaiting us on our journey.

It is 8:30 and we are on the road again. We are sixty miles east of Des Moines. It is a beautiful day with the sun shining, few clouds in the sky, and a light haze.

On the Road...

We have begun our trip out west. It is somewhat of a "dream" trip, well, at least to me. We are headed to Colorado, where I grew up, and then on to the Grand Canyon.  My heart feels at home there. It is a feeling I never really had until I went for a visit to Durango, in the mountains, a few years back, after living in Michigan.
We are headed to visit the multiple homes, neighborhoods, and schools, of which I grew up. Jake is very excited to see where I played, and where I walked to school, everyday, while going to "year round" school. I am excited too! I have heard how much it has changed, and how there is much gang activity now that it has grown. Curious!! I lived in 5 different homes in Colorado, and went to 4 different schools before moving back to Michigan when I was 15.
I have missed seeing the mountain range from my bedroom window. I have missed the prairie dogs burrowing all over the plains, and in each field. I have missed the "dry" heat, the beautiful Aspen trees, and the BUG-LESS (is that even a word?) nights. Oh, how I would love to be out in my backyard without a TON of mosquitos! Michigan has its own beauty, as a state, but Colorado is where my heart is.
Our little family is driving out west. Scott and I, both, have 2 weeks off from work, and the only reservation made, at this time, is for 3 nights at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we will be staying with the Fisher Family. Without them prompting this trip, we would not be on the road. I need pushes like that. I procrastinate, and then miss opportunities. So, we are on the road, yay!!! We left around 3:30 pm. We are hoping to get to Des Moines, Iowa, tonight, then will continue on to Colorado tomorrow.





Some random canned goods at one of the mini-marts we stopped at. (contents were none of the titled ingredients, haha!)



We decided to make our first stop earlier than we normally do when traveling on the road. We found a decent room that included a pool and breakfast. We are hoping for a "Pleasant Stay". At this time, the beds are a bit small, and being only full sized beds, with big people, I don't see a night of great sleep! There are only 2 beds for the 5 of us. (And Jake just farted on me! and he stinks!)