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Colorado Trip Journal
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Up at 6, as usual. Final packing was uneventful. I got out
of the house about 8:30 since Kath & Cam wanted to leave around 9.
The drive down across Iowa & Nebraska was about as boring as you'd expect. North
central Iowa had considerably more snow than we left. Nebraska was bare.
We got to our motel in Kearney, Nebraska, about 6:30, checked in, and had a nice
dinner at the local Ruby Tuesdays. The motel is a Holiday Inn, recently
renovated and very nice.
Now back at the motel, the kids are going swimming in the small water park in
the motel. I got a couple of pictures of the kids in the pool. Will post on my
web site when I have more time at our resort in Colorado.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6 again. Slept reasonably well considering it's the
first night away from my own bed.
Today is the first anniversary of Theresa's death. I feel very sad that she's
gone. But feel very fortunate to have spent 47 wonderful years married to her.
She taught me a lot. And for that I am thankful. And thanks to all my family and
friends who have helped me to live without her by sharing their lives with me by
visiting me, sharing meals with me, feeding me, taking me on trips... it all
makes life a little more bearable.
The trip on to our lodge at Beaver Creek was fairly breathtaking what with the
mountains, the Eisenhower
Tunnel (under Loveland pass), and a light snow storm. Our facilities are just
beautiful. In fact the local slogan is, "not exactly roughing it". You must go to this
web site for picture (and they don't do it justice), it's actually even nicer
than the pictures (http://www.vrbo.com/153415). My room is the living room
sofa/bed because the other 3 bedrooms are used by Kath & Cam, their friends,
Patty & Dan, & the kids bedroom. But that's great because then I'll be where the
action is… course, I won't be able to go to bed at 8:00… oh, well.
While Cam & Dan went grocery shopping, I took the kids to the large, heated pool
& spa to go swimming. Yes, swimming when the temp is only 45 degrees. But the
pool is heated and they're young.
At 6:45 PM MST, thermometers read: Plymouth=46, Beaver Creek=45. It seems even
warmer than that here.
Cam fixed the evening's dinner consisting of salad, macaroni, & Swedish meat
balls. We all helped with dishes & cleanup. While Cam was cooking, Dan & I
walked down to Beaver Creek village where they have an ice rink and nearly a
hundred stores. Best of all, they have an ice cream store. Guess I'll have to
test that tomorrow.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6 again. Put the sofa back together again and made
coffee. But the coffee maker gurgles & gurgles but never puts the water back
through the grounds. Guess I just don't know how to operate these new fangled
devices. Have to wait for the ladies to awake… well, Kath couldn't get it work
either. Finally determined that the pump was plugged. So Cam & Dan drove down to
Starbuck's and bought a 2 gallon jug of coffee.
We all ate a quick breakfast of cereal, fruit, & coffee cake. Then I did dishes
while everyone got dressed for skiing. They finally got out of here just before
9:30 after I took pictures of the "troop."
As you know, I'm a morning person, so, I think I'll go find the workout
facilities and get some exercise. Haven't jogged since Thursday. While the temp
is warm enough here (32) to go jogging, it's just too mountainous - there's no
flat roads - everything goes either uphill or downhill.
I found the exercise facilities and used them for about 30 minutes. Then after a
cat nap, I went down to the village for several hours. Had a nice lunch.
Received a nice phone call from Mary & Mike who were relaxing in Las Vegas.
After the skiers got back, we all went for an outside walk of about 1/2 block to
the spa for an hour or so. Temp was near 50 today.
Big snowstorm forecast for tonight & tomorrow, 14" - 20". Details tomorrow.
This evening we're having tacos at home prepared by Kath & Cam. They were great.
Dan did dishes.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6. Slept better. The resort delivered a new coffee
maker yesterday, so it worked fine this morning.
Late yesterday I received a message that one of my friends whom I sing with lost
his wife. We had just had supper together last Thursday and had been talking
about his wife going with him on some judging weekends. I have recently
recruited him into the judging program. So sad.
This morning, temp is only 27. Must have received about 9" of snow overnight
down here; up on the mountains, they got 16" according to the reports. The trees
are very heavy with snow. Just beautiful. See pictures.
Got everybody out of here before 9 today. Kids have ski school starting at 9.
Deep overnight snow slowed down the getting ready process.
I went to the exercise room again. Took a shower. And went to work on my taxes.
Because of the deep snow today, the adults & Connor returned after a couple
hours. As of noon, the 3 little kids are still out at their ski school lesson.
We're having a real snowstorm today. Snow coming down very hard. Gusty, strong
winds. Looks miserable out there.
Kids didn't get back from their ski school till about 4. They had a great time.
Snowstorm finally let up around 5:30 PM. All toll, we got about 23" of new snow.
Great for skiers. We can barely see out our front window - it's mostly covered
by a snow bank.
Took the shuttle down to the village tonight. Had dinner at the Dusty Boot. Came
back and played a game called Names. Went to bed before 10.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6. And remembered that today is Hannah's birthday. If
I remember right, she's 15. Happy Birthday, Hannah.
This morning, everybody was sore and still tired from the big day yesterday and
the big snow.
Eventually, the men & the kids went skiing. Women rested.
This afternoon we took the shuttle to the village where the 3 littlest kids went
ice skating.
And after we came home, the kids had to go swimming even though the temperature
was only 40.
Came home and had a big dinner of spaghetti prepared by Cam. Exquisite.
Quiet evening - watched American Idol.
I put some new pictures up on the web site, so keep watching.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6 again. More snow forecast for this afternoon &
evening.
Everybody's ready to go skiing again today. Suspect they won't last long since
all are complaing about their aches & pains.
In preparation for the day's skiing, everyone fixed a big breakfast of scrambled
eggs & bacon. Delicious.
Everyone finally left for the slopes just before 10. I took a number of photos
of the group outside on the trail behind our lodge. They even posed in order to
get a good shot.
I went to the Exercise Room. After exercising, I tried to take a panoramic photo
of the mountain view. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Then I went back to work on taxes.
After lunch and a nap, everyone returned at about 2:30. So they'd been out over
4 hours. Everyone said the skiing was the best today - good snow, well groomed,
and warm temperatures. Thermometer currently says 48.
This afternoon, we took the kids to a free "tubing" session in the village. They
weren't impressed - line too long and slide too short.
And, again, the kids had to go sit in the heated spa for an hour after we got
back to our lodge.
For supper we had left overs and pickups. Of interest were artichokes. Yum…
More tomorrow.
Dad
Again, up at 6. Suppose to snow today 1" to 4". Overnight
we got about 2" of snow and it snowed hard till about 9. Then it cleared and the
bright sun came out. But the forecast is for more snow later today, up to as
much as 8".
Kids starting getting up about 7 with the adults usually all up by 8.
Our plans are to leave tomorrow, Friday, driving to Nebraska overnight. Then
arriving home on Saturday some time. Dan or Dave, would one of you drive over to
my house on Saturday after lunch and turn up the furnace to 70 and put my mail
inside the house. (I had it stopped - but to be delivered on Saturday -and they
usually deliver mail in my neighborhood around noon.) Thanks.
Kath helped me this morning with the list of Theresa's clothes that we donated
to Lupus for my income tax. Thanks, Kath.
Skiers didn't leave till 'bout 10 today. Then I went for my daily exercise.
The first group of skiers returned by noon because it was so cold up top. The
second group were out till 2.
Mid afternoon we took the kids to a water park recreation center in Avon. They
had a good time.
This evening is the kids light show. So after dark, we took the 3 youngest to
the mountain where they road a gondola up a little mountain. Each was given glow
sticks and were led down the mountain, zig zagging back and forth. See pictures.
After that show, we had fireworks that were very enjoyable. Then we all went for
pizza.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6. Time to pack. As they say, all good things must come to an end. So this morning, we're all packing in order to be out of here by 10.
The snow yesterday didn't amount to much down near our lodge, maybe 2" or so. But on top, it snowed most of the day with lots of whiteout conditions. Skiers said they must gotten over a foot up there.
On our way out of the mountains, we stopped in Dillon and had lunch at the Dam Brewery. Yes, that's it's real name. Great hamburger.
Then off we go… through Denver… into Nebraska… stopped at Kearney. But the hotel rooms were so poor that we decided to continue on. Finally we found a nice Hampton Inn in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the river from Omaha… very nice room. And a complementary hot breakfast.
So tomorrow, we won't have too big a day… just Omaha to home… only about 6 hours according to the GPS. Should be home by mid afternoon.
More tomorrow.
Dad
Up at 6:30. (Slept in.)
Trip across Iowa and Minnesota went smoothly. Temperature around 60 . Seemed
warm after the cold & snow of the mountains.
Got home about 4. Dan had warmed up my furnace so all was toasty.
I'll publish a final report to Hagen's & Pierstorff's for you.
So, no report tomorrow. (However, more, next trip, whenever that is.)
Dad
What a wonderfully relaxing trip. I didn't have to do any
driving. I didn't have to fix any meals. I didn't have to ski (so no chance of
breaking a leg, or even getting sore muscles & tired). For 10 days, I was a
pampered senior citizen. And it was wonderful!
Thank you, Kathy & Cam. And thank you, Dan & Patty. You made my week most
enjoyable.
The trip had some absolutely marvelously wonderful highlights for me.
* I sort of felt sorry for Kathy having her father look over her shoulder all
the time. Thanks, Kath.
* I particularly enjoyed everyone's friendliness toward me. You all made me feel
part of the family.
* As always, I love being a grandpa to Connor & Kyla, even though they are
getting so big they don't think they need a grandpa.
* And I enjoyed being acting grandpa to Rachel & Nathan. If they need more
grandpa care, let me know.
* The view from the Exercise Room was breathlessly beautiful. See web site.
* And thanks to all for not mentioning my junk in the guest bathroom. Didn't
know where else to put it.
* I did get most of my taxes done, at least the hard stuff.
* And thanks Kyla for giving me your seat in the car so that I didn't have to
sit way in the back with the luggage.
* Although we only spent a few hours driving in the mountains, it was a
highlight of the trip because they were so majestic and beautiful.
Now I know both families spent a lot of money for that trip and that beautiful
lodge. So, I've sent a small check to each of you for part of my share of the
costs. If I've not sent enough, please let me know.
I've posted final pictures & journal reports on my family web site (http://roger-theresa.n0kfb.org).
Enjoy.
Again, thank you.
(Dad), (Grandpa), Roger
PS the large font is so that my elderly father & stepmother can read this.