Thailand - Flight from Los Angeles to Denver (Tuesday, November 17th, 2015)

We had a great time talking to our youngest daughter last night. We have communicated with both of our girls and our parents throughout the trip via wifi texting and face time, but it was great to finally have time to really talk to her on the normal telephone.

We took time to use the hot tub at the Holiday Inn Express in Los Angeles, and try to get ourselves very relaxed, and then we poured our tired bodies into bed.  We couldn't figure out how we could be so tired after sleeping so much on the plane, but we were able to sleep through the night, and didn't wake up until 5:00 this morning.

We enjoyed a nice complimentary breakfast the next morning, and still had some spare time before we needed to be at the airport, so we took a really nice walk through one of the neighborhoods by our hotel.  So many beautiful plants grow in California that don't grow in Colorado.  It makes we a little envious since I love to garden!  

We finally caught our shuttle and headed to the airport with hope in our hearts that our flight wouldn't be delayed or cancelled once we got there.  Our prayers were answered, and we took off on time. The flight went very smoothly and as we got over Colorado, we could see the beautiful snow that mother nature had dropped the night before.

Snow on the ground in Denver as we approached for landing!

More snow!

When we landed we picked up our luggage and headed out to catch our shuttle.  It was a little cold since I really had not brought any Colorado appropriate shoes, but we did just fine.  

Our car in the parking lot near the airport! 

I wasn't very prepared for the snow!

A front view of our car in the lot....no fun!  A little clearing and scraping required!

It took us a few minutes to clear the snow from the car and get on our way to our home.  We had to laugh about the welcome home present God had given us!

What a Great, Wonderful, Fantastic adventure we have had for the last three-weeks!  Now back to shoveling!

Parade Day at the Cabin (July 4th, 2015)

We woke this morning to freshly brewed coffee, as we always do at the cabin. We took our time enjoying our coffee on the front porch, watching the birds and chipmunks scrambling around the front yard. We finished our breakfast then walked into town with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Each holiday weekend in the summer the town holds a big craft fair in the Property Owners Association building and the firehouse. Everyone from the whole town, along with all of the visitors come out to see what everyone has been working on. There are so many talented people in this community with crafts ranging from crocheted items and jewelry to wood and metal working and photography. There is also a BBQ lunch available for purchase that most of the shoppers take advantage of. It’s always fun to just stroll the streets of town on these big weekends.  The town has a lot of nice little shops, but most of them are only open during the summer.

So handy to have a new hardware store!

The post office

The volunteer fire station

And the general store / supermarket

We always run into people we know. This time it was our friend Pam from our community at home. There are book sales at the library, a fishing contest, and the pioneer house is usually open for tours, they also had events for the kids down by the lake. 

And when it was time for the parade, we all headed down to Lake Ramona, where the parade always begins. The parade is always organized by one or two people (Steve’s mom was the organizer for several years), so it is a big undertaking. It took us awhile to figure out where the “Former Princess” float was (see July 3rd post), but we finally found it. They had a great turnout, as 10 former princesses were there. The float was decorated with streamers and balloons. Our daughter stayed with the other girls, and we found our spot along the parade route. The parade runs the length of the town, starting at Lake Ramona, crossing the highway, and ending at the coffee shop on the top of the hill. 

The parade is a typical small town parade, led by the color guard, with lots of fire trucks from all of the surrounding communities. The whole community gets involved by making their own floats, decked out with everything patriotic they can find. The reigning princess and princess candidates rode on one of the fire trucks near the beginning of the parade, and one of the dune buggies even had a bubble machine. Everyone throws candy to the crowd, and everyone has a great time. 

Current princess and princess-candidate

Our daughter had a really good time seeing all of the other former-princesses and riding on the float through town. 

When the parade was over, we headed back to Steve’s parents cabin, where the whole family met for dinner. This time I was in charge of the meal, so we had pulled pork sandwiches, beans and salad. After dinner Grandma and the girls headed back to town to play bingo. Grandpa and our nephew went fishing, and the rest of us took a walk around one of the nearby lakes. The weather was gorgeous, so when everyone got back, we had another campfire complete with s’mores and talked the night away. 

We slept in on Sunday morning, and eventually made our way back home. Our oldest daughter was coming home on Sunday night from visiting her husband. Her flight was originally supposed to get in at midnight, but after several delays, it would be coming in at 2:00 a.m. I woke up at 1:15 and snuck out of the house so that Steve could sleep (he had to work the next morning) and headed to Denver International Airport to get her. Steve ended up waking up, and waited up for us, and by the time we got home it was about 3:00 a.m., so the three of us headed to bed for a few hours of rest before everyone headed to work in the morning.