No news is good news...

All is quiet in the household, and it's kinda nice after the fast pace of our PNW trip. I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten you, but the only thing exciting that's happened since our return is that one night we had a wicked thunderstorm and the smoke detector went off. That certainly has never happened before! Poor Annie shook so hard Bethany had to hold her until she fell back asleep. And for now, that's all, folks!

Relax...

When we hadn't heard anything about the luggage we logged on and saw that the flight we'd been on finally made it to the Springs. We rushed out to the airport, and surprisingly, our luggage was waiting for us! So now that we're unpacked I'll finally relax and enjoy being back. There really is no place like home.

So close and yet so far!

A rather interesting trip home from Seattle today...we flew over Colorado Springs but were put into a holding pattern in Denver. It seems the area was getting some vicious storms, and DIA closed for a time. After circling, we were diverted to the Springs to take on some more fuel. So close and yet so far! We were 4th in line get fuel and it was going to be a 15+ minute wait, so we were allowed to get up, make calls, etc. Fifteen minutes stretched into about 30, and then finally they announced that anyone whose final destination was COS could deplane. That was GOOD news! The bad news is that we're still, several hours later, waiting for our luggage to arrive from Denver. It's supposedly going to arrive yet tonight, but I'm not holding my breath. We'll see it when we see it....IF we see it!
It was great to be home and get caught up with the girls. They have lots of stories to tell of their time without us. I think they really enjoyed having the house & cars to themselves. But I also think they missed us a little bit. And Annie, our beagle, is following me around like...a puppy dog!

Let's roll!

I was up before the sun and ready to roll. I'm headed home!

Winding down...

Our day in Vancouver started with gorgeous blue skies and sunshine...what a gift. Our trusty GPS "Lola" got us out of the big city in record time, and we headed back toward the good ol' USA. In no time at all we were thru customs. I loved it when the border patrol guy said "welcome home!" I turned on my cell phone for the first time in a couple of days, and it was nice that there were no urgent messages from home. As a matter of fact, there were NO messages at all! I'm beginning to think the girls are having way too much fun without us!
By the time we were just north of Seattle the skies were gray and the sun was nowhere to be found. I, of course, loved it But I think between all of the driving and the lack of sun, BA was a bit weary. And I guess I can't blame him. He's driven every bit of the road time on this trip in some awful traffic, yet not once has he complained. He's a good travel buddy for sure.
Lola took us into downtown Seattle to visit the Pike Place Market...a wonderful, yet chaotic place that has fresh seafood, fresh produce, homemade wares, and probably a ton of other things that we never did get to see. I was focused on getting us to Lowell's, a seafood restaurant inside the market that I'd read about in Coastal Living magazine. It was kind of a dive, but the food was really, really good and the tables all overlooked the water. I had a dungeness crab cake, fresh prawns, and broiled salmon along with fresh steamed carrots and rice with homemade mango salsa. Talk about yummy! I knew it might be my last chance to get fresh seafood, and I didn't want to waste it! Afterward we decided to walk off our meal,so we hiked a LONG way to the Space Needle...a really, really long way. We saw some wonderful parts of the city and some rather seedy parts, as well, but we made it! Then we played tourist as we waited in line for tickets, waited in line for the elevator, jammed way too many people into the elevator, and joined thousands of visitors at the top of the needle. Ok, that last part was an exaggeration, but there were a LOT of people up there. While it was impressive to see the city from up high, my tourist fun meter was just about pegged and we still had a long hike back to find our car. Oh yeah...we hiked back. Did I mention it was a long way?!
I'm sitting comfortably in our room at the Hilton now...I'm kind of afraid to get up. I'm not sure my body will cooperate after all it's been thru on this vacation. It's been a crazy, wild, awesome trip. But I'm tired and ready to head home. One last wake-up and we'll be on our way. The next time you hear from me it will be from my own home with my own family and my own warm beagle. Later!

Day 8...Vancouver again

The day started early and I think we covered about a million miles between walking and going up stairs. We took the Skytrain, the Seabus, and the metro to North Vancouver so we could tour the Capilano Suspension Bridge area. Brian told me to "be aggressive" as we got on the Skytrain, and he wasn't kidding. You only get about 10 seconds to let passengers unload and quickly jump on and grab a yellow rail. Finding a seat is nearly impossible at rush hour. My nose was about armpit level, and it was rather warm in there, but somehow I survived and actually had fun! We did the reverse order coming back into the city and jumped off at the stop where a lot of the Olympic venues are. We're still having a good time, but the pace is getting old...drive, unpack, play tourist, pack up, and drive again. These 2 days in Vancouver were a nice break from the frenzy even though we were still quite busy. We'll check out in the morning and head to Seattle for a quick 1-day stop before flying home on Saturday. The cool part? BA and I are still friends and are having a lot of fun together!

Sorry, everyone

For some reason part of a sentence keeps deleting in my previous post because I added pictures. No matter how hard I try to edit it to make it right, it still deletes even though my preview window shows it correctly. I'm too tired to work on it any harder tonight. Sorry!

Day 7 in Victoria, BC & Vancouver

Given how early we had to be in line at the Blackball Ferry office today, I barely slept from about 3 on. By 5:30 I was up and in the shower and ready to face the day. We checked out of the hotel at 6:20, headed thru the drive thru at McDonalds for an "on the go" breakfast, and got our car in line at the dock.
We ate in the car and laughed about the craziness of the early morning, but I'm glad we were early. By the time the office opened at 7am there was quite a line behind us! It's just crazy to watch RV's and semis drive onboard. No way should that ferry hold that kind of weight, but they have it down to a science and things were smooth as could be during the whole adventure. I was like a kid in a candy store...so much to see! We sat with an older couple from Olympia who go to Victoria about once a year to spend the night and shop. They shared their insight and wisdom with us and Brian shared some of his camera knowledge with them. It was a nice way to pass the time. I love to people watch, too, and a ferry is an awesome place to do so. In about 90 minutes we docked in Victoria, BC and joined the frenzy of tourists exploring the fun shops & restaurants. It was kind of a freak show/yuppie festival all in one...we saw some crazy things! One of the locals pointed us in the direction of more halibut fish & chips where we had good food and a quirky, but funny waitress. Those Canadians sure are friendly! Once our legs were tiring, we headed about 20 miles north on I-17 to Swartz Bay to get in line for the 3:00 ferry to Vancouver. This ferry was so much bigger and held an amazing number of vehicles and passengers. It was another 90 minute ride, but this time we were too tired to stand on deck. Instead, we just people watched from the inside seats and only occasionally did we step outside. The scenery was gorgeous, but the passengers who smoked kind of ruined the atmosphere, unfortunately. Gross!! The clean, fresh air that should have been invigorating was a bit disgusting no matter where we walked outside. We arrived in Vancouver and drove off the ferry at 4:55...prime time for crazy drivers. The drive to the Hilton Metrotown was perilous and awful...people cutting in and rarely waving. Rude drivers for sure. But we made it to our hotel and unpacked, which felt pretty darn good. For dinner we walked toward the mall a block away to see what we could find, and now I'm pinging off the walls. That mall is filled with crazies!! I've never seen so many freaks and "street walker wannabes" in my life! Definitely lots to see, but it was too loud and frenzied for me. We finally found something to eat and headed back to "normal" at the Hilton. For all those people who told us to pack warm clothes and be prepared to be cold...fooey on you. It's hot and sunny here and WARM!! And now, I'm SO ready to crash!

Port Angeles, WA

Today our drive produced a wide range of emotions. When the sun came out, it was just stunning to see how gorgeous everything is...the lakes, the evergreens, etc. Picture postcard gorgeous! But far too often we came across areas in the forests that had been logged, and it was heartbreaking to see the "rape" of our land. Acres of wooded areas were left with nothing but stumps, and it was quite sad to see. We take our gorgeous wood furniture, paper products, etc for granted without considering the sacrifice of God's majestic trees. The good news, though, is that there were signs along the way stating the year many of the wooded areas were reforested. Oregon and Washington both seem to be very environmentally friendly compared to other states we've traveled. And I have to admit that the roads are much better maintained than ours in Colorado.
Along our route today was a drive thru Forks, WA, the home of the Twilight series of books. We didn't go out of our way to see it. It just happened to be on our route. But we stopped for lunch and laughed a bit at all of the teeny boppers who were going crazy over everything Twilight! One of the workers at the cafe said as the logging industry slowed down, the tourist industry picked up, thanks to Twilight. There were stores carrying Twilight merchandise on 3 of the 4 corners at the only stoplight in town! I talked to a sweet older gentleman who was painting a building. He wanted to know where we're from and where we're headed. I've found the people all along our route this week to be good ol' folks...very friendly to outsiders.
Tonight we'll head out for more seafood here in Port Angeles, and then at 7am we need to have our car in line for the Blackball Ferry into Victoria, BC. The lady working at their office today said we shouldn't have any problem getting on if we arrive early. (Making a reservation costs extra.) We'll take our chances. But Courtney, if we don't get on that ferry I'm holding you personally responsible!!!

PNW Day 5...

We saw some awesome scenery today in both Oregon & Washington. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many gorgeous trees; everything is so lush and green. We moseyed into Portland to meet some former neighbors for lunch at a downtown brewery and it was great to see Burke & Heather and the kids. They gave us some good tips for the latter part of our trip in Vancouver and Seattle, which was nice. Afterward we headed along the coast and across the highest bridge I've ever seen as we ventured into Washington. I'm in awe of God's majesty in this beautiful country of ours!!! He has quite a vivid imagination, I'd say! We finally rolled into our hotel on the beach at dinnertime and headed out to find some local food...fish, of course! In Idaho, our friend, Peggy, told us once we tried halibut fish & chips we'd never want cod again, and she's right. Foolishly, we ordered cod this evening to save a few bucks and we quickly realized the halibut is so much heartier and more flavorful. We've been spoiled!
Tomorrow we'll head to Port Angeles where we'll be able to catch a ferry into Victoria, BC as we head on up to Vancouver. It's been a great trip and there are some exciting things ahead for us before we catch our flight home. In the meantime, I'm sitting in the laundry room at the hotel while I wait for our load to finish. I'd forgotten how sticky things feel in the humidity; it'll be nice to have things clean again.
I think things are going alright at home. The girls seem to be getting along ok...either that or I'm not getting the full story. Amy & Bethany are both busy working, and the seniors are picking up the slack with Annie, the wonder beagle. Laura sounds good, too...just very busy. I'm trying to not think about home too much. BA and I are just enjoying this time together.

Day 4...a geeky, but gorgeous day...

The first part of our day in eastern Washington was rather unimpressive scenery, but soon we were parallel to the Columbia River and headed west in Oregon. Talk about gorgeous! And soon we were driving along the beautiful Columbia River Highway with waterfalls on one side and train tracks and the river on the other. We stopped in Multnomah Falls and played tourist for awhile before heading down the road to the Bridal Veil Lodge B & B. After checking in, we hiked thru the woods to see Bridal Veil Falls...very impressive and gorgeous. God is indeed majestic!!! I have to admit, though, that there was some geekiness to our trip. Since there was no auxillary port in the rental car and radio reception is spotty, we stopped at an office supply store to buy burnable CD's. As we traveled along the highway, I opened up iTunes on my laptop and made CD's of some of our favorite music. Yeah, we're geeks.

Day 3 of the Pacific NW trip...

We hated to say goodbye to Peggy & Ed this morning. They've been awesome hosts and we loved seeing their beautiful neck of the woods in Coeur 'd Alene, ID. It was just gorgeous! Peggy drove us all over the place and let us do/see whatever we wanted to with no complaints. And Ed was VERY patient with this beginning "shooter" at their shooting range, Center Target Sports (www.centertargetsports.com). Awesome people with a first class business. Check them out if you're ever in their area. Now I understand why guns should never be in the hands of people who aren't properly trained. They make it look so easy in the movies, but it's much more difficult than it looks. I was thankful for the opportunity to shoot in a controlled environment with an expert. But no, I won't be rushing out to buy a Glock anytime soon. And now it's on to Yakima, WA!

The bucket list...

Yesterday Brian and I arrived in Coeur 'd Alene, Idaho to visit a childhood friend of mine and her husband. Peggy was the one who taught me at YMCA camp to shoot a bow and arrow, and I used to be pretty good at it. Now she and Ed own a shooting range, so I was able (with Ed's expert help) to try shooting both a machine gun and a pistol. I wasn't too great...definitely not a natural. But I did it and was able to at least hit the target!! I'm fairly certain it was beginner's luck, of course, and I won't quit my day job to go to the police academy. But I've always wanted to try it, and now I have. Just one more thing crossed off the bucket list.

Mama bear instincts...

Yesterday Amy went into work at 5 and got home shortly before midnight...a LONG time for someone with pain issues in her feet. It was UFC fight night, so that kept the sports grill/bar quite busy. One of her tables wouldn't give her the required credit card as a "deposit" for the cover charge. They insisted they were going to pay with cash. Later, when they said they were going outside to smoke, Amy asked the hostess to keep an eye on them. She, of course, didn't, and Amy was left to pick up the $60 tab when they all skipped out. The mama bear instincts in me want to run straight over and talk to her manager about their crazy system. But I know this is a valuable life lesson for Amy and that she needs to deal with it herself. Still, I'm quite ticked that people would skip out like that. Evidently it happened twice to one of the other servers and she had to cough up about $150. Seriously, I'm shocked that people would take advantage of my girl. But then again, I'm not. Unfortunately, the moral compass in this country isn't what it used to be. Sad, but true.

A day with our girl...

Brian and I headed north today to spend some time with Laura and to check out her new digs. Her company, Kiewit, put her up in a high rise on the 15th floor...quite different than the tiny dorm room she's used to! We were able to walk to her construction site, Union Station, to see where she spends about 11 hours a day with a happy grin. She's quite proud of the work she does and the smile just never stops when she talks about it. She's the first Environmental Engineer the company has at this site. There's so much to do and know, but she loves a challenge. After visiting the site we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory...my first visit. Awesome pasta and even better cheesecake--coconut! Talk about yummy! Between the three of us we had enough leftovers for Laura to eat for the rest of the weekend, so that made her happy. After doing laundry and visiting a little bit we said our goodbyes. Our girl is tired and sore and sunburned from her week and she was ready to take it easy for the rest of the day. We headed home in the rain, confident that she's happy and loving life and in a good place. It will be nice to be able to visualize her at home and at work now when we talk. I know she loved having us around, but she'll be especially happy when Ian gets back from his trip tomorrow evening. Same God watching over them both. Life is good.

Happy birthday, Mom!!!

Here's to a very happy birthday to one of the most beautiful women I know! I love you, Mom :-)

Our construction site daughter...

Normally Laura doesn't like it when I share many details of her daily life on my blog, but since she's being public with the info, feel free to check out her new summer blog. (http://waywelearn.blogspot.com/) She's working for an amazing company in downtown Denver and is having the time of her life! Whenever we Skype she just grins from ear to ear with joy. It's wonderful to see. She goes to work early each morning and her daily attire is jeans, a polo shirt, a vest, gloves, and a hard hat. She informed me she wears a white hard hat for the first month so everyone recognizes she's a "newbie" and might say or do something stupid. After the month is over she'll graduate to a yellow hat. What I think is great is that after only 2 days she already is treated like a valuable, respected contributing member of the team. Her 3 years of hard work at Mines are already paying off. I'm so proud of our girl. Now, if only she would take off the hard hat and vest long enough to begin looking for a wedding dress!

The lazy days of summer...

Do you remember the lazy, warm and wonderful days of your childhood summers? I do. We used to head outside to play and only came in when we were hungry. Our days were filled with kickball and "kick the can" and "50 scatter" and bike rides and tennis...we loved being outside and we had friends who helped us pass the hours from dawn till dusk. Now that it's finally beginning to feel like summer in Colorado, our cul-de-sac is a beehive of activity. We have new neighbors in 2 of the 8 houses, and it's so much easier to get to know them over tricyles and scooters and puppy dogs. Tonight there were adults and children and dogs from 7 of the 8 houses outside passing the time. It's not quite the same as my childhood summers, but it's pretty darn close. I love the lazy, peaceful days of summer, and I'm so thankful for wonderful neighbors all around me.