She's Road Trippin' Somewhere

Day 1
Friday came early, was up way before the alarm went off. Piddled around the house cleaning things up and packing last minute things. Was on the road by 6:15 am, Moj was settled in the front seat, sound asleep.

Jenny and Clark called me when I had just left Lincoln. They said that the highway from Alma to Colby was Ice/Snowpack covered. $hit!!!!!! I sooo did not want to hear that since I was driving the Camaro and had been warned by friends and hubby that I should take the truck because the weather ‘could be bad’. Of course my stubborn a$$ said “Oh, I’ll be just FINE!” and proceeded to take the Camaro anyway.

I did a quick glance at the map and decided to drop down at York on Hwy 81 that would take me into Kansas. Chatted with some friends to see what the best way would be and decided to take Hwy 36 out of Belleview KS west to Petersberg and then south to Hwy 24 which would take me into Colby. I did a road check at 9:30 and the interstate into Colorado was still closed….what the heck!! I certainly didn’t want to get stuck in Colby for an extended period of time….I had a hair appointment at 3:30 mountain time.

Um!! We aren't IN NEBRASKA ANYMORE!!!!

Never did hit any snow until Hoxie Kansas and even then the roads were still dry. I checked the roads again and heard that I-70 was finally open…whoo hoo…clear sailing for me!!!!!

Coming into Colby was another matter though. Got stuck behind a snow plow that was going 40 mph. Couldn’t really pass him so I was stuck going that slow. The roads in Colby were slushy and messy. The gas station lot was snowpacked/slush and ice. YUK! The Camaro got initiated into the world of snow, ice, salt and sand. But the sun was out and life was good.

Once on I-70 things were a piece of cake. Made up some lost time and rolled into Limon at a decent hour. Only 90 some miles left to go…..I’m going to make my hair appointment yet. Ha ha. I love this hill coming down out of Limon. There is a gorgeous horse ranch at the bottom with Pike’s Peak in the distance. I know here that my trip is nearly done.

Got to Jen’s house and the sun was out again and the temps were fairly warm. Moji and Gidget played outside for a long time and Jen and I went to the salon. Moj went along too and slept in the car….yet again.

The rest of the evening was spent catching up, plus we had a big day planned for Saturday.

Day 2
Spent the morning lazing around the house, watching the dogs play. We did have to be up in Denver by 12 for our ‘Indoor Skydiving’ appointment. On the way up, we stopped at Castle Rock and did some shopping at the outlet stores. Ok, really didn’t plan on buying anything, but I did.

Finally made it up to Skyventure and didn’t get too lost trying to find it. That was a blast! When it was my turn to ‘fly’, I couldn’t quit laughing and got bounced and rolled all over. The poor instructor kept telling me to relax and I kept laughing. Air was being forced up my nose, my feet were getting bounced all over, I kept trying to get sucked out the doors to the antechamber. It was a fiasco for 60 seconds. Jenny did awesome though, she floated all over in there. The second time around though I did much better and was more relaxed. There is a DVD of us flying, not sure if I will share the funny one or not yet. Ha ha.

Headed back to the Springs to get ready to go Trick or Treating with the boys. Jen and I took the dogs for a walk by the dog park. Moj loved that…a nice hilly mile walk…I about DIED!! So not used to the altitude or the hills that we climbed. Moji got to go on the walk about for Trick or Treating. He did real good, didn’t bark at any of the kids running up on him or running from house to house.

Went back home and checked out the boyz’ loot. They gave me stuff that they didn’t like….cool with me…more road trip food.

Day 3
Spent the day being lazy yet again. Attempted to watch the Nascar race…ouch, my 2 car didn’t do so hot and got wrecked at the end with 3 laps to go. Jenny did talk me into going to her obedience class at 1 pm. I’m glad that I did. Moj was a good distraction for the group and he did fairly good for not being taken to a class at all!! I really enjoyed working with her trainer. He spent a lot of extra time working with Jen and making sure she knew what he was talking about.

Made it back home to see the end of the race…..cringed a lot.

Went and washed the salt and grime of the car before heading to New Mexico on Monday morning.

Spent the rest of the day hanging out with the boyz.

Day 3
Drove to New Mexico and made it down there in real good time..shocked my Dad that I showed up in only 6 ½ hours. Hmmmm, didn’t really speed that fast and only made 2 stops for fuel.

Once we were settled, Dad and I took Moj for a 2 mile walk. Oh, that was sooo much easier than in Colorado Springs…the ground is FLAT there.

Caught up on things and crashed fairly early. I still wasn’t used to all the time changes that I did and was jet lagging.

Day 4
Ran Moj for a bit and then hung out at the house. Dad and I headed to the shooting range and practiced with the pistols. Had a lot of fun doing that, 3 hours flew by fast. Later in the afternoon, we took a drive over to Bitter Lake which is a wildlife refuge. Snow Geese and Sandhill cranes were already there for the winter. Took JoAnn for a ride in the Camaro later in the afternoon when we ran over to Wal-mart to get some fruit and things.

Day 5
Drove up to Capitan, Riudoso and Hondo to see the sights. Had a good time and saw some beautiful scenery. Couldn’t believe how time flew, we were gone almost 6 hours. Went out for Tex Mex and had marguaritas….yum!! Hung out with JoAnn while Dad cleaned guns and fiddled out in his shop.

Day 6
Plans were to drive back to Colorado Springs in the morning. Dad and I took the dogs for a mile walk to get ‘Moj tired for the trip’….I don’t think I can ever tire that boy out!!!! He does ride well and sleeps most of the time.

Finished packing the car up and headed out by 9:15 am. Not much to see along the way, ranches, longhorn cattle, antelope, shredded tires in the road, cacti plants, hawk nests wedged in the power lines on the poles (didn’t figure that out until I saw the 3rd mass). I did see a Roadrunner dart across the road and a huge snake…ICK!! Avoided that one! Got to Colorado Springs around 3:30, just as I had pulled in the driveway, Andrew called and asked me when I was going to be there..I told him, look out in the driveway

Clark, Andrew and I piled back in the car and went to pick Christian and his friends up from school. 4 boys were packed in the backseat, Clark and Christian were in the passenger seat and I drove with backpacks squished all over. Wow!! That little car was packed with 7 people……..had the sunroof open and the windows down, the boys LOVED it!

Went out for pizza and then back home to get some things done for Jenny, had to download some music to her Blackberry and pictures from our phones. The boys played with the dogs. Everyone kinda headed to bed fairly early, it has been a long week.

Day 7
Up early, wanted to eat breakfast with the boys before they headed off to school. Planning on heading out of here around 8 am which should put me home around 6 pm. I am starting to miss Mike and the critters…and my BED.

I am so glad that I took this impromptu trip to see family. Some great memories were made and plans for a family vacation to Florida next year are now in the works. It will be fun to take the boys to the beach!!!