A rare sight--they're both asleep!
5:30 a.m. Sarah is talking about food in her sleep. She says in her regular loud voice, "Do we get chips with it?"
8:00 a.m. breakfast at the hotel. I took this from the 3rd floor. Right away, we met Chatty Man, who started the conversation with, "Why aren't those kids in school?" Conversations that start with that line don't usually go well. I explain to CM that they are homeschooled and that traveling is a great education. He had many opinions about that, and he expressed them all. Meanwhile, my breakfast is getting cold, and we want to get on the road, so I slipped away and left Noah to talk to him. Part of his education.
My first encounter with a pancake machine. I had no idea what I was doing, but I pressed a button, and the thing started making a pancake. While I was waiting, I noticed the plate sitting on the counter, went into Mommy Cleanup Mode and put it away with the other plates. When I came back, my pancake was lying on the counter where the plate had been. My laser-sharp brain quickly figured out why the plate had been there in the first place.
Our next fun conversation involved explaining nirvana to the children, thanks to my yogurt lid telling me that I can reach my nirvana by finding the "me" in "time". Then I saw a woman wearing a Tshirt that said Kansas Arborists, but I thought it said Kansas Abortionists.
9:00 a.m. Leaving the hotel on schedule. I think that was the best experience I've ever had at a hotel. Very windy outside. Kids are back to watching Mythbusters, and Mike is regaling me with tales of his late night activites. He couldn't sleep and felt restless, but there was nowhere to go except the bathroom, so he went in there and flossed his teeth and clipped his toenails.
9:20 a.m. entering Colorado. State line bags had Model Magic clay and trivia: Denver is called the Mile High City because it is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. Zebulun Pike never reached the top of Pike's Peak.
10:00 a.m. Driving along, marveling at how the air in the van can be so cool without the air conditioner being on, and I said it's like the opposite of a convection oven. I tried to say it's a reverse convection oven, but my sleep deprived brain turned it into a reverse confection oven, and we decided that sounded like puking up candy. These are the conversations you miss out on when you fly instead of taking long road trips.
10:15 a.m. Just passed Bovina, CO, a godforsaken dump of a place. The sign for its exit off the interstate said "no services". No reason to visit here. We have nothing. I looked down the road to Bovina and all I saw was a sign for a cemetery. Mike just told me something from his childhood, and I said, "How could you not have told me that before now?" and he said, "I like to hold some of my material back to keep it fresh for you." (It was something unbloggable about people who leave their turn signal flashing).
Sarah took this one.
10:45 a.m. Came over a rise on Rt. 24 and got our first glimpse of the Rockies in the distance. Colorado is the reward for making it all the way across Kansas. It's worth it!
11:09 a.m. I told Mike I saw a falcon, and he asked how I knew it wasn't a hawk, and my brilliant reply was, "Falcons look different." Sarah stubbornly insists that she doesn't see the mountains that are now right in front of us. We saw a huge porcupine on top of a fence!
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| 11:44 a.m. arriving at Focus on the Family. What a great place! |
Noah climbing on the rail right by the sign that says don't climb on the rail.
When we were here 5 years ago, Sarah wasn't tall enough to go down the 3-story slide with her brother and cousins. She was SO sad and disappointed, and she's talked about it ever since. So finally, her chance at redemption. She's big enough this time!
Noah put in a prayer request.
going into the imagination station (elevator)
coming out of the slide
4:45 p.m. Sarah said Noah could get under the blanket with her if he didn't fart. Several minutes later, she said, "Noah! You farted! Now I can't trust you." Noah said, "Sorry. It was an accident. I can't hold it forever!"
5:30 arriving at Mom and Dad's cabin in Poncha Springs, CO.
We ate tacos and went next door to meet the owner and play with her cats.
Mom, Dad, and I went for a walk and saw the sunset.
We were walking at dusk, and I was just saying it would be a prime time for a bear or cougar to attack us. The owner lady next door had just told us that she saw a bear on her deck a week ago. While this was all fresh in my mind, I suddenly heard running behind me. I whipped around just in time to see a black blur streak by me. I was sure it was a bear and that I was going to be its victim, because I was walking behind Mom & Dad. As it ran past me, I screamed, "God help me!" It was then that I saw that it was a dog.
Kids are sleeping in rollaway beds in the living room, so Mike and I have our own room!
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