Our trip to Colorado was no less an adventure, an adventure full of Tylenol, stress and exhaustion. The best part of the trip, besides seeing family, was the fact that Summer did wonderful on the entire trip. As stressed as mom and dad were, it didn't change the happy little baby traveling with us. It all started Friday morning when I decided we could leave late because we were flying out of terminal 2, which is a smaller easier terminal to maneuver through. After parking and walking in the 100+ temperature into the terminal, we quickly learned that we needed to be at terminal 1! Walking back to the car in the hot blazing sun, missing the entrance to the long term parking twice, to finally get in the parking garage and spend 10 minutes finding a parking spot, did nothing to help the stress of having less than the required 2 hours they recommend, and for good reason when departing out of terminal 1! We park, get on the elevator carrying all of our bags, get off on the wrong floor, get back on the elevator, walk into the airport, get into an elevator only to get off on the floor we were just on, walk clear across the entire airport, carrying our now very heavy bags, get to the ticketing area to see an extremely long line. Panic sets in, are we going to make it through this line and through security in time, prompts us to get into the "we are not checking any bags" line, even though we are carrying a suitcase, camera case, diaper bag, car seat and purse. Luckily we still end up checking the car seat and the suitcase, and no one in the long line snickered at the sneakiness of cutting and checking bags. We get to the security check point, which goes quickly considering the long line, and ride the tram to our terminal and find our gate without incident. It is 10 till noon, and our plane departs at 12:30, and we planned on eating lunch. I leave Kris and Summer at the gate and run to find food. The first place I come is a burger place, I stand in the long time, order after being told it will take about 15-20 minutes for the food, which should be done by 12:10 - still plenty of time right? As the food is taking forever I run back to the gate twice to make sure they are still waiting, and as I am about to just leave without the food it finally comes, 12:15, I run again to the gate for the third time, and everyone is almost boarded, we are one of the lasts people to board, and normally with a child we are first. We take our seats at the very back of the plane and Summer takes a nap, and sleeps for the entire flight.
We are soaked in sweat but dry on the plane. We manage to eat the $40 worth of burgers and fries - yes it was very expensive, airport food I guess. We land in Colorado with no more problems, and find our bags quickly and get a nice Saturn Aura from the rental car place. We have to hike a mile to get to the car, and we are not use to the high altitude, breathing becomes challenging, and the stress from the morning is slowly fading.
As we are driving from Colorado Springs to Walsenburg the temperature outside is 85, but quickly starts to drop as it begins to rain. Rain, rain and more rain, but we like the rain, we don't see the rain in Las Vegas, and the new 63 degree termperature is a nice change from the 100+ Las Vegas weather.
We make it to the hotel, it is about 6:00 pm, it has been a long day, but we managed a lot of laughs and released the stress and prepared ourselves for the reunion the following day.
We did not sleep well at all, having Summer sleep in between us tossing and turning all night was new, but we wake up anyway an hour earlier than normal because of the time change and begin preparation for the new day.
Saturday is eventful, we walk around, take a lot of great scenic photos of Summer, Summer and Mommy, Summer and Daddy, Summer and Chloe, Summer and a tree, Summer and a rock, Summer and a different tree, some of the relatives, and we eat a great potluck out at the lake with family. The day started out scorching hot, no breeze, but by the afternoon the clouds grace us with their presence and we start feeling energized, or the Tylenol helped.
We decide to go to the swimming area at the lake, which is a cars ride away, and even though it is overcast and cloudy, Summer enjoys walking along the bank, sitting in the cold freezing water, and running her fingers through the wet sand. She tasted it once, no icky, twice, no icky, and luckily twice was enough.
Back to the hotel to recover, wash up, change, and go into town to find a restaurant. I felt like being adventurous, I wanted to find something yummy, something like Diners, Drives and Dives, something new! The town of Walsenburg is ... small. We were lucky to even find a restaurant, it was Mexican food, it was good, but not exactly some place to commit to my memory for later. That night we slept a LOT better, maybe it was the exhaustion or the fact the Summer managed to toss 50% less than the previous night.
Sunday, our plane leaves from Colorado Springs at 4:00, we decide to leave the hotel around 10:00 and head to Colorado Springs. Our intentions are clear, we want to eat a yummy lunch at the Black Eyed Pea, we remember the chicken fried chicken, the rolls, the mashed potatoes, the okra, and the peach cobbler from 7 years ago when we lived in town. We drive back and Summer slept, perfect nap time, find the Black Eyed Pea, eat, everything was like we remember and they even had the peach cobbler. Summer was in a good mood, she had her milk and green beans, she even colored a bit. After lunch we have an hour to kill, we decide to head to the mall, more walking, it is still hot out, we can't wait to get home. The mall was fun, there was a play area and Summer really didn't want to play, she doesn't like other kids yet, they intimidate her, or being away from mommy and daddy does.
Colorado Springs airport is a breeze, we check the car in, get tickets, through security, to our gate and wait. While waiting a see a new purse, half off, only $10, very cute, had to get it. We board on time, no food this time, hour and a half flight Summer sleeps through most of it.
This little girl has had a busy couple of days, but amazes us at how well she has done, she is wonderful. We land and it is 5:00 pm, we get our bags, find the car, find our way to taco bell, get home by 6:00, eat and are both asleep by 8:30.
Thanks for reading, a LOT of photos on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesca/
