VACATION CONTINUES TO MEMPHIS

On our way back home.







Train ride.






Rolling hills of somewhere out west.






Wheat fields of somewhere out west.






Daniel and David wollering on the sofa.






Mountain just outside of a town that started with a U., somewhere out west.






Interesting mountain formation, somewhere out west.





Pasture land somewhere out west.









Don't fence me in.






On the back of the train with Luke and Charlotte.











We left Colorado Springs on Thursday around mid morning. The weather was very nice when we left and we were ready to begin our trip south. As the day wore on the temps got higher and higher and the scenery became more monotonous. There were time that day I was sure my head was going to nod right through the side window. I had determined that I would not go to sleep while we were riding, because John was doing the driving and he always likes to tell everyone that I sleep while he drives. I would be fine with driving awhile, but I think he is terrified of me getting behind the wheel. Several years ago I was driving and he had just dosed off when I accidentally ran up on a curb. Since then no matter how many times I offer he will say " Oh no I fine right now". Well alright, how long are you going to hold that against my driving skills?









We drove that day until about 9:00PM. We took a state route just to the south of Topeka Kansas and drove to a little town just north of Burlington. ( I hope I got the names right). We found a little motel called the Wyatt Earp Motel and stayed there for the night. The next morning we headed east to Nevada Mo.. We stopped at Buzz's BBQ and had lunch. We stopped at a couple of yard sales then drove around Cottey College where the girls went to school. We headed south to Joplin. We bypassed most of Joplin, so we really didn't see any of the storm damage. At one point during the day I looked at the thermometer and it was 110 degrees. I licked my lip to catch the sweat that was running down my face and I swear I tasted like pure salt. At that point I understood how Lots wife could have turned into a pillar of salt.







By this time we were heading toward Little Rock and I had talked to Monica and told her that we wouldn't be in until Sunday. The traffic was not as bad as usual and we were making better time than we had anticipated. When we got almost to West Memphis AR., I said to John, "What do you think about riding on down to Tunica and having the last big fling of our vacation." To my surprise he said that he was thinking the same thing. I almost passed out. When we got across the Mississippi River we headed south again and drove down to Tunica. We were able to get a room ( another surprise on a Saturday night). We played the slots until 2:00 AM then headed back to the room. House keeping had turned the air down to 50 degrees and when we finally turned in for the night it was so cold we could hardly stand to undress for bed. I told John, if we didn't get pneumonia from the extreme temperature change (110-50) it would be a miracle. Another thing I was concerned about was whether the kids would have us both committed to rehab for excessive trips to the casinos. Three time in three weeks was more then we usually go in a year. Oh by the way we still didn't win anything.






As you can see by the time we got home all the scenery had started to look the same and I couldn't even begin to tell you where the pictures were taken. I do remember the kids names and faces and that was what the trip was all about. I realize I did make one big boo-boo when we got to Memphis. I totally forgot to take pictures of Andrew, Matthew and Aaron. Sorry guys.

SUMMER VACATION COLORADO SPRINGS

At the Ice Cream Parlor.

Not so cool.

Parade

Keeping cool.

Monument Colorado parade.

Somewhere on the road.

Sondra making her great gucamole.

Daniel at McDonalds

Cripple Creek Colorado

In front of Sondra and Jonathan's house.

Rainbow over the subdivision

David at the computer

Beautiful scenery.

Jonathan's rose.

More pretty scenery.

Our trip from Washington to Colorado was filled with the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. I was honestly afraid to close my eyes because I would miss something. The ride was nice and comfortable weather wise. We Stayed one night in Pendelton Oregon. The next night we stayed just outside of Denver. We were close enough to drive on in to Co. Springs, but decided we needed a good nights rest before we started our visit with Sondra, Jonathan, David and Daniel.

We got to Sondra and Jonathan's house around 10:30 on Sunday morning. Again it was great to see kids and grand kids. And as always the little ones were excited and had a list of things for Maw Maw and granddaddy to do. I had to put David off until the next day because he had a recipe for the "Best every chocolate chip cookies" that he wanted to make right then. We ended up making the cookies and I believe they were the "Best ever Chocolate chip cookies". I have made them with Emily since we got home.

Sondra works from home and very seldom gets a day out without the kids, so we decided to take a drive over to Cripple Creek on the other side of the mountain. We got there around 10:00 in the morning, had lunch, and yet again spent money at the casino without winning. The main thing was that we had a day out with our daughter and she had a day away from work.

The weather started to really warm up while we were in Co. Springs. John and I hit a few thrift stores. Sondra and I managed a few walks while we were there. Mainly we kind of hung around the house and were entertained by David and Daniel. Jonathan grilled out a couple of nights. John, Sondra and I carried the kids to a Fourth of July parade in Monument Co.. There were and estimated 30 thousand people there. It was really great to see so many people celebrating, waving flags, eating hot dogs and all the things that go with the 4TH.

On Friday we left Co. Springs to begin our trip heading south. It always makes me sad to leave the grand kids. It takes a few days for them to warm up to you and seems as soon as they do, its time to leave. I guess that's the way it's meant to be....

SUMMER VACATION WASHINGTON PART ONE

Olympia Washington

John teaching Luke and Charlotte to play rummy.

Mark, just a swinging

Charlotte eating s'mores.

Luke rescuing Mark from the jungle gym.

Luke caught a butterfly on a Dandelion.

Serious, Prissy, and Happy.

John, Sarah and the kids.

At the Huntsville airport

Ready to leave on our vacation

We just returned Sunday from our epic vacation - adventure. We left on June 21ST from Huntsville and started our trip to Washington State. Of course our trips always involve visiting our children and this trip was no different. Sarah, Cody and the kids are now living in Yelm Washington. We flew from Huntsville to Denver then on to Seattle Washington. Sarah and the kids met us there. It was so good to see all of them. Luke and Charlotte have grown so much, but Mark has really changed. When we saw him before Christmas, before they left, he was just a baby crawling around. Now he is a full blown toddler and still crawling but now it is crawling on top of everything he can get too. He fell off so much stuff while we were there, I was drawn up in a knot for days.

The weather in Washington was just wonderful. When we left Alabama the temps were in the high nineties and low hundreds. When we got to Seattle the temp was like 67 degrees and didn't vary from that more than one or two degrees. We spent eight days in Washington. We enjoyed going to the farmers market where we wondered around for a while. Then we got some of the best seafood we had had in a long time. Clams, shrimp and fish, sold from a food stand there at the market. We also bought fresh cherries that were fresh and sweet and really yummy.

Our main goal for this trip was to spend time with the grand kids. John spent lots of time playing cards and games with Luke and Charlotte. Mark took every opportunity to climb on the table and disrupt the game. We took a side trip down to Oregon where we took a train ride. We went down the night before and stayed in a little town along the Columbia River. The power of that river was amazing to me. The water was swift with lots of white caps. Must have been quite a ride for the settlers that came through years ago. I'm use to seeing big rivers here in the south, but in comparison ours are strong, slower moving, lazy type rivers.

On Sunday we boarded the train at 10:00 and took a four hour trip up through the mountains where we got a wonderful view of Mt Hood. The constant rocking back and forth of the train soon put Mark to sleep and the rest of us were close behind him. We were all just kind of staring out the window in a stupor. The scenery in Washington and Oregon was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. But that darn rocking of the train was almost to much for a bunch of nappers like us.

John, Sarah and I managed to squeeze in a trip to a casino that was just a few miles form her house. Here again we had no luck, but are just dumb enough to lose our money and still have fun. Go figure.

The days went much to fast. We ended up leaving a day early, because we bought Sarah's car(they bought a newer one) while we were there and decided to drive cross country coming back. We drove down through Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming and finally Colorado........