Catch up.

At the beginning of the summer, I said “This is going to be a long summer. We don’t have any plans!” Here is what “no plans” and boring looks like to us:

• Driving to Colorado for a stay in the cabin with friends so dear they are practically family.
• Visiting more old time besties from Colorado/Wyoming via California…as it snowed in June.
• Going to our first reservoir in Utah…Pineview… with friends and having an absolute blast…and being grateful to not see a tiger muskie.
• Attending TWO summercamps
• Hosting our Gypsy-Besties.
• Camping with family.
• LOTS of birthdays
• Going to Lagoon with family and friends.
• Visiting more long time friends in SLC.
• Growing our family with a bunny.
• Splashing at HAFB with a friend

Guess what I have learned during this boring summer?

I have some awesome friends and family.

Utah…Wyoming…Colorado…Part 1

When you get a call from friends in Colorado saying…”Hey, do you want to come visit us in our cabin in the fabulous Colorado wilderness?” What do you say? OF COURSE YOU GO!!!
Chris needed to stay back to slave away at work…and add an awesome racing stripe to the Fiat. And enjoy some peace alone in the house. I can only dream of such things.
Anyway, the kids and I loaded up the car and headed east to Colorado. The trip took about 8 hours with stops…and was over 400 miles. I can not imagine driving 400 miles in one go across England. This space is something I love about our homeland. The flatest route to Colorado for us is across Wyoming. We left our home and travelled at least 7 miles before our first stop. Yes. You read that right. Our first stop was about 7 miles away. One child needed to pee. One child needed something from the trunk. I forgot the salami and cheese for our lunch. OK. Second departure. Our route with stops:

Evanston,WY –>Green River, WY—>Rawlins, WY—>Walden, CO—>Lodge!

There are some seriously beautiful parts of Wyoming. However, none of them are located off I-80. I-80 Wyoming is good for  fuel stops, fireworks, booze, ammo, and revival meetings. I seriously saw a revival meeting tent set up.
We arrived safely to see my dear friends Roberto and Gretel (*names have been changed to protect the innocent). Cabin is an understatement. Freakin 4 bedroom lodge. Beautiful. Spacious. Comfy. Let’s not forget Jai the dog. At least I think he was a dog. Sort of a cross between a Norfolk Terrier, Meerkat and a Hyena. Most unfortunate looking thing.
Here were the most exciting events of the trip:

The travel crew

Snacks

Part one highlights:

• Fox sighting.
• Two moose 15 feet from the front door at 5am when I took Phiz.
• Tourist thing in Grand Lakes with a stop for ice cream, cotton candy, a souvenir shop devoted entirely to rubber duckies, and a playground.
• Antique shopping in Walden. Roberto locking his keys in the truck. Oops.
• Walking outside and finding pretty flowers.
• Phiz hunting (never catching) chipmunks.
• Evening drive with multiple moose sightings.
• Never Summer mountains…and we did indeed find snow. In June. Nearly July.
• Making smores over the campfire and looking at the stars.