“Why did you drive that far to
spend only one day with Grandpa?”
Answer: We didn’t!
We spent two nights and parts of
three days with Grandpa, but we also had lunch with old friends in Bakersfield,
spent a couple of hours in Southern California with an elderly Aunt and Uncle,
had lunch on the beach with our friend Margrit’s family after delivering the
quilt that I finished for her grandson, Zack.
Then we chased the lightening and thunderstorm to Las Vegas, then to
Fruita on the western border of CO, enjoying a section of I-15 that we had NOT
SEEN before – the Virgin River Canyon.
The rivers and lakes were all full and some Spring wildflowers were
blooming.
We were raised with the Chevrolet
jingle “See the USA in your Chevrolet!”
So after a glorious rendition of God Bless America at the National Day
of Prayer on Mary 4th; a forecast of snow on Saturday caused us to
throw “everything but the kitchen sink” into the Subaru and head south and then
northeast to See Anything and Anyone who might be “available!” What did we do before cell phones? We planned ahead!!
Once in Broomfield - the first
sibling to respond to my text regarding our impromptu trip - Tom got a nap, we
got the oil changed in the Subaru, had lunch with three of our family members who
were not available any other time that week!
Saw Tom’s brothers and a project that one was working on – nice job!
Once we filled the tank with gas
and walked CostCo, we drove the two hours to eastern CO to find Dad not so
good!! We thought we might have to stay
most of the week, but next day was a good one, as was the one after. The caregiver thought he just got so excited
about us coming, that he made himself sick.
The clogged sewer was cleared and the cleaning lady even came and
sanitized the two bathrooms involved.
The caregivers seemed to have everything under control, so after a visit
with Tom’s sister, and a High School Playoff baseball game with Tom’s brother
and his wife – yielding a really strange sunburn since I had a clunky necklace
on – we decided that if we timed it right I might just make the dress
rehearsal, Monday afternoon, for the Concert on the 19th. Tom also has a eulogy to get ready for on
Saturday afternoon the 20th – one of our Sonora Church ladies.
We enjoyed yet another piece of
roadway that we had never seen – Hiway 287 from Fort Collins CO to Laramie
WY. It was lovely and not as windy as
I-80 the rest of the trip. Had Tom not
felt like helping with the driving I could not have done nine hours each of two
days!
We visited with a widowed friend
in Reno NV and caught some snowflakes on Carson Pass for 15 miles. AND I arrived in Sonora just in time for the
rehearsal!!
Yes, we missed some friends along
the way but as I was musing on the trip, we seem to be making two trips a year
since Tom retired from the church, and the weather was right for leaving our
jobs here in greater downtown Strawberry.
It was too cold to paint the two or three places where the epoxy bubbled
and popped off the bottom of the pool. (An exceptionally wet winter possibly!)
The epoxy requires 3 to 5 days with temps above 50 degrees. It was 36 and rainy this morning! It had been cold all ten days we were gone,
but one of my PO customers said that a warming trend was on its way!!
I think that since Tom’s mom died
14 years ago we have missed the letters that kept us “in the loop” with our
brothers and sister on the Weathers side! Facebook just
doesn’t do that – there are some things that don’t get shared on Facebook!! My family seems to be more communicative,
but even so it is good to stop in and SEE them! None of us is getting any YOUNGER – note the number of
grandchildren that our “baby brother and sister” are adding to their Family Trees!
So 3356 miles later, here we are
– home again!! WHY? Because we discovered the mile-high hamlet
of Strawberry, surrounded by National Forest and Wilderness Areas, with
population under 100 except of Holiday Weekends 38 years ago, and in all of our
travels we haven’t found another place quite like it!! PEACE!
