A quick trip to CO followed by a quick trip to CO.

 Thursday, Aug 18

Bill and I took a quick trip to CO for a funeral. 

A good friend of ours from Parker - and a work colleague of Bill's - had been killed in an airplane accident (on Mar's wedding day). Bill had talked to him the day before he died. It is so sad.

It gave us an extra opportunity to see these cute granny daughters and their parents, though. That makes me happy.

We made a stop by Hurt's Donut to pick out some tasty treats.

Then we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

We had to take both of their cars to get us all there... V came along with Gigi and Little Billy in their not-so-little blue truck ;-)

We spent the next day (Friday) at the funeral, then flew home that evening.

Thursday, Sept 1

Bill and I made the drive to Denver to go to a Jack Johnson concert with Zoeanne and Kendall.

It was at Fiddler's Green, which is where Taylor and Britt graduated high school, so it was fun to reminisce about those days {long gone by}. I had also worked a concert here for a marching band fundraiser when Tay was a freshman... I spent the night dispensing on-tap beer. To earn money for my son's band fees. Good times.

I have heard some of Jack Johnson's music. Mar performed Better Together with a friend at a coffee shop for her guitar class. But I realized that I really didn't know Jack Johnson songs haha. 

Only ONE was familiar to me.

There was a lot of pot smoke. And our spot, which seemed pretty perfect when we first secured it, wasn't so great once people started standing on the walkway directly in front of us.

It was a nice evening. The weather was perfect. Jack performed in UT the following night, and I'm pretty sure his dialogue was edited to exclude all the pot talk haha. After the concert we dropped Zoeanne and Kendall off at their hotel (the Hilton Garden Inn - the same one I had a devil of a time finding the first time I drove to Denver solo with the kids to sign on our house). Bill and I stayed the night at Tay and Nae's.

Friday, Sept. 2

Our presence at their house the next morning may have contributed to V running late for school. I went with Nae to drop her off. 

We had to check in at the office, and I was delighted to know that I am still in the DCSD system. They could just print out that visitor tag with my not-so-attractive CO Driver's License photo on it, lickity split.

V had missed a few days of school prior to this day, so it was kind of a big deal to show up... and late. I was so impressed with her bravery. She showed me where her cubby is, then headed into class.

It made me so happy to hear the kids excitedly welcome her back. I know it made Nae feel good, too. Sending your child to school is always hard, and as a mom you just hope that kids are kind.

After dropping V off, Bill and I headed to Castle Rock to meet up with Zoeanne and Kendall. They had invited us to go to their cabin in southern CO for a couple of days. Kendall needed to make a work stop in Co Springs, then we caravanned down south.

We stopped for dinner on the way, and arrived right at dusk.

Saturday, Sept 3

We had divided up meal duty. I can't remember what Bill and I had, but I remember that there were a few mouse nests around the kitchen. Bill set a trap and we caught a mouse fairly quickly. Ick.

The scenery was beautiful. Colorado does not disappoint in that area.

Zoeanne wasn't feeling well that afternoon, so she slept, and Kendall went to town for a few hours to grab some medicine and soda. Bill and I took a walk, played a game or two, and just chilled for bit.

The hummingbird feeder kept me entertained.

Sunday, Sept 4

Bill and I packed up our things and headed out. Zoe and Kendall were staying for a few more days. I think they were hopeful we would be interested in going in as a timeshare buyer (I think Kendall told us there are currently 10 co-owners), but I literally have no interest in timesharing a cabin in a remote area of CO. Especially one with a sketchy outhouse and lots of mice haha. If it was a condo on a beautiful white sand beach, and I might consider it.

I was worried that the drive home would be 12 hours (thinking we had to head back up north before going west), but it only took 8 hours. I love traveling {scenic} roads I've never been on before, so it was a lovely drive home.

Hello Santa Barbara.

Monday, June 6

Bill and I flew to Santa Barbara for his President's Award trip.

Our first time ever being there.

He had a few business meetings throughout the week, but I didn't mind tagging along for the warmth and sunshine. I spent a few hours each day sitting on this little patio outside our room:

That evening we had dinner around the pool, with some synchronized swimmers for entertainment.

Tuesday, June 7

We took a shuttle to downtown to walk around for a bit.

That evening we went to dinner here:

We were seated outside, and it was a bit chilly (we were sitting pretty far away from that heater).The appetizer was popcorn. Interesting.

Wednesday, June 8

One of our excursions was horseback riding here:

The day was hot (and much of our ride was desert-type terrain), and one of the women in our group ended up getting knocked off her horse and had injuries, but other than that, it was scenic and fun. I'm really glad our ride wasn't longer than it was... my hips and my butt probably couldn't have handled any more than that. It also didn't help that my stirrups were turned inward and too short for my legs. I have long legs, people! I was so happy to finally get OFF.

That evening we took a lengthy bus ride to a vineyard and winery for dinner and an Andy Grammer concert.

I am not a conversationalist, especially around a whole lot o' people I don't know haha. I was happy when the cocktail hour was over and we could be seated - at least then I had a limited amount of people to converse with.

The concert was fun. Bill and I chuckled at a couple of the comments Andy made about insurance. I'm not sure he was totally clear about who his audience was.

Thursday, June 9

Our second excursion was to go sailing.

It was a cool breezy day (which I guess is helpful for sailing).

That evening they had a fiesta at the resort for dinner.

It was fun. 

Again, more chatting with random people.

I'm awkward. What else can I say.

Friday, June 10

We snapped a pic outside of the resort before we headed to airport.

I was having some kind of crazy reaction to SOMETHING - my face, neck, and hands had a raised red rash all over them. We tried to figure out what it could have been from - it lasted for a week+ after I got home. Still have no idea. I tried to hide my face on the flight home, lest I create concern among my fellow passengers that I was contagious.

When it comes to Santa Barbara, we can now say, "We've been there!"