Thursday, May 30, 2013 - Courtney Graduation Trip

Graduate, Mom, Dad, Grammy, and Granddaddy Ken

Isn't she beautiful?!  She has on very high wedge heels in this pic.

For 18 years, since her birth, I've always known I would some day attend my granddaughter's high school graduation!  No matter where that occurred.  That became a reality last Saturday when Vista Ridge High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado, held the ceremony at the World Arena.  Just cannot believe she has reached this stage in life and will be headed off to college in August.

We scheduled our trip to Colorado to attend Miss C's graduation and added a few days to the trip so that on the way back we could see Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  We got all the hotel reservations made and enlisted the assistance of our foster niece, Tamara, to take care of the fur babies so we could be gone from home.  We left about 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 23, and drove to Amarillo, Texas for the first leg of the trip.  Not a bad drive at all.  I didn't have an upset stomach and had to make no "emergency" stops!  We made very few stops except for lunch break - it takes us about 6.5 hours to drive it.  We stay at the Days Inn East (always) on I-40.  We went to the Big Texan restaurant -- the food is actually good, but I also like their gift shop.  This time, however, the sales clerk was a bit rude so I left without donating any of our money at the shop - saving it for Colorado and New Mexico instead.

We dreaded the drive from Amarillo to Raton, New Mexico...the last time we drove that way there was so much construction that it took us forever to get to Raton...start, stop, 5 miles per hour, 35 miles per hour, etc., etc.  But we rose early, cleaned up and dressed, had breakfast at the hotel, waited for my digestive system to settle down, and then took off.  K had me to do the start off driving because he had driven from home to Amarillo because I could not stay awake (fighting meds).  What a pleasure it was this time to have the construction completed and no stops!  It was smooth sailing at 70 mph and we were in Raton in no time.  We made our usual stop at the All Season's restaurant and gift shop for lunch.  We had what was supposed to be clam chowder but turned out to be mostly diced potato with clam flavoring.  Can't remember what else we had.  We didn't buy anything in the gift shop but pressed on to Colorado Springs up I-25.

The pass is recovering from the horrible fires that occurred in 2011, but there are still many dead/charred trees standing.  And I guess we are pretty "Colorado seasoned" now days because we didn't take any pictures while we driving up I-25.  We stopped in Pueblo for gasoline and potty break but arrived in CS in about 2.5 hours after leaving Raton, NM.

SO, we arrived on Friday afternoon about 3...got a text from Courtney within minutes!  She was keeping an eye on where we were while traveling to CS.  We showered off the road rash and met the family at Cracker Barrel for dinner at 6.  Nice!  We were not expecting them to buy our dinner but they did.  That was so sweet.  We each had a good strawberry and chicken salad and shared a serving of chicken and dumplings.  Very good.

We stay in northern CS close to the Academy, right off of I-25.  This time we stayed at the Super 8 at the intersection of I-25 and N. Academy Drive.  This location puts us close to the Academy, close to K's sister and brother-in-law, and not too far from my son and his family.  Super 8 was "ok," but we won't stay there again.  Bed was uncomfortable, pillows were horrible (we failed to bring our own), comforter seemed dirty, carpet in these places always feels dirty.  Toilet did not flush well, had to beg for toilet paper, tub was slick and dangerous, bathroom facilities are located adjacent to the door so if someone is using the potty or standing at the sink the door cannot be opened because anyone in the hallway can see what is going on.  We were there for 4 nights.  This place has a breakfast "buffet" - cereal, milk, coffee, toast, and pre-packaged cinnamon rolls.  When one fellow took all the cinnamon rolls for himself the desk refused to put out any more, indicating that only x number per day were put out.  Just STUPID.  In addition, the hotel wanted us to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows for a breeze instead.  We refused - we paid for an air conditioned room and this place is located in a very busy area so there is way too much noise.

After dinner we made plans to meet up with C&N at 3 on Saturday afternoon to travel to the arena for graduation.  (Miss C had to be there earlier.)  Then K and I headed to Walmart to pick up bottled water and then back to the hotel where we crashed.  We were both so totally worn out so we took required meds and went to bed.  Unfortunately it was not an uneventful night for me.  I woke up a couple of hours later and realized I was laying in my own mess...what I had been fighting all day had hit while I was asleep.  I had to clean up the bed and take a shower, throw clothes away, take meds to combat it, and finally went back to bed about 4.  I woke up when K got up because he is never quiet.

We went to breakfast at IHOP and I prayed it wouldn't hit me like a ton of bricks.  Then we drove south on Academy where N had told us there was an antique shop.  We found it and went through it rather quickly.  It is quite large and I saw several sewing machines -- didn't buy a single one, because Colorado prices are out of sight!

After the antique mall we drove to Old Colorado City but didn't get out because it was Territory Days celebration and there were far too many folks there.  But at least we found it so we can go back some day.  We stopped at Schlotsky's located close to our hotel and grabbed a bite to eat then went back to our room where we rested and then got ready to go to graduation.

We got to the arena about 3:30 and waited outside until 4 for the doors to open; Colorado Springs gets hot in the afternoon sometimes! We made our way in and finally found seats.  I was a goner as soon as Pomp and Circumstance started playing and we watched the graduates march in.  I cried...this is a huge thing for Miss C, but it begins a brand new cycle for all of us.  Another adult generation...the end of childhood.  A new era.  The ending and the beginning.  We are so proud of her, this amazing miracle child - the child that wasn't supposed to happen.  I just love her so very much.  The baby of my babies (I count N. as one of mine as well).

Afterward there was the opportunity for many pictures, greeting friends, and then we traveled to Monument, Colorado to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner!  C&N would not allow us to pay for the entire meal for everybody, so we just paid for our own.  It was so good!  With us for dinner was Taylor, Courtney's "little sister."  Taylor is a sophomore, she and Courtney have been friends since 2006.  Taylor's mother works with C. but Taylor lives with her dad, Mark, who is good friends with C&N.  Mark was at the graduation with all of us; he and Taylor went to dinner, too.

We went back to the hotel afterward with plans to meet be at C&N's house on Sunday afternoon at noon for Miss C's reception.  I made it back to the hotel without getting ill.  And fortunately it hit me before I went to bed so I was ok.

The reception was fun...good food and opportunity to meet more of C&N's friends, including the dentist for whom N. works.  N. is a dental assistant, not a hygenist.  She completed school 2-3 years ago.

We excused ourselves about 2 and went back to the hotel to rest.  We were being picked up at 5 by K's sister and husband to go to dinner (yes, we ate a LOT on this trip, lol!).  They took us back to Monument to the Colorado Brewery Restaurant.  I had a wonderful salmon steak and K had super mushroom ravioli.  We didn't realize we were not going to be allowed to pay for it or we would have ordered something far less expensive!

After dinner B and M took us to the Academy because they needed to clean out their horse stalls and feed, and we wanted to see the horses.  M is a retired AF colonel; he and B provide instruction for 4-H and Boy Scouts, do trail rides, etc.  The stables at the Academy is a pretty large operation and M&B help with that.  My son C is stationed at the Academy.  So we see it quite a bit when we are in town.  This time we drove around to the camp ground and saw where we will be able to stay when we take our RV up for an extended visit - we would like to go and stay for the summer because it is so nasty hot in Texas.  That way we can take all the fur babies as well.

On Monday we vegged out during the morning and then got dressed because the kids (CNC) were coming to pick us up for a drive into the mountain area.  We wanted to go at least once since we had not been since arrival.  We had a beautiful drive to Woodland Park and beyond and stopped at a lookout stop where we had a wonderful view of the area.  We didn't stay long because K and I were feeling the effect of the high altitude.  We stopped at the Old Chicago Restaurant in Colorado Springs for early dinner - great food, and then headed back to the hotel.  I thought I was going to make it all the way back to the hotel with no problems but about two blocks away from the hotel the altitude and food hit with a bang.  I managed to hold on to what I had until we got to the front door where I said a hurried goodbye to the kids and ran for our room and the bathroom.  I was violently sick and didn't think I was going to be able to get myself over it and then I heard K telling me to hurry!  He had the same issue.  Oh, Lord, we were so sick.

In addition to the altitude having a negative effect on our digestive systems, we also had chills and sinus problems from the mountain cedar and pine.  We went to bed early and begged for relief.  We had talked about our trip to Santa Fe and Albuquerque and which route to take so that we saw Taos on the way down.  But the next morning at breakfast at Cracker Barrel we decided we really just wanted to go home and that in the near future we will fly to Albuquerque, rent a car and drive to Santa Fe and Taos, but that we were going to go home instead of extending our trip.  We canceled hotel reservations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and changed our reservation at Days Inn East in Amarillo so that we could drive there immediately.

We went back to our room, had our sick period, finished packing, sent a text to the kids, and headed out of CS toward home.  We were both fighting being sick.  K drove to Raton, NM, where we stopped at the All Seasons Restaurant and gift shop, but did not eat.  Instead we went next door to Dairy Queen and had a grilled cheese sandwich with water and shared a small strawberry sundae.  When we left K had me to drive.  I drove us back to Days Inn East in Amarillo.  We were so tired.  But excitement was not over.

We checked in, the clerk advised us of the weather (K had snapped a picture on the way in to Amarillo), and by the time we got to our room violent weather struck.  Tornadoes were bouncing around, we were told the safe area was in the stairwells.  We chose not to go there but to the bathroom in our room.  We were certainly glad when that scare was over.

We went out to eat - at a Jorge Garcias, a really good restaurant nearby.  We thought everything was ok, went back to the hotel, went to bed.  I woke up about 11:40 to violent weather, turned on the news and discovered that even the news crew was in their safe area - the men's room at the news station.  Tornadoes spotted, high winds, hail the size of softballs, and we were right in the path.  Once again we had to head to safety.  When it was over K looked out the window - it looked like big humps of snow...huge ice balls...hail.  We knew then that our car would be ruined.  Apparently C had been watching the weather and knew we were most likely in trouble because I started getting text messages from him wanting to know where and how we were.  I told him the car was probably a goner.  He offered to come help us if we needed it.  K went out to check on the car ... came back and just looked at me and I knew it was going to be ugly.  But he prefaced it by saying that we lost no windows.  Then he told me how badly it had been damaged.

K went out in the morning and took pictures and called our insurance agent.  We went ahead and had breakfast at the hotel, cleaned up and dressed for the day, went to breakfast, then K carried the rest of our stuff to the car.  We looked at the car, decided we had come out on the good end of the stick since cars around us had lost windows, and then we headed to Fort Worth.  There were things in the car such as light covers that had been knocked off when the car was hit so hard.  K just put them back on and we drove off.  I cried a little bit but knew that no matter if the insurance pays or not, I'm NOT buying a new car...I am almost finished paying for this thing and I refuse to have another monthly car payment.  The car has less than 50,000 miles on it and is still good for another 5 years.  But my ego is hurt - my pretty car looks so ugly.  I'm hoping we can get it fixed.

SO, we are home!  Bennie and Luci were SO GLAD to see us.  I don't think we can ever go away again without them.  It was just way too hard leaving them behind.  K and I are still so sick.  Our sinuses are so nasty and K is coughing his head off.  My whole face is chapped and dry and I'm having to keep my mouth medicated because it is so chapped and sore.  Can't get enough water to rehydrate.  But at least we are in our own house in our own bed.

TandJ came shortly after we got home.  They are so good to take care of things while we are gone.  They are so much like our own kids.  We gave Tamara a good size check for taking care of the fur babies and I thought she was going to cry.  She later told me that they had been thinking they would have to pack up and move out of their house because J didn't get paid because he didn't work last week - he was in the hospital with kidney failure due to dehydration.  Fortunately they got enough fluid into him to get his kidneys working again.  Anyway, I knew TandJ were having some problems because she had told me they were eating at our house because we had so much good food -- and of course she knows we don't care if they eat here and use whatever we have.  She told me today that because of the amount we paid her they can pay the rent which is due on Saturday; and I told her if they are out of food to come raid the freezer and pantry.  It's really nice living somewhat close to family!

I didn't do much today...just rested - well, of course, I started the laundry, but that's not really doing anything.  Tomorrow I really need to crack down - need to get the place put back together, clothes hung up, etc., etc.  Just so good to be back home...but can't wait to go to New Mexico!

Love my kiddos...and their kiddos...and all my extended family...so much.  Miss them all so very much.

That's all for today.

P.S.  K had doc appointment tomorrow morning and then meets with a fellow about working for a while to help the guy get his books set up.  That's K's forte - getting businesses on track.

Oh - and am crossing my fingers that all goes well for my Colorado kids as they hop on a plane for a fun trip out of country to celebrate Miss C's graduation.  Son has promised to send me an itinerary so I can keep up with them!