Back

I'm back! We had a fantastic time in Colorado. I was reluctant to get on that airplane home. Then, after two days of jet-lagged stupor, a day at the beach (damn that north Atlantic is COLD), followed by a very late movie/dinner night with friends, a day of rain and a trip to the weekend clinic for a nebulizer treatment because I couldn't breathe, I really, really, really wished I'd just settled in the hot springs and refused to budge. Now school (for M) is back in session, E and Z are back at the daycare of doom for one last week and I am back at...dum, dum, dum, work (and C is back at his crazy never-ending work-aholic schedule) and, apparently, in between the hurricanes, Maine's summer came and went while we were gone.

Some highlights of our trip:

Push-ups in the airport (who says vacations are lazy?)









Brotherly (and doggy) love






Dinosaur bones

and tracks (both real

and illusory)

Making a splash!

Turtle love (really...we saw these turtles mating)

Feeding lorries (that's Australian for parrot, mate)

Backyard piggies (these are residents of my brother's backyard)

Living history (where we also visited a house very much like Little House on the Prairie, which we also finally finished reading while we were there).

Hiking in a snow squall.

Close encounters with wildlife (though the radio collars kinda ruin the effect).




Junior Ranger honors all around.

Raving.

Seeing a bear swim across the Colorado River (that black spot is a bear, I swear!)

Your average grueling hike to a spectacular spot.

Tiny houses.

Also lots of time spent with family and friends, a terrifying drive ten miles up a winding road on the edge of a cliff (turning around before reaching the campground at mile 16.6 and driving down those now even more terrifying miles). Camping without a lighter or Coleman fuel (doughnuts for breakfast never tasted so good--and M has never complimented my cooking more. Thanks JM!) And, of course, the piece de resistance, an evening and a day soaking in luxury at Glenwood Springs. I was seriously ready to take up residence in a cave on the side of the mountain and get a job as a towel girl at the pool.

Oh yes, and I almost forgot to mention, C & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary (ten!) and I turned 36. A very full vacation indeed!