An Almost Two Week Driving Trip Continued

If it's Saturday morning in late September, it must be soccer time.  All three grandchildren had soccer games.  Because of the thick grass, it was difficult for Ron to watch the games, so he stayed home (at Phil's) and relaxed.  We returned to Phil's house in Boulder in early afternoon, and had a delicious lunch, using mostly veggies he grew in his garden.  He has so much fruit and produce he doesn't know what to do with it, so he is busy canning applesauce and apple cider, canning tomatoes and beets, and pickling just about everything.  We had pickled cabbage (sauerkraut), pickles, pickled carrots and sliced yellow and heirloom tomatoes for lunch, along with grilled bratwurst.  Wonderful!  The afternoon was spent relaxing and watching the children play.  Dinner was thick a ribeye steak grilled to perfection, with more veggies from Phil's garden in the form of ratatouille.  Ron, who usually hates veggies, ate tomatoes, eggplant and peppers!

The following day David, Tracy and Calvin came to Phil's for an afternoon of fun, climbing trees, chasing each other around the yard, and dining on a delicious paella.  What a wonderful time we had in Colorado.  Nothing is better than seeing your children and grandchildren happy and thriving.

The only glitch in our road trip took place when we went to check in to our hotel in Albuequerque.  They did not have a handicapped accessible room as they had promised, and we had prepaid.  We ended up going to a nearby Hampton Inn, which has fantastic facilities for handicapped travelers.  We will deal with Wyndham, who did not have the proper room for us, at another time.  We left early the next day for Phoenix, having gotten a heads up on rain, wind and possible flash floods that may be in our path.  We made it to Phil and Ellen's house in Paradise Valley around 3pm.  I was exhausted.

Because of the torrential rains that had taken place, half of the shale mountain above their house had slipped, and was in the driveway and side of the house.  They had to hire tractors to come in the following day, and it two days to remove all the rock and mud.  It's not over yet, as they will now have to hire a civil engineer to access the situation and decide if a retaining wall is necessary.

Ron's high school friend Earl, flew in from Chicago, to visit.  They were best buddies for much of their teen age years, have both faced significant health challenges in the past few years, so the two days they spent together was very special.  There were many stories told and lots of laughs.  Our time in Phoenix ended on a very somber note, as Phil and Ellen's beloved Homer, a 16 wonder dog, who had withstood heart surgery and much more, died.  I felt so sad for them, remembering the end of Barney's life after many surgeries and 19 wonderful years.

Not once during the trip did Ron say he wanted to go home.  Visiting with family and dear friends from high school, is good medicine.  We both had wonderful time and are already planning our next adventure.