Colorado - The end

Day #7 of our Colorado adventure arrived.  By this time, we were ready to get home and sleep in our own beds and see Hank the Tank II because (say it with me now) he is so precious.  After stuffing our suitcases as tight as possible, we were still left with two blankets we had purchased on Pike's Peak, a container of Folger's coffee, Lipton tea bags and some protein shake stuff Jay has to have.  Being the tight-wad I am, there was NO WAY I was tossing that stuff in the trash can.  No way.  We would figure something out.

We returned the car to the rental place and hopped on the shuttle back to the airport.  The baggage check-in went fine and we found our gate.  There was a luggage/bag shop right by it.  Perfect...only their sign said they would be back soon.  Soon never came so we just decided to try to carry on all of that stuff.  We had the groceries in a gift bag and were carrying the two blankets.  Looking at others go through security, I didn't feel so bad.  People had all kinds of stuff that they were just carrying through.  Funny thing, we had no trouble with the blankets, the humongous container of protein powder or the coffee.  My small bottle of Oil of Olay and some hand lotion jerked me right out of line.  Seriously?  (I know they are just doing their jobs.)  We did finally make it through with plenty of time to spare.

The plane ride home was uneventful.  We found seats next to a couple from Colorado coming to Illinois for a wedding.  Lane & Jay sat next to the gentleman and Madolyn & I sat with the woman.  They were very pleasant and we had good conversation.  They shared with us about the big forest fire because they lived in that area.  We landed, took the shuttle back to the hotel where we had parked our car for the week, found our car, loaded it up and headed home on Interstate 70.

All in all, it was a very good trip.  It wasn't a relaxing type of vacation, but we knew that going in.  We wanted to see as much as we could because you just never know when/if you will get to go back.  Our kids were very good, especially considering all the driving around we did.  We did hear the word "Sissy" about fifty times too much, but someone can't keep her hands off her little brother and eventually we fined her a quarter every time she touched him. 

One of those cute things that I will probably never remember unless I look back on this blog was Lane listening to Jerry Clower on his iPod with his headphones in and hearing him recite the words and do the sound effects with it.  If you have ever listened to Jerry Clower, I know you can just hear him making his sound effects.  It was adorable and I had to take a picture.  (How many eight-year-olds listen to Jerry Clower anyway?!)

We were thankful to have been given a Toyota Camry at the rental car place.  They offered us a van for the same price, but we went with the MPG, and it was a good decision.  It seemed like we could drive forever (and we did) on very little gas!  It was a nice little car...my back wasn't a fan of the seat, but it was tolerable.  We kept a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk with water and drink boxes and also some peanut butter and jelly and bread.  It was handy to have our own drinks and a snack if we needed one.

I took gobs of pictures, actually 266 to be precise...and aren't you glad I haven't decided to put all of those on here?!  I did include this one on the right because I told Jay to make a face like the water was flaming hot (which it was pretty warm) and he did.  I thought it was cute.  This spring monument, I guess you would call it, was located near that Mexican restaurant along the river in Pagosa Springs.  I suppose this is a way to enjoy a spring without paying to actually sit in it!  How about his new red shoes?  Aren't those alarming?  He's going to love that I had to mention them!!

The picture on the left is the view from the deck we had where we stayed at in Pagosa Springs.  It was a huge place.  We took some nice walks around on the golf cart paths (which was a no-no), but didn't spend a whole lot of time there on the resort.  We were situated on the second floor; there was another unit above us and one below us.  I'm sure the folks below us loved the fact that Jay did his exercise videos every afternoon. 

One morning when Jay, Lane & I were on a walk, there were two hot air balloons flying over.  We saw one touch down and tried to get over to it, but it took off too quick.  Then as we walked, we watched where they were going and they landed near our place.  I called Madolyn and told her to go outside and take a picture.  Thankfully, she listened to her mother for once and clicked a decent photo.

We hope to go back some day and see the northern part of Colorado.  I have been told that if I like Colorado, I really need to see Wyoming & Montana.  Sounds good to me.  We were pleased to arrive home to well-cared for animals (thanks to my parents and my nieces) and a very-much alive Hank the Tank II.  The neighbors to the west of us did hear him bark a lot, but he lived through the cruel punishment of a dog pen.  Too bad for him, now that we know he can do it, we may not need a dogsitter anymore!