Because my husband Bill is physically disabled and is frequently in pain from the Dystonia he has lived with for most of his life, and because I also have problems with osteoarthritis, our biggest issue is allowing enough time for rest and recuperation when we are on the road. We've found that short hops of under 300 miles work really well for us. We get up when we feel rested, drive for 2 or 3 hours, take a hour for refreshment and rest, then drive the rest of the miles we planned for the day and stay overnight. No deadheading. We leave that for our trips by air.
The wonderful result of this necessary planning is that we are able to stay focused on enjoying the trip. We can stop to enjoy State Parks, city attractions and those off road experiences that you see on billboards and rarely stop to enjoy when your time is more limited. We can satisfy our curiousity about historical markers and country market stands. If we get a little lost, changing our path is not a major concern. We love the variety and peaceful views on the State and County roads and often find amusements that the Interstate does not offer.
One of our major destinations this trip was Olathe, Kansas, where Bill's father and step-mother reside in an assisted living complex. We are planning more frequent visits to Kansas as Bill's father is 94 now and his step-mother will be 85 soon. Dr. Joe's health is good in many ways, but his physical abilities are suffering with age and he is now in a wheelchair. Ruth had a hip replacement a few months ago and things are not as easy for her now either. The upside of all this is that they are otherwise well, happy and as involved as they can be with God, family, friends and life in general. Dad was able to present several verses of "My Coney Island Baby" in a respectable barritone when asked to sing at the lunch table and enjoyed our trips outside to enjoy the Kansas sunshine. Ruth recounted stories of recent visits with her daughters who live nearby and showed us pictures of her grandchildren with obvious pride. We dined together in the main dining room each night of our visit. They were also full of inquiries about our lives, our health and our daily concerns. They made it easy to visit and hard to leave because they are so dear to both of us. I can only hope that we will live our golden years with such dignity.
While we know that Western Kansas has a lot to offer in the way of history and amusements, this trip was focused on people. I wish I could say the drive across Eastern Kansas and Eastern Colorado was stimulating, but there's little to catch your attention. Once you get about 100 miles out of Kansas City to the east, the land flattens, trees become more scarce and the terrain doesn't change much until you start seeing the foothills of Colorado. We were interested to see, however, that the little towns along I70 going east, were virtual islands of well tended streets and gardens with huge churches and small but busy populations.
One town seen from the road had such a large church that we went off road to take a look. There were less than a hundred houses in the township, but a Catholic church of city proportions loomed at the edge and was only beaten in size by the huge grain silos on the edge of town. It's obvious that this church must draw from a much larger agricultural community, but it was an anomaly in such a small town. The tiny houses seemed oddly in contrast with the flying butress look of the church. Talk about an awsome daily reminder of your sins. Whew!
We spent the night in Colby, Ks on the Kansas/Colorado border. The next day we departed the interstate and went south on highway 86 since it intersects with 83 at Franktown, Colorado. Franktown is about 2 miles south of our destination in South Parker where my daughter and her husband just moved into a beautiful new home. Turning on to 86, the land begins to change almost immediately into steeply rolling hills and lush green landscapes with pine, cedar, blue spruce, spring grasses, cactus and beautiful wildflowers. The bonus is that very soon you start glimpsing the front range at the peak of every hill and Pike's Peak to the southwest. Slowing down so that you can take it all in is a natural response and that's exactly what we did.
My daughter Kimberly opened the door of her new home before we could get the car doors opened and was hugging us before we could unfold our stiff bodies. This alone was worth the trip. We had three great weeks ahead to visit with family and friends and to enjoy the best of Colorado. This included a family day with my son-in-law's parents, brother and sister and their families; two outings with a high school friend of my husband, who lives in Parker; a trip to Niwot, near Boulder for an elegant home cooked dinner in another old friend's home; dinner out at Maggiano's Little Italy with my long time friend Sam and his partner; repeated visits with both of my younger daughters, Deborah and Carla, who live in the Denver area; an afternoon in Colorado Springs in the backyard of more old friends sipping lemonade and telling "war" stories about Bill's beloved New England connections, and many evenings of dinner, conversation and sharing with Kimberly, Robert, Wiley(their Dalmation), Magic and Poquito(their cats). We ate out a lot and shunned the cooking and cleaning in favor of laughter and good conversation. Kimberly and I spent time at the tanning salon getting a "base" for the summer, had our fingernails, toes and hair done and shared errands, including some essential shopping for nonessentials. Carla and I had a lazy afternoon lunch at the Bluebonnet in downtown Denver,arguably the best Mexican restaurant in the area. We squeezed in a Rockies game at Coors field with excellent tickets given to us by Robert's boss. There was another night out at a another excellent Mexican Food restaurant in Englewood with close friends of Kim and Robert. The four of us took a ride to Cripple Creek the last weekend we were there and spent a minute amout of time gambling and a lot of time enjoying the scenery. One day we connected with my brother-in-law from my first marriage who I have not seen since 1982. It was a good visit and time well spent.
Between all of this family activity, Kimberly and Robert were working, so Bill and I planned and executed a few day trips of our own. We spent an afternoon south of Franktown at Castlerock Canyon State Park, a suprisingly beautiful place that looks flat and uninteresting from the road, which hides the beautiful deep canyon about 1/2 mile in. There are ruins from a dam that broke in 1933 and flooded Denver; a forerunner of the Cherry Creek Dam. Trails abound, but we are limited in our ability to climb, so we spent a lot of time looking at the views from the rim. We discovered a road on the other side of the canyon, asked about it at the info center and took it home when we left. The result was a great view of the dam ruins, and some very impressive cattle ranches on the other side of the dam. The road led directly back to 83, which took us back into Parker.
Another day we rode through Castlerock and on up 86 toward the Mountains and found our way to Deckers and beyond, ending up at Salida which is northwest of Denver. This is high mountain land, mostly above 8,000 feet and the beauty is incredible. Since there was some light rain this day, everything was emerald green and the air was incredibly clean and crisp. At one point, we came around a curve and started seeing the effects of the last forest fires on the Colorado mountain landscape and went for many miles before there were no burned trees. Even though this is an eerie sight, the signs of renewal are uplifting. To me it was symbolic of the hope we have in life through all of the tragedies we experience. New grass, seedling trees, families rebuilding out of love for the land and each other. Healing at it's best.
The day we went to Boulder we left in the morning even though our visit was not planned until early evening. We visited the city, had lunch in a great health food haunt then headed up the Mountain toward Nederland. This ride is along rushing water with towering rockfaced canyon walls on either side, reminiscient of the Big Thompson Canyon, but not so large. Nederland is about 30 miles in, but it takes about an hour to get there because of the winding roads and low speed limits. We spent our time in Nederland browsing through little shops and enjoying the local people, then spent a few minutes on the shores of the lake before we headed back down the hill. Still early for our reunion with friends, we drove out to Boulder Dam and enjoyed the scenery there for a while. I was wishing for a fishing pole and a few more hours to linger.
This was the only night that we were out really late without my daughter and her husband, so we got a good laugh when my cell phone rang at about 11:30 when we were on the way home and it was my daughter asking if we were alright! What a hoot. We drove 1500 miles to get there and she was worried about us getting back from Boulder. They say that parents and children reverse roles as the parents get older. I thought that meant about 30 or 40 years from now since I am only 58. God Bless her for loving us and thinking about our safety, even if it did make me smile.
On the way home we came south on 83 to I25, followed it out of Colorado over Raton Pass, then spent the night in Clayton, NM. Not recommended. This place is barren of just about everything, but we did manage to find one good breakfast spot. Later, we stopped to see Capulin Mountain Volcano in New Mexico, then traveled through the panhandle of Texas (much like eastern Kansas) southeast toward Pala Dura Canyon. We spent part of a day touring the Canyon and it was time well spent. I went to high school in Borger, Texas northeast of Amarillo and I remembered visiting Palo Dura as a child several times. It is magnificent terrain with more textures and color than I can describe here. The dirt is bright red with clay and it was our great fortune to be there in Spring because the wildflowers were rampant. I'm sure our cousins in New Jersey will be jealous when we send them pictures because this is one of their favorite things.
Our last stop was a planned visit to my cousin Bob's ranch near Mingus, Texas. This is the second time I've seen Bob in the last 30 years or so and it was like we had known each other well all of these years. We have so much common ground and his wife was a delight. This was a unique visit with a trip into Stephenville to an Italian restaurant for lunch and later a tour of the close in ranch land on golf cart and Mule (a small all terrain vehicle) which included cavorting in the field with his Angus Cattle and a single Texas Long Horn bull. Bob got out to pet the animals, but I thought foreigners might not be so welcome close up. Their pitbull/boxer mix and English Boxer pups came along for the field trip and conspired with us to get back to the ranch safely. We have an Eaves family reunion (cousins on my mother's side of my family) in August at his ranch and I am absolutely excited to go back. These are special people.
There's a lot more between the lines here. Laughter, tears, sorrow, happiness...the full range of emotions that happen whenever you connect with family. The details are too private and special to share here, but each of the individuals affected know the level of sharing in these times is deep and heartfelt. Whatever we take away from each other becomes a part of our future and strengthens our connection. When you see your family and friends, be sure to say the words that you know they long for...a simple I love you.
All's well that ends well. We are home now and dealing with the tasks that build up in a month away. Primarily reading old mail, weeding, cleaning up the dust that settles in a month and resting for the next adventure. We've already had an overnight visit from my cousins in Dallas, who we love dearly and they had to witness our disarray. We are still on vacation though, and you can find us floating peacefully in our association pool with noodles for support if we are missing in action. Use the cell phone number. lol
Life is good.
Paula
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