We got up and around early again and were on the road at 8:38am for our last leg of this adventure. If all went well we would be home about 3:00. We took a fuel and restroom break in Rawlins then stopped for lunch at the Colorado border.
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Back Home
366 Days Ago
366 days ago there were strangers living in our house. 366 days ago we woke up to a clear blue sky and cold temps and said goodbye to Colorado for awhile. 366 days ago we got in our truck (which we had just gotten back from the shop the day before) and hitched up to a fifth wheel (which we had never lived in or pulled for more than 2 miles) and started driving south. 366 days ago I set a personal record for level and duration of my stress. 366 days ago will go down in history as one of my most favorite days of all time….not so much what happened that day, but rather what it meant and what it started. I feel like I have perfect recollection of that day….every mile, every stop, every conversation, every feeling. Read more
Long ago in a galaxy far far away…
When I was a youngster and the original Star Wars movie came out someone convinced me that there were words to the Star Wars theme song…
Star Wars nothing but Star Wars nothing but Star Wars dun dun dun duuhhhhhh
Well, this New Years season feels a bit like it has been nothing but Star Wars for our family! The boys got a card game for Christmas, Star Realms, which feels a lot like they modeled it after the space battles of Star Wars. The kids also helped pay for an XBox One and they bought themselves Star Wars: Battlefront to entertain themselves with. Then, the boys and I went to see the newly released Star Wars movie Rogue One…perhaps this is becoming a tradition! I’m reading the Phantom Menace to brush up on my Episode 1 knowledge. And yesterday, to wrap up 2016 we all went to the Denver Art Museum to see a special exhibit they have about the costumes of Star Wars.
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Backpacking with the boys
When we took our little stroll on the AT back in the Shenendoah National Park Caden asked if we’d be able to go backpacking once we were back home in CO. I was tickled pink that he was the one asking me to go backpacking and I thought for sure we’d have plenty of time. But after returning home the days of summer slipped away until the the next thing we knew school was in session and soccer in full swing. However, it turned out that Labor Day weekend was wide open on our schedules and the boys lobbied hard to get a backpacking trip in. AND, they wanted to go for more than 1 night. Its a pretty popular weekend so there were no permits available for Rocky Mountain National Park or the Indian Peaks Wilderness. But, the James Peak Wilderness is also right in our backyard and does not require permits so we put Roger’s Peak Lake in our cross hairs and set off. I should also point out that I tried to get the boys to play hooky on Friday but Caden didn’t want to miss school or soccer….what kind of kids am I raising?!
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Touchdown
We got Ava packed up for the last time and hit the road at 9:15 for the very familiar drive from Phillipsburg to Longmont. There was a detour that cost us about 30 minutes, some poorly coordinated bathroom breaks, lunch break and a stop at the Welcome to Colorful Colorado sign for a picture. I spent a lot of the drive time exercising my memories of the trip and tried to avoid thinking about the task of moving back into our house.
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