Travel

The Keystone State

Published on by Casey

Sadly, last month my Aunt Ruthanna passed away after a courageous battle against cancer. Although we are heartbroken that she is no longer with us on earth, we rejoice in the fact that she is no longer in pain and has rejoined her beloved husband in heaven.

To honor her in life and death, we traveled to Pennsylvania to attend the funeral and spend some time with relatives, some of which I haven’t seen in twenty years and others I just met for the first time! Although the funeral was a somber event, it was good to get out of town and show Logan some Pennsylvania sites.

But first, we had to meet Aunt Gretna at the airport!

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Some of the places we dragged him to included Gettysburg National Park:

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The Turkey Hill Experience (who doesn’t love unlimited ice cream?):

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and Amish Country:

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Cousins! A shot of three of the younger cousins in the family. Logan and the one on the left are only separated by a few months in age but are a generation apart. Logan and the cousin on the right are a few years apart in age but are from the same generation.

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A full selection of photos from the trip can be viewed here.

 

Oh, A Campering We Will Go!

Published on by Casey

A couple years ago, we purchased a hard-sided pop-up camper. It made camping so much more comfortable: no sleeping on an air mattress, no cooking in the rain…you get the idea. Some of us are getting old and like creature comforts, like heat and not having to trudge through the darkness to use the bathroom, hoping not to run into a bear on the way! It was super nice to have last year when it either rained or snowed, at least part of the time, for every single camping trip we took. We even towed it up to Canada on our tour of Alberta!

In fact, it was that Canadian excursion that really got us thinking about how nice it would be to have a camper that does not require folding and unfolding. Well, that was Noah’s main complaint since he was the on that had to do the set-up/take-down daily. I on the other hand wondered over the marvels of having a bathroom on wheels when driving through the middle of Alberta farm country. It was that or packing some she-wees.

That said, I keep a wondering eye, looking for a nice and affordable travel trailer. After months of quasi-searching we found one! Meet our new camper! It doesn’t have a name, which could have made that introduction more exciting. Should it have a name? If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments.

The inside of the camper is very spacious with the slide out extended. No more cramped quarters trying not to trip over dogs (or small children). The galley area is much larger than in the TrailManor, which is cozy. A person could easily live in this camper, what with its large shower, and queen-sized bed. We’ve made a few modifications since we acquired the trailer. First off, the previous owner’s wife didn’t like the 90s furniture so they threw it out instead of refinishing/reupholstering. So, in the meantime, we have a futon and a card table set. Works fine for us, it is a camper after all, not a 5-star hotel! We also purchased a new mattress. Guaranteed clean. We also updated the microwave (now that’s roughing it!) and stereo system. Did I mention this camper came with a built in stereo and ceiling speakers? No? Well, I probably didn’t mention that the kicking stereo system also featured a cassette deck! Since we long since donated all our random cassettes, we modernized the stereo to one that uses Bluetooth and can play DVDs. Now, for the record, we don’t go camping to watch movies, but we do use our campers to stay on our mountain property. Which, if we had a cabin, movies would be involved there, so it’s justifiable. Yet, there are those occasions where it’s snowing and cold and no one wants to actually be outside, and you can only play so many games of Go Fish… 🙂

The other modifications we made were the addition of the stickers on the back. “Happy Camper” and “The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go” bumper stickers were added, as well as the US and CA sticker map. Don’t you love how not to scale Alaska is? The states and provinces marked are ones we have been to since we started campering. I (Casey) have been to a lot more states, but it doesn’t seem right to count those.

Now, we just need a reliable buyer for the TrailManor…and warmer weather. I’m anxious for summer camping!

2015 in Review

Published on by Casey

Why I suck at maintaining this blog. But honestly, it’s been a low priority behind work, raising a child, graduate school, volunteer work, etc. I love the idea of always being on top of this site, and in fact probably could squeeze it in as a brain break, if nothing else. So, instead of doing a bunch of posts about what happened in 2015, here’s an annual review. You can view pictures from 2105 at our share site here. If you need access, let me know.

January –

We rang in the new year whilst visiting family in California. I was sick and went to be around 10:00 p.m. Sleep trumped watching a ball drop three hours delayed. A few days later, we watched one of my high school friends get married. Yay, Becca!

February –

In February, my friend Jennie came to visit. We all enjoyed visiting a couple local ice festivals, eating fresh snow cones and watching Logan fit into a contortionist’s box.

March –

The big event this month was Logan turned five years old! The past years have just flown by! But five is such a fun age! Logan loves all things Marvel so we had a few friends over for an Avenger’s themed birthday party. The weather was great, always tricky for March in Colorado. Last year it snowed 9″ the day of his party. This year, is was sunny and in the 80s. Perfect pinata weather!

April –

For Easter we invited some friends over and continued our annual backyard egg hunt tradition. Thankfully the weather cooperated! I think it was around 70*.

May –

This month we went to a hot air balloon festival, celebrated Noah’s birthday and took Logan to his first cinema showing! Because Colorado, it snowed on Mother’s Day, which killed my plans for hiking or fishing. So, plan C was to take Logan to see Age of Ultron. He even dressed up as Thor for the event! Memorial Day weekend also officially kicks off camping season, so we headed up to Steamboat Lake for a much desired mountain getaway. The weather was not warm (30-50s), and it rained, sleeted or snowed each day. My are we thankful for our camper and the heater inside! Despite the weather we had a lot of fun!

June –

In June Logan started t-ball, we vacationed in Utah and I started horseback riding again. Logan really loves t-ball, even if he was the slowest runner and enjoyed playing in the dirt more than watching where the ball went. 🙂 We spent a few days in the beginning of June helping our friends settle into their new house, in Utah. Noah used his handyman skills to fix faucets, stoves, walls, etc. I used my painting skills to help transform their kitchen into a welcoming and cozy environment. We also happened to be in town during Pony Express Days, so the kids were able to have a lot of fun watching the parade and riding carnival rides at the fair.

July –

More camping! For the fourth of July weekend we camped at Rifle Gap. The best weather day was on the fourth. Logan enjoyed splashing in the lake, Hurricane enjoyed sniffing every bush and Noah and I enjoyed sitting in chairs, soaking up the sun, cool drink in hand, watching it all. We also finally did some camping at our mountain property (summer is a short month at 9300-ft). Always a nice getaway with beautiful views of the Mosquito Range. Noah and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary and as a gift to him, I gave him a new truck. Ha! Not really a gift, but it was purchased the day before our anniversary. The F350 Diesel is a big improvement over the Ram 1500 and needed to accommodate Noah’s large work trailer. I also moved into a new position at work, as a Behavior Technician. A nice step in the right direction toward my ultimate goal of becoming a BCBA.

August –

Our big event this month was our trip to Canada! We loaded up the camper and headed to Alberta. We spent a week traveling around the southern half of the province (and ventured into British Colombia one day). We stayed in Writing-on-Stone, Dinosaur, Calgary, Edmonton and Banff. Such a beautiful province and very friendly people, especially those from Manitoba. Logan has decided we should go to Manitoba for our next Canadian excursion. Also in August, Logan started kindergarten and we celebrated my birthday.

September –

Our final camping hurrah for the year. We went to Ridgeway with some friends and camped over the Labor Day weekend. Another trip we were glad for the camper. No one wants to cook outside in the rain. We did have some nice weather, about half of the trip, but not enough to get in any fishing. We just could not avoid rain this year camping. Even in Canada, it rained one day/night whilst we stayed in Banff. Also in September, Noah’s grandparents celebrated their 65th (!!) wedding anniversary! So we celebrated with them in a mini-family reunion.

October –

Noah missed Halloween this year due to elk hunting season. But before he left we made a trip to the pumpkin patch. Grandpa Mike  came to Colorado to continue the tradition of hiking around the divide with Noah in search of the ever elusive elk, and he was able to help Logan carve a pumpkin before they had to leave. This year, Logan was going to dress up as Iron Man for Halloween, but he ended up with a stomach bug and missed trick-or-treating. Our wonderful neighbors, however, took up a collection of candy for him, as they went door-to-door.

November –

Grandma Diane came out to spend some time with Logan whilst the menfolk were hunting. They had a great time. We joined some friends for the Thanksgiving feast. This year we even had a white Thanksgiving! First time in the nine years I’ve lived in Colorado that it wasn’t in the 50s on Thanksgiving. Good thing Noah put the Christmas lights up on the house before the storm. We also chose that weekend to get our Christmas tree and Logan got to visit Santa. This month, Logan also had his first experience riding a horse, not tethered to a bar (i.e. pony ride).

December –

This month brought joys and heartaches. Noah’s grandpa passed away on the 10th, we attended his funeral the following week. On the 11th, Logan had his first surgery. Nothing major, he had to be put under general anesthesia to remove wax buildup inside his ears. We also had our first (and probably only) snow day of the year, where 10″ fell on the 15th (as I write this post nearly two weeks later, my yards are still covered in snow from that storm). We decided to stay home for the holidays. We enjoyed spending time with the extended family that visiting during the funeral events, friends at a Christmas party and we continued our traditions of riding the Georgetown Loop Christmas train and visiting the Denver Zoo for Zoo Lights. Christmas was a relaxed affair spent at home, enjoying watching Logan open gifts and awe over the fact Santa brought him exactly what he wanted. New Year’s will be much of the same, staying home and relaxing. No promises on whether or not Noah and I will stay awake until midnight.

Hope you all had a wonderful and enjoyable 2015 full of memories to last a lifetime. We look forward to all of the fun 2016 will bring!

The Camper’s Inagural Trip

Published on by Casey

Labor Day weekend equals a prime opportunity to take our camper out on for it’s first foray into the mountains. Since we’re (me more so than Noah) new to camping in Colorado, we have been selecting a different area each time we go camping. In May, we went to Granby. For this trip we went to Yampa River, near Craig and Steamboat and invited some friends to come along.

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If you pay attention, you may also notice some changes we’ve made to the inside of the camper since we purchased it. And no, we didn’t get a new truck. That one is a rental, ours was in the shop for an extensive repair.

Yampa Campsite

 Logan in camper

And of course, more spectacular sunsets!

Yampa Sunset

Sand Creek

Published on by Casey

You know what’s comforting in Kansas? When a collection of storm chasers are staying at your hotel…and there’s a tornado watch. Thanks, Kansas!

Ready to leave tornado alley and return to the sanctuary of our mountainous land, we headed back into Colorado. But before returning home, we made one more stop, in the middle of nowhere at Sandcreek, in Kiowa County.

The Sand Creek Massacre, a precursor to the attack at Washita in Oklahoma, was another unprovoked massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. These tribes were peacefully encamped on their newly assigned lands in eastern Colorado when a militia comprised of of some 700 white men, attacked on a snowy morning in November 1864. The tribal residents, at the time, numbering around 100, were mostly women and children. Their lives were not just abruptly ended, but their bodies were mutilated and maimed, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. Reading the accounts of the massacre were stomach turning.

The National Park Service, in collaboration with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, have made an effort to preserve the area and ensure the sacred ground is honored and respected. In fact, the area is so revered that visitors can only look down upon the massacre site from a bluff.

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Sand Creek Site

If you want to read more about the genocide of the American indians, I recommend Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. You’ll never think of American history the same again.

Fort Larned

Published on by Casey

Fort Larned was established in 1859 to offer protection to travelers on the Santa Fe Trail from hostile indians. Operation of the Fort ceased in 1878, after travel along the trail was greatly reduced due to the transcontinental railroad and the reduction of indian attacks.

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Fort Larned

Nearby the Fort, we drove to where the Santa Fe Trail crossed part of Kansas and where you can still see ruts in the ground. We were told by rangers at the Fort, that from the air, it’s easier to see the length and detail of the trail remains. Definitely something neat for this19th century history buff to see up close and personal!

SF Trail Marker

SF Trail Ruts

A Kansas Day for Logan

Published on by Casey

Well, hello there, Kansas!

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We would have had Logan pose in front of this sign, but he was asleep at the time. Bummer.

However, he has been such a good sport going along on all of our bus driver field trips, we decided to do something he would particularly enjoy – going to the zoo!

 Ride ‘Em Logan

On A Boat

Logan v Tiger

Apparently, in  August, in Wichita, most people go to the zoo early in the morning before it gets hot. Several bottles of water and ice cream cones later, we understood why.

Kansas weather was also not as nice to us Oklahoma weather. I did not appreciate being up half the night paranoid that the severe thunderstorm ravishing Wichita would turn tornadic.

A Bombing Memorial

Published on by Casey

Where were you at 9:02 a.m., the morning of April 19, 1995? Given that in California, that would have been 7:02 a.m., I was probably getting ready for school completely oblivious to what was going on the middle of our nation. However, that fateful morning, a bomb was detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City and would forever be known as the Oklahoma City Bombing.

The grounds where the federal building once stood have long been cleared, and in its place resides a peaceful reflecting pond, beautiful flowers, well maintained lawns and a chair for each person that died as a result of the blast. The tone is quiet. The mood is somber.

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Chairs

Flowers

Also present is a survivor tree. This tree is a pillar of strength, once set ablaze, a result from the bombing, now stands tall and strong.

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Another feature outside is a wall of tiled art, sent to Oklahoma City from school children across the country. There’s a large chalk area for visitors to contribute a saying or drawing, paying tribute to those that perished.

Chiild Art

Next door to where the federal building once stood is a museum. Although, well put together, I was thoroughly creeped out. There was a recording of the sound of the bomb detonating, picked up from a meeting in a nearby building; there were artifacts – computers, glasses, car keys, a child’s teddy bear; there were news broadcasts from all of the world replayed on multiple televisions; and stories from survivors – such as that of a woman who was conducting a meeting only to have all the people sitting around the table in front of her, including the table vanish as the floor disappeared and she was left sitting on the edge of a precipice with only a small tear on her dress.  There were also pieces of concrete and an I-beam from the rubble; and photographs of the victims, photographs of all of the children. That really got to me – the thought of losing Logan – especially from an act of terrorism. Towards the end of the museum tour, I had had enough mentally and emotionally. I needed out and I needed out fast. I could barely handle walking past the room featuring a photograph, memento and bio on each of the victims. It was too much.

Back outside the museum, there’s a chain link fence that was used to block off the disaster zone. Now, it’s an active memorial.

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Memoral fence 2

Across the street, is a statue of a weeping Jesus. Moving.

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Washita Battlefield

Published on by Casey

And now we shall travel back in time again to the year of 1868 where General Custer led a surprise (and unprovoked) attack on a peacefully, slumbering Cheyenne and Arapaho village. There were over 250 people wintering along the Washita River that fateful morning, most to be slaughtered in nothing short of genocide. You can read about the battle here.

The Washita Battlefield National History Site is a well-maintained and sacred area for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. We were lucky on our visit, in that we were the only visitors that morning and were able to have a privately-guided tour by the park ranger.

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Looking around the field, in August, it was difficult to picture a foot of snow on the ground and 50 lodges (teepees) throughout the vicinity.

 Battlefield

It was also sobering to imagine the massacre that occurred where we stood. To call it a battle seems unjustified, given the nature of the attack. The ranger did an excellent job of telling us the history of the area and the battle that ensued. He was also pleased that we had Logan participate in the walk and lesson, even those he’s only three years old, and that Logan was not just along for the ride with an electronic device stuck to his face.

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If you’re ever in western Oklahoma, enjoy19th century US history and want to be disgusted at white people, visiting the battle site should definitely be on your agenda!