Our Exciting Summer Adventure...

The days before our trip have finally arrived...and we are all excited and immersed in preparations. I've been working to put this trip together for months and now I'm nervously combing through details. I look forward to when the boys are older and more can be left to chance and they can travel longer distances at a stretch.

Admittedly, I'm a little jealous that Vernon gets to plan things like horseback riding. However, the prices are daunting. Imagine a full day trail ride for a family of four....$800 dollars. What's up with that? That's how much it costs for roundtrip airfare for a family of four. Come on; does it really cost that much for horsefeed and scooping up poop? LOL; so maybe I'm not so jealous afterall! In the end, I think we have a nice itinerary set up and we'll all have a good time. The West will still be there for us to return and go horseback riding in the Rockies -- and, oh yes, AFTER we've won the lottery.

I can't wait to see the MOUNTAINS. I have always loved the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I am thrilled to finally be going to see the Rockies and enjoy the GRANDEUR! We will also be visiting the Black Hills in South Dakota and Nebraska.

I compared the elevations for the Black HILLS and the Blue Ridge MOUNTAINS; they are the same. LOL The highest elevations in the Rockies are 14,000 plus feet. I will still love the Blue Ridge, but, WOW, I look forward to seeing the Rockies!

There's a lot of driving, so I'm putting together a travel pack to entertain the boys. And we are mulling over whether or not to take our own car seats. Daddy is not thrilled with this idea, but I think in the end we'll be happier if we do.

The bitter sweet reason for this trip is to spread the ashes of my Mother and Ron in the Black Hills of Nebraska. I have mixed feelings about leaving mom there, but it is what it is..... Wherever her remains are, she is at peace now and the trip has brought us the opportunity for a wonderful adventure. It will also be great to see where Ron came from; he was a good man.



Wednesday, June 27th
Fly to Denver.
Drive to Estes Park (@1 hour)
Castle Mountain Lodge • http://www.castlemountainlodge.com/
Wish we had more time here!

Thursday, June 28
Castle Mountain Lodge borders Rocky Mountain National Park

Spend the day in Rocky Mountain National Park
http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/kids.htm
nap
evening
http://estesparkcvb.com/activities.cfm?mode=listings&listing_cat_id=1140

Friday, June 29
Check out of Castle Mountain Lodge
Drive to Cheyenne For lunch and site-seeing
At naptime, drive to Newcastle, Wyoming
Check in Pines Motel, eat dinner, swim
http://www.rtconnect.net/~icarter/

Saturday, June 30
Check out Pines Motel
Drive to Custer State Park, South Dakota
http://www.custerresorts.com/resortsLegionLake.php

Sunday, July 1
Custer State Park
Fishing and exploration

Monday, July 2
Custer State Park
Mount Rushmore

THIS will be a dream come true for Keona....
http://www.presidentsslide.com/

Tuesday, July 3
Custer State Park
Exploration

Wednesday, July 4
Check out of Custer and drive to Ft. Robinson, Nebraska (@2hours)
Check in Ft. Robinson
http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/guides/parksearch/showpark.asp?Area_No=77
Dinner, fireworks

Thursday, July 5
Ft. Robinson
Ceremony for Mom and Ron

Friday, July 6
Ft. Robinson
Leave Ft. Robinson
Check in Little America Hotel; Cheyenne, Wyoming

Saturday, July 7

Check out Little America
Return to Virginia


An invaluable website that was used in some of the planning of this trip was http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Great information here. Next time, I'll use it more.

Duck...egg...sad...AGAIN

Well, we were so excited that we'd have some babies around here, but it is not to be. The dove and her babies met a tragic end. Culprit unknown. I came out to find masses of feathers and eggshells...dead babies (uneaten) and not much left of mom. It was sad. In K's immortal words.."dove"...eggs....sad.... Somehow I felt like I had let her down. We eyed each other daily and I think were reaching an understanding. Then I discovered mother duck in our front garden and I kept a wary eye on her and her eggs. She knew there was a predator in the area. She had built up her "barrier" of pinestraw to hide herself and her eggs, leaving only her beak protruding between the branches of the bush and never leaving. I was daring to be hopeful. But it was not to be. This morning mother is gone and there are more eggshells on the back porch....duck...eggs...sad...fade to black.. I don't think Keona actually believes eggs hatch anymore.

I ain't never birthed no birds before!!!

And thank goodness mother nature does not depend on us. Our new little baby doves have entered the world. Right in our own coop (well, it does look like one!) And out front we have another mother waiting for her ducklings.... I think it will be soon because she has been sitting on them 24/7 for the past couple of days. Until now, she has disappeared all day.