I'm HOME!

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

Just checking in.

It's always so good to get home but this time - it's ESPECIALLY wonderful! Dh and I will be ALONE for the first time ever! (We've had days here and there and 2 months once but this is the new normal for us!!)

The trip was long and had its awful moments and its wonderful moments. We decided to come home thru Yellowstone as CA was just going to put too many more miles (gas, $, time) on. We had perfect, gorgeous weather.

Lots to catch up on. Need to go shopping!

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

So glad to have you back! Looking forward to hearing about your trip. We missed you!

StacyinTN · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:01 pm **Posts:** 2491

Sis wrote:

Just checking in.

It's always so good to get home but this time - it's ESPECIALLY wonderful! Dh and I will be ALONE for the first time ever! (We've had days here and there and 2 months once but this is the new normal for us!!)

The trip was long and had its awful moments and its wonderful moments. We decided to come home thru Yellowstone as CA was just going to put too many more miles (gas, $, time) on. We had perfect, gorgeous weather.

Lots to catch up on. Need to go shopping!

I'm glad it went well.

Tory · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm **Posts:** 5828

Yay!! I'm so glad you had a safe trip and are now back home. Enjoy that empty nest!!

I can't wait to hear all about the trip.

LindaS · **Posted:** Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:49 pm

Enjoy the quiet.

Martha R. · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:45 am **Posts:** 2924

Sis! We've really missed you. I'm so glad you are safely home. What in the world will you do with all your spare time???

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

The trip to OK, the driving part, was a bit stressful. Dgd doesn't fit in the back as easily as she did 3 years ago and she gets more motion sick now so can't read in the car. She whined a LOT.

That made it very hard for dh to keep his cool. sigh

We went down thru Boise, and finally stopped in Ogden at 3am for a few hours sleep. Seriously. Dh got me up after 3 hours of sleep and was ready to go again. What a waste of a motel room! We hadn't actually gotten started on the trip til 12:30pm because of business he needed to take care of before we left.

We went thru the bottom of WY until turning south towards Denver. At Denver we turned east again going halfway thru Kansas before turning south into OK. We hit a good thunder and lightening and pouring rain storm as we were trying to find a motel the second night. It didn't last long and cooled things down nicely. Our a/c worked well, the car ran well, ... the dog was good. :mrgreen:

While in OK City dd took us to see the memorial of the OK City bombing. We only went to the outside part cuz we didn't want to spend $12 per adult to see the museum part. It was still very cool. The Survivor Tree I think is the tree mentioned in the movie "Elizabethtown" and it was cool to make that connection. We went thru Elizabethtown the last time we took dgd home.

Anyway, we went to a shallow river one day where you can mess around in your truck. Dd had fun doing that. It's a place she and her boyfriend go regularly. It's great cuz there was nobody else there, the water's shallow enuf for the kids to all be safe no matter how far the go.... even the dog could run and run... except he kept grabbing the kids "noodles" and wanting them to chase him. :lol:

Dd had to work most days so I would straighten the house or run around with dh. He enjoyed the Harley Davidson shops, gun shops, washing the car. I enjoyed gabbing with dd. Her boyfriend was easy to get along with so that was nice.

The other dd showed up 3 days later and her boyfriend was quiet and laid back. I didn't know if he'd ever speak but he finally did say a few things. He was very nice and I loved the way he interacted with her girls.

We did have one incident that turned ugly and VA dd stormed out with all her crew in tow a day and a half early. It was pretty scary actually but her boyfriend drove and she probably slept after giving herself a headache. I'm very sad that we parted on such a bad note. :cry:

It was hot and humid there but dd's a/c worked good and I stayed in the house most of the time. I cooked a few meals and we babysat the kids until dd got them settled into the daycare. I had to take dgs to get his 4yo shots.

I cried and he screamed 3x - 3 shots.

We met some old family friends (best friend of my ds that died) that live just a couple of hours from there. We met at Chuckie Cheese and caught up with each other. He was also my oldest dd's first boyfriend. It was a good reunion. They have 5 kids and homeschool! 8-)

Finally the time came to leave. Dh wanted to leave a day early and after making sure things went smoothly at the daycare, we took off. We left at 7:15 am and drove (hurtled is a more accurate description - 80mph) to a suburb just north of Denver. It was a weird little town with other towns about 8 miles in either direction. We ended up driving to the other towns for dinner and gas. It was 10 or so before we got settled in. Again we hit a short thunderstorm before we stopped.

BUT THEN! We took our time getting up and around and decided to go up thru Yellowstone instead of back thru Utah and Boise. Again the weather was beautiful, the car was reliable, the dog was good... there was just the tiniest bit of tension between dh and I - not used to being alone together for HOURS!

We saw about 1/2 of the Grand Tetons and drove the length of Yellowstone. No place to stay so we had to find a motel outside of the park. We did see a moose in the river and a beautiful deer and several elk... but we see those here occasionally so didn't pull over and take pics with the other tourists. We were wanting to see a bison but none appeared. (Not our first time there and we have seen the bison every other time so no biggie.)

I was taking pics about every 2 minutes and it got SO ridiculous that I finally just quit for the day. The clouds/sky, the other-worldliness of the Tetons, the sheer beauty of the Continental Divide (that we KEPT going over??), amazing vistas... just gorgemous!

We stayed in an expensive lodge ($163) that had lots of ammenities - just none that we could really use! :evil:

I was not a happy camper. They had cell phone docks to charge your phone, but it didn't work with our phones. It was too late to enjoy the restaurant. THERE WAS NO A/C! They were lucky there was a fan in the room or I probably would've had a problem. (Still dealing with hot flashes.) The bathroom door didn't lock, the lamp by the bed didn't work, the sink was outside the bathroom, there was no plugin for my puter near the bed ... oh, and no decaf coffee for breakfast! I didn't sleep well at all and I was stinkin' crabby. I worked hard at being "nice" and dh could tell I was trying, BUT.... He kept trying to buy me things to make me happy... mocha, t-shirt, chocolate, ... I told him to stop wasting the money, "stuff" wasn't going to make me happy. It was probably hormonal or tired or both. I wasn't bad, just not happy. They did have a really great breakfast with our room and it was served on real plates and everything!

I was ok with going back into the park the next day but when we talked and he asked, I admitted I was really anxious to get HOME. He said he'd seen enuf at Yellowstone and we had wandered the streets of the tourist town of West Yellowstone for 3 hours so he was ready to head out. We were so amazed to discover that Yellowstone is only 9 hours from home!!!!!

We stopped in a tiny town called Ennis, MT to have our "last meal" of great burgers, then an iced mocha for me and an ice cream for him.

We got home about 9:30 last night and it is WONDERFUL to be HOME, and ALONE! Today I made out my menu list and went shopping, did laundry, and just enjoyed the day. While we were gone the weather HERE hit the triple digits! Our flowers are all but dead but it's cooling off now. Today was nearly 100 but the forecast says it should be down in the 80's after today.

Ahhhh, home sweet home! 8-)

I did learn something important. You should NOT use cruise control if you're fighting sleep at the wheel. :oops:

Shawny · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:15 pm **Posts:** 195

I'm exhausted for you after reading that! Yikes on the cruise control lesson!
I'm glad your back!

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

Forgot to mention the constant battle with ticks! I don't know if that's normal or it's a bad year but dh pulled ticks off the dog every time he went outside and came back in. The night we got there, the landlord of dd's house had called the animal welfare people to come get the dog next door. The poor thing was laying by the fence and wouldn't even get up. She said it wasn't normal for him and she went over to see him and saw the insides of both ears layered in ticks! He'd been scratching at them and was bleeding.

When the animal welfare people got there they said they couldn't do anything about it (?????) because he was in their yard but she did fill a bowl with water for him. He'd been left out there while they're gone somewhere. They weren't too far cuz someone got a hold of them and they came and did something with him.

Dh still checks our dog for ticks. And I keep checking mySELF!

Shawny · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:15 pm **Posts:** 195

I hate ticks!!
I don't know what the norm is for here in KY, but it's been horrible!!
We followed everyones advice and bought stuff you spread around your yard and it is supposed to kill and repel them. We also used sprays on our kids which I was soooo against, but desperate. We also keep the grass cut and STILL, we are pickin them off of everyone. They are disgusting!! I've gotten to the point of not letting the kids outside because no matter what we do, one of them comes in with one attached to them! I have the creepy crawlies right now just thinking about it! LOL
That poor poor dog.... We brought our in and bathed them and shaved them a little and treated them and were surprised that they each only had a few on them. But even that's too many for me!!

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