Vacation Pt. 1

Hello all!

It's been a little while, but for good reason: vacation!

We are actually still on our trip right now (we return Monday evening) and we have hit a nice groove.
I was really worried about how Lorelai was going to adjust to the new, temporary lifestyle, but my little girl is pretty amazing and has been really good so far.

We left Plano Sunday morning. We were on the road around 8am, heading to Dumas, TX. We stopped in Childress for lunch and "walk-about" time. In those smaller towns all I want to find is a McDonalds. Yes, I will be throughly sick of MCD's by the time we return (not that we eat there that much at all), but I consider myself lucky to find something I recognize in a land of "Loaf n' Jug" and "Porky's BBQ" I want something familiar. Lorelai's appetite has been a little different since we've left...she has none. It's been a pain in the neck trying to get her to eat anything of substance, or to get her to drink anything at all; and in higher elevation, it is a must that you stay hydrated to avoid altitude sickness.
I packed a lot of snacks and drinks for the car, and she has done okay with consuming those. Toddler yogurt, cereal bars, animal crackers, Gerber Puffs, vitamin milk boxes, and apple juice boxes in all. I also packed mini cereal boxes, chips, and water bottles. Yes, my car was kind of full...but well-prepared.
We were in Dumas in time for dinner, and we choose a Duke family favorite in Dumas, Pizza Hut. Again, not my favorite usually, but you do what you can when you are out of your element. We stayed in a nice little LaQuinta, and we were on the road again the next morning headed to Estes Park, CO.
Lorelai did awesome in the car; but I must give the majority of the credit to the media system in the car. Thank you God for the DVD player, Lorelai would have not been able to stop crying without you. I bought some dvd's prior to the trip: Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi, and Little Bear. These were a life saver. They kept her entertained, engaged, and calm for two 7-8 hour days of driving.

We arrived in beautiful Estes Park, CO on Monday afternoon/evening. Such a pretty place, I missed it. We found a little Mexican place for dinner and Lorelai ate a little something, but Chris and I devoured our meals...who knew the mountains made you so hungry. Unlike Dumas, we were not in a hotel in Estes, we had a cabin...it was excellent. It had a separate bedroom, kitchen, and livingroom. We were able to set up Lorelai's portable crib in the bedroom, along with her lullaby cd, and she would go to sleep with minimal fussing. (The hotel did not go as smoothly). We stayed in Estes Park for 2 1/2 days and 3 nights. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was nice to visit it again. Did I mention Estes Park is favorite place in the world? Seriously. I love it.
We went into Rocky Mountain National Park twice. We saw the alluvial fan and drove up to the summit twice. Once in the afternoon and once in the morning. I recommend you get up early and go do the touristy things. The amount of people that arrive in the afternoon suck a lot of the fun out of the experience. This was easy to do for us since Lorelai decided to get up at 5:30am each day. We also went shopping along the main street several times, played in the park, visited the local "putt-putt", and indulged in a lot of coffee, smoothies, and cookies. Remember how I was desperate for Lorelai to eat and drink? Yeah, that was my solution. Anyway, the weather was great, everything was awesome. I should mention now I have tons of pictures, but I am waiting to get back home to upload any...so look forward to that. ;)

We left Estes Park yesterday morning. We stopped by a lovely coffee shop on our way out and hung out with some deer and ducks, I then conveniently left my coffee on top of the car which made a nice coffee river design on the side of the white vehicle. Oops. We continued on to our second half of our trip, the original event really: "The Westerman Family Meeting." Basically, my husband's family meets every year to visit and talk about family stuff; and this year's meeting was in Colorado Springs. 
And that's where I am now, sitting in our hotel room at "The Broadmoor" with Lorelai. We are watching some of those dvd's again (why does nobody subscribe to NickJr?) and eating breakfast. Chris is one of those said meetings right now and should get out around 2pm. So that means we need to entertain ourselves until then.I have lunch covered with bread, peanutbutter, and chips I bought in Estes, but other than that my goal is just "no crying."
I must admit something though...this place is fancy, like really fancy, and I just don't get it really. Not only is not completely inconvenient for a family with a young kiddo, but it is all rather obnoxious in my opinion. I can open my own car door, I can carry my own luggage, and I can park my own car...and I want to. I dislike people touching and taking my things. I don't even know where my car is parked. I hate that feeling. We actually had to retrieve it twice just to unload everything we needed. So silly. Then we had to go outside the property to get a reasonable lunch and to go buy nicer clothes so we could eat in the restaurants inside the Broadmoor compound. I mean, we are not sloppy people, but we did not pack for "resort casual." So, after several hours of coming and going I think we are set-up for the next couple of days. I missed my Estes Park cabin the minute we pulled up; BUT I am grateful none-the-less. It is incredibly generous for his family to front the bill for the room, the food (most of it) and a lot of the activities. So, I will stop complaining now. ;) This afternoon the fun starts I believe, and after tomorrow we head back to TX.
Monday we arrive home and I will be ready to. I am not a huge fan of living out of suitcases and scoping out the room to make sure we didn't leave anything. I have OCD tendencies with checking to see if I have everything, and that is kind of torture. Plus, I miss my house and more importantly, my puppy. My mom and family have been awesome to care for Phoebe and to watch my house, so that helps. But hey, home is home...and I will be ready to be back.

So, I will return soon with an update of the remainder of our trip and pictures...also check fb for any updates. Things might get exciting around here. :P


M.LEWIS