Vacation Pt. 2

Ooookay,

Where to start?
If you remember my last post, I ended it with somewhat of a jinx I suppose...things did get exciting; but not in a good way. I'll start from where I left off.

Friday afternoon we all traveled to the local zoo. That was fun, but a little hot. We got separated from the larger group a couple of times, but we were going at our own pace, and that was alright with me. The zoo had giraffes that you could feed, you greeted them on your way in. It was pretty different, and fun to watch. I didn't feed for I wanted to stay in the shade, with clean hands. Lorelai had just settled in her stroller with a juice drink, and she was actually drinking! I didn't want to try my luck by getting her out and about just then, so LEL and I watched Chris and John (his step-dad/Gdad) feed them with the other cousins/uncles/etc.
We traveled up and down, around the winding path, for about a hour or so. We squeezed in a very unhealthy snack, but I knew dinner was going to be late and the little girly (and myself) needed something to hold us over. Apparently french fries were our answer...mainly because my choices were limited, but also because Lorelai's appetite was incredibly particular up there!
We got back to the hotel later with some small souvenirs that LEL could use to entertain herself for a bit...a book and a bubble wand necklace. Thank you Gdad. :)

Dinner was outside, again. The previous night we also ate outside, but it was cooler and completely shaded. I am not an "outside eater" but it was tolerable...not this time though. Hot, hot, hot, and in the sun. They did have patio umbrellas but with the sun setting we had to reposition them several times, and even then not everyone was shaded. We sat with Chris' branch (Noni, Gdad, Uncle James, Aunt Katie, and cousins Z, B, and Q) which was nice. Some were a little fussy, but overall we had a nice dinner. LEL and I left around 7:15pm for she was getting antsy and needed a bath.
So Lorelai hates the hotel room by now and Chris went to go visit more with his family (as he should) so I was left alone with a crying, slapping, over-dramatic toddler. Oh goody. She stopped the minute I turned on the bath water, which was a relief. The bathtub was positioned horribly for a kiddo who still needs momma to clean them up. I was squished in this little corner between the cabinet and shower. I could reach about 20% of the tub, so naturally LEL would travel to the 80% I could not access easily. I ended up wading in the tub just trying to wash off some of the dirt of the past 2 days. I had no cup to rinse her hair so I had to use a small glass cup from the vanity. That did not go well. It held so little water I had to rinse her hair half a dozen times. She hates  having water poured on her head, so she squirms and fights me on it every time. This time was especially awkward. She fell over and dunked her face in the bath water, and then she lost it. Terrified and traumatized, she cried and screamed and reached out for me. I was done. She was clean enough. I picked her up and cradled her in a towel for a bit, and if you know LEL, you know she does NOT like to be held like a baby...this is how I knew the trip was taking its toll on her.
After books and kisses, she was put to bed in her port-a-crib with a lullaby cd. I then promptly laid down on the bed and buried my head under the pillows, for I was getting another migraine. I took meds, drank water, and fell asleep before Chris returned. I did wake briefly to chat with him when he came in, but I felt terrible and went back to sleep not much later.

Then it was Saturday. We had decided the night before, that our branch would visit the Manitou Cliff Dwellings after their family meeting around 2pm. The morning with LEL was pretty much the same as the day before, but I got her to nap early, and I was prepping for our outdoor adventure after hours of sitting around. Chris called me after the end of their meeting and told me there was smoke billowing from a nearby mountain. I checked it out. It was less than 20 miles from us, and it was a large wildfire blocking the entrance to Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, the Cave of Winds, and yes, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. They started some small evacuations near those areas and shut down the highway. We became a little nervous.
We wanted to spend time with the family, but we didn't know what to expect from the close flames. As Chris pointed out, the Broadmoor staff seemed a little disjointed and easily confused to us, and frankly, we didn't trust them to inform us of changing conditions. As it was it took them 20mins to retrieve our car from valet, and 30mins to bring us some ice for our room. We discussed it, and felt if we did need to evacuate, it would be a chaotic mess of people, luggage, cars, and fear. So, we decided to be safe and pre-evacuate ourselves. We packed, said goodbye to a few, waited half an hour to check out and get our car, and then left. We figured we would just go to Amarillo, TX since we had reservations there the next day anyway. We called and changed the reservation for that night and left for a 6hr drive at 4pm.
LEL was, of course, unhappy and fussy. We stopped for gas, some drinks and snacks, and left. We could see the smoke the whole way out. Once we were out of town, I finally got a decent picture of the wildfire smoke. We were miles, and miles out, and it still looked scary. We knew, even if there was no evacuation of the Broadmoor, it was time for us to go.
It was a loooong drive, but we got to Amarillo, TX near 11pm. (We forgot about returning to central time.) Lorelai was awake and crying until the last half an hour. Once in the room we all kind of crashed; but not until we learned that there was another fire less than a mile away from our cabin we stayed at in Estes Park, CO. That fire was contained and extinguished, but the CO Springs fire was still raging.

We checked the next morning, and everyone at the Broadmoor was okay, but there was still a lot of nearby fires. We talked about how we could have not stayed and slept there in a million years in those conditions. I am glad we left. This fire is the second biggest in Colorado's recorded history. Somehow playing outside and relaxing while you watch people's homes burn around you didn't sound like something we wanted to do. No offense to those who stayed, we understand it was a tricky situation and we had some options while others did not. Plus, we had been away from home for a week now, and we all wanted to go home and see our pup. It took another 6hrs to get home from Amarillo, but we made it. We have Phoebe back, and I have a mountain of clean-up stuff to do from the trip, but we are home. :)

Little did I know about all the excitement around here while I was gone...but that is another story and another post. Look for that one soon.

I need to recooperate from my vacation, haha.


M.LEWIS