The Grand Canyon
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Besides having seen it from the sky as I’ve flown over it, I had never been to the Grand Canyon. And as Bob and I were traveling through Arizona on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, this was my golden opportunity. Bob had been there before but he gladly added it to our itinerary at my request. I’ve heard some stories about how when people arrive there, they say things like “yep, that’s a big hole.” So I don’t want sound quite that trite, but there is no doubt about it: it was a big hole. Read the rest of this entry »
On the afternoon of Friday, July 1, 2011, the 3:00 whistle signaled the end of the work day and the beginning of a marvelous week-long road trip. Actually, it was just me whistling joyfully, escaping work two hours early, changing my clothes, and meeting Jamie and her Mom in my office parking lot. We transferred the two-months-worth of supplies from her car into mine and her Mom bid us farewell as we set out on the open road. It was that quick. 
For the first and only time during our visit to Colorado, Sarah was able to spend the day with Chris, Jamie, and me, as we continued our exploration of Denver on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Having had a more sensible amount of sleep the night before, we were able to get up, moving, chow down some orange and cinnamon rolls, stash up on Red Vines, greet Sarah’s Mom who had arrived the night before, say goodbye to Livi, and get on the road by about 9:30am. It was an incredible feat. By the end of the day, only we would know the answer to the age old question: “why is everyone touching that chair?” 
I can’t blame Chris, because he was raring to go bright and early. But Jamie and I had had a very long day on Friday, what with the painfully early flight, then an exhausting visit to two states, and a rather late night. So, yes, we were very slow to stir, slow to get ready, just plain slow on the morning of Saturday, May 28, 2011. Plus I opted to play some pool with Chris. I didn’t play horribly, but I think Chris came out on top – as he should since he’s been living with a pool table outside his room for the past several months. Once we had gotten ready, played our pool, and ate some Twizzlers and Red Vines, then we decided to play the “so what do you want to do today?” game. 
I agree with the meteorologists and kick aside the silly Summer Solstice theory (placing the first day of Summer on June 21) that the United States adheres to. Summer begins when the months start beginning with the letter ‘J’ – discounting January of course. We transitioned very nicely from the rain that seemed to fall every single day of May to temperatures that hovered around 100 degrees in the early parts of the month. So as the month began on the Wednesday the 1st and I took Jamie home following our Colorado trip, I began to plan a few trips for the Summer months, whilst listening to Beck and the Crash Test Dummies on the iPod.