Blowing in the Wind

Big Trip 2... Day 12... July 10, 2007... Tuesday

0700 Ron wakes me up so I can get the carseats out of the rental car and back into my car. I am practically blown away as I step out the door. Where did all this wind come from?!? Ron tells me that Bella escaped last night. He heard a noise at about 1245 and figured out it was coming from outside the door. Looking around he noticed Bella wasn't in her sleeping bag anymore. When he opened the door, there she was. That girl is going to get herself into trouble sometime with her sleepwalking! She said she was looking for Melissa's bed but got confused. Guess we'd better double and triple lock the door tonight!

0710 Stop in the lobby to have coffee with mom.

0745 Head back to the room to get the kids moving. Get everyone dressed and head back downstairs for breakfast.

0845 Finishing up breakfast which is good since it is time to leave right now!

0900 Loaded up and ready to go. Everyone was shivering in the gusty wind so I dug the jackets out of the back of the car. The dashboard display in the van gives us an outside air temp of 55 degrees. 55 degrees + windchill = BRRRR!!! This my friends, is why I ALWAYS pack jackets and usually pack on pair of long pants per person when we head west. Even when it's 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity at home, I know CO has a tendency to throw an occasional cold day at us. The first trip or two I ended up heading to the mall to buy pants and sweatshirts but I've learned my lesson now!

1000 Melissa is through the security checkpoint at the airport and headed for her plane. I call Christy to "pass the conn".

12:00 p.m. Back at the hotel room after a stop at Walmart for healthy snacks. And a few other things that weren't on the list. Ron is home for lunch.

We spend a quiet afternoon at "home" doing laundry and making a list of the sites we want to see in CO. We called Grandma D to check in and see how things were going back home.

3:50 p.m. Headed to the pool. I think these kids have been swimming every single day since we were in Roswell. We have to get our fill now since we won't be swimming at all probably once we get back home. I do wish the pool was just a touch warmer though. Bella and Felisa get cold then want to sit in the hot tub to warm up. Once you get in to the hot tub though, you can't go back to the big pool because it feels like ice cubes compared to the hot water.

4:30 p.m. Time to get out. Ryan doesn't want to but the girls have been in the hot tub and won't go back (just as I predicted!) so it's time to get showered for dinner.

4:45 p.m. Christy calls to ask if I know anyone in Dallas. Apparently there have been a lot of weather problems on the East coast and Melissa may be stranded.

5:00 p.m. No word from Mom about dinner so we decided to eat the free food downstairs. Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes.

5:45 p.m. The down side of our quiet afternoon spent in a small hotel room is that now the kids are bouncing off the walls. Tired, yes but sleepy, no.

7:00 p.m. Head for the mall and our favorite mall playground. Felisa of course falls asleep on the 5 minute drive over and Bella almost does. We are all very sad because the playground has been closed for renovation. So they climb in and out of the quarter rides (the ones where you get in, drop in a quarter, and the car moves back and forth for about 45 seconds) but we have no quarters since we used them all doing laundry this afternoon. We head on in to the bookstore and the kids each choose one book. I picked up 1000 Places to See Before You Die in USA and Canada. That I may actually stand a chance at. The worldwide original version of the book - not going to happen. I can't wait to start reading it! Ron came back (he had dropped us off then headed across town to the bike store) and we all walked through the Austin Antlers furniture store, drooling every step of the way. The kids liked the bed with the cow fur on it best. I just liked everything!

7:05 p.m. Christy calls. She is on the way to Richmond. Melissa may or may not have made it onto this flight. She has gotten conflicting reports from the airlines and Melissa's phone is not working so they haven't been able to talk to each other.

8:30 p.m. Back to the hotel. We bring our jigsaw puzzle and list of sites over to Grandma's room.

9:00 p.m. Melissa calls on Christy's phone - she has arrived safely and they are headed home. I told Melissa that her parents won't let her come with us again because it is too hard to get her back.

9:05 p.m. Felisa is hungry so Ron takes the kids back to our room to get ready for bed.

10:30 p.m. Well, mom and I finished the jigsaw puzzle while we were talking so we disassembled it, hoping the kids won't notice that it's not the way they left it. We also still haven't figured out a plan for tomorrow. Oh well!

BEDTIME!