Badlands, Highlands and Outer Space
Monday morning we slept in a bit then headed to the Bisti Wilderness Area. This is the part of New Mexico referred to as The Badlands. It isn't as harsh as Road Warrior or anything, but its pretty desolate and there are some very neat rock formations called hoodoos. Its kind of like physics went a little wonky here:
Neat, isn't it? I'll have more pictures later. After wandering around a few hours we headed back to Mom and Dad's for some lunch then took Dad to see Star Trek. Oooh it was good! Dad and I have seen every Star Trek movie together and it was great to include Frank in the tradition, even if the poor guy did have to sit 3 rows from the front-I let Dad pick the seats.
Initially I wasn't going to see it, but was assured by 2 trekkies in the lady's bathroom at another theater that I wouldn't be annoyed by the movie. They were right. I highly recommend it. Not only is Shawn of the Dead playing Scotty, Harold (of Harold and Kumar...) is Sulu! Such fun.
After the movie Mom made dinner and we all caught up for a while. Dad is giving me a copy of my favorite rug of his for my birthday/Christmas and I'm sooo excited! Frank got a weaving tutorial and he and Dad got to talking about aerospace I think...Mom says Dad hasn't talked that much in years!
We made plans for Sunday's trip to Mesa Verde and Durango then said good night. It was nice just to get back to the hotel and crash. Oh, and make fun of the Lion's Club which was having a conference at the hotel. Hee hee.
Sunday we loaded up my folk's Highlander and headed for Colorado after a pit stop at the 7 to 11. You see we had no regular coffee in the room, so Frank went to the front desk to get some. They were out, but there was a pot of coffee in the lobby. He came back up to the room for a mug and by the time he was back downstairs they'd taken the coffee away. And of course this is the morning we learn that my mom's stopped drinking coffee, which made me wonder if she was trying to quit smoking (hey, unfiltered Pal Mals for close to 50 years isn't an easy habit to break).
The drive up to Mesa Verde was beautiful as always. Switch back roads up into the mountains, you start seeing trees, and prairie dogs! Mesa Verde is a national park with several cliff dwelling structures that you can hike up to and check out. It's always hard for me to wrap my head around how people built homes there. We headed down into a canyon then up to The Spruce Tree House site which is just so neat. Frank went down into one of the underground areas while I stayed topside with Bear Bear.
We joined Mom and Dad for a picnic lunch in the car and made our way to Durango to see my aunt and uncle. Aunt Janette was goofy as usual but opted not to nag my uncle Truman while we were there so that was wonderful. I love my uncle, he's like a giant Texas teddy bear. We caught up on the back porch then made our way back to Farmington for dinner at the Chinese buffet. On our way out to the car I realized I hadn't seen my mom with a cigarette yet so I asked if she quite. She responded "maybe..." She's taking it day by day but I think it's fantastic!
We sat around talking for a good bit after dinner then said our goodbyes since we were leaving early in the morning. Always so nice to visit and sad to say goodbye. Sigh. But I appreciate them more and Frank was wonderful about it as always.
Mom and Dad both loved Frank (of course) and say he's welcome anytime which just makes me smile.
The trip home was long and I proved to be a bad traveler. I forgot a bottle of water in my carry on so had an extended visit with security, and when we landed in Philadelphia I realized I never turned off my cell phone. There goes that myth. But we were home and in bed shortly before midnight and now we are back to the day to day stuff. One vacation down, 2 to go!
Neat, isn't it? I'll have more pictures later. After wandering around a few hours we headed back to Mom and Dad's for some lunch then took Dad to see Star Trek. Oooh it was good! Dad and I have seen every Star Trek movie together and it was great to include Frank in the tradition, even if the poor guy did have to sit 3 rows from the front-I let Dad pick the seats.
Initially I wasn't going to see it, but was assured by 2 trekkies in the lady's bathroom at another theater that I wouldn't be annoyed by the movie. They were right. I highly recommend it. Not only is Shawn of the Dead playing Scotty, Harold (of Harold and Kumar...) is Sulu! Such fun.
After the movie Mom made dinner and we all caught up for a while. Dad is giving me a copy of my favorite rug of his for my birthday/Christmas and I'm sooo excited! Frank got a weaving tutorial and he and Dad got to talking about aerospace I think...Mom says Dad hasn't talked that much in years!
We made plans for Sunday's trip to Mesa Verde and Durango then said good night. It was nice just to get back to the hotel and crash. Oh, and make fun of the Lion's Club which was having a conference at the hotel. Hee hee.
Sunday we loaded up my folk's Highlander and headed for Colorado after a pit stop at the 7 to 11. You see we had no regular coffee in the room, so Frank went to the front desk to get some. They were out, but there was a pot of coffee in the lobby. He came back up to the room for a mug and by the time he was back downstairs they'd taken the coffee away. And of course this is the morning we learn that my mom's stopped drinking coffee, which made me wonder if she was trying to quit smoking (hey, unfiltered Pal Mals for close to 50 years isn't an easy habit to break).
The drive up to Mesa Verde was beautiful as always. Switch back roads up into the mountains, you start seeing trees, and prairie dogs! Mesa Verde is a national park with several cliff dwelling structures that you can hike up to and check out. It's always hard for me to wrap my head around how people built homes there. We headed down into a canyon then up to The Spruce Tree House site which is just so neat. Frank went down into one of the underground areas while I stayed topside with Bear Bear.
We joined Mom and Dad for a picnic lunch in the car and made our way to Durango to see my aunt and uncle. Aunt Janette was goofy as usual but opted not to nag my uncle Truman while we were there so that was wonderful. I love my uncle, he's like a giant Texas teddy bear. We caught up on the back porch then made our way back to Farmington for dinner at the Chinese buffet. On our way out to the car I realized I hadn't seen my mom with a cigarette yet so I asked if she quite. She responded "maybe..." She's taking it day by day but I think it's fantastic!
We sat around talking for a good bit after dinner then said our goodbyes since we were leaving early in the morning. Always so nice to visit and sad to say goodbye. Sigh. But I appreciate them more and Frank was wonderful about it as always.
Mom and Dad both loved Frank (of course) and say he's welcome anytime which just makes me smile.
The trip home was long and I proved to be a bad traveler. I forgot a bottle of water in my carry on so had an extended visit with security, and when we landed in Philadelphia I realized I never turned off my cell phone. There goes that myth. But we were home and in bed shortly before midnight and now we are back to the day to day stuff. One vacation down, 2 to go!
posted by Liz @ 8:19 AM
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