Vacation - Wrap Up

We're home again.  To my dismay.  It's *cold* here.  And when it's sunny, it's even colder!  I find that I liked having warm weather in October.  And I definitely liked our road trip.  But the best part (I mean The.Best.Part.) of the trip was being able to spend time with so many friends and family.  It's going to be a tough adjustment for me to get used to being so far away and disconnected again.

 

We were able to stop at mom's house before heading to the airport.  Nice to see her and Dave one more time and as a side benefit, we got to see the finished remodel project.  Carpet's in and furniture is starting to re-populate the rooms.  I really, really like the end results.  The colors are beautiful, and it looks so comfortable.  I really hope mom and Dave enjoy the fruits of our family labor.  It was well worth it!

 

 

And now we've come to the end of another vacation.  It's lovely to sleep in my own bed.  But I already miss the nice weather and being around my family.  Maybe someday...

Vacation - Cousin Krystal in Colorado

I haven't seen my cousin Krystal for *ages* - at least not to really spend time with, since we've been to family gatherings together over the years.  When Greg & I were planning this vacation, I decided that I really wanted to see her.  Since Colorado isn't that far from New Mexico, it worked into our trip nicely.  If you ask almost anyone what they like about Krystal, they'll always come back with something about her smile, or her laugh, or her positive outlook on life.  I love ALL those things about her.  And I just love being with her.  Somehow, it feels like I'm more complete, more at peace, more... me (in all ways that are good) when we're together.  I don't know that it makes any sense, but that's how I feel.

We arrived in Longmont late Wednesday night, so spent the night at some seedy motel.  That wasn't the intention (the seedy part), we just wanted a bed to sleep in since we'd be in late.  Not much rest happening when Greg's checking the covers for bed bugs and under the bed for bodies.  I don't think it was quite that bad - definitely outdated fixtures and decor, a cinderblock mattress, paper-thin walls and questionable clientele, but clean overall and a place to rest after driving all day.  For some reason, we were up and ready to go early.  Before we were even checked out, I got a message from Krystal: Are you up yet?  Breakfast's ready, come hungry!  YAY!

(For the remainder of our stay, Jay kindly opened his home to us so we didn't have to endure more of the seedy motel scene.  Thanks again, Jay!!!)  We had breakfast together, then sent Greg on his way.  He was heading south again to visit Garden of the Gods, while I spent the day with Krystal and her family.  Turns out, there's yet another place we need to go back and visit.  While I wouldn't trade my visiting for anything, I would like to see the Garden in person.  Greg's pictures are beautiful, and I can only imagine it would be more spectacular in person.  Side note: I really like the geography and climate of the southwest.  I could totally live here!

Krystal and I spent the day just catching up on the intervening years and running errands.  Nothing overly exciting, but deeply satisfying.  Friday, being Greg's birthday, had to be special!  We started the day by attending the honor roll award ceremony for Topher - way to go!! - then headed to Boulder for some shopping.  Did I mention that this area is bee-yoooh-teeee-fulll?  The weather was gorgeously sunny and warm; it couldn't've been a better day!  We had the best breakfast burrito EVER at Illegal Pete's, then spent some time in the cool (as in nifty or neat-o) stores shopping.  I think this is the first actual souvenir shopping we've done on this vacation - and it was very fruitful!

From there, we stopped in for lunch at brewery #5: Mountain Sun Brewery.  Got some free fries (a house mistake that we benefited from), and Greg had the sampler.  I must say, they make some mighty tasty beer in Colorado!

By then, Jay was done working for a bit, so we headed back to the house to collect him and continue our tour of breweries.  Brewery #6: Lefthand Brewery.  Greg and I were both interested in this stop - me, because my work briefly investigated using a product offered by Lefthand SAN, who supposedly got their name because they had lots of business meetings at the brewery.  Another sampler for Greg and I had the Haystack Wheat, which I really like!  It's got hints of banana, clove, and nutmeg - my favorite so far! - although I also tried the Milk Stout.  For a dark beer, it wasn't half bad...

By the time we were done at Lefthand, school was out so we headed back to pick up Topher.  For some reason, Greg decided that he wanted to run home.  Now, it's only about three miles back to Jay's house, so one would think this endeavor would go smoothly.  We passed Greg on the way home and pulled over to offer a ride - instead Topher hopped out to run with him.  We got home, and then we waited... and waited... and waited some more.  Just as I was considering what I should do if they didn't get home soon, the boys came bounding in the door... in need of medical supplies for Greg.

According to Topher: It was *obvious* to anyone you shouldn't run through those leaves!  So now we know that piles of leaves in Colorado can be lethal.  We also know that Greg should not imbibe and then try ANY type of running.  Backwards (last year at our Halloween party) or forwards, it seems that this is not a good idea.  And he ruined his good pair of jeans.  Oh well.  Some lessons are learned the hard way.  =)

To finish the day, we picked up Dal from his field trip and the whole clan headed to brewery #7: Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO for dinner and dessert.  In addition to their own beer, they had some items that Greg just couldn't pass up.  Hot sauce.  One of them is made with ghost chilies, which is one of the hottest peppers in the world.  Apparently to work with the stuff you have to wear protective clothing and a face mask, otherwise you could do serious bodily injury.  Who would eat something like that?!?  Oh, right.  Greg.  Now we own a bottle of TenFidy Imperial Stout Beer Infused Ghost Chile Hot Sauce.  You can bet that's ALL for Greg.  Not gonna even touch that bottle once it's opened...

And then it's suddenly Saturday, and we have to hit the road soon so we can make it back to Utah to catch our flight.  For lunch, we stopped at one more brewery (#8): the Pumphouse.  I actually ate here with Krystal and Jay on Thursday night, but Greg was still sightseeing in Colorado Springs, so he missed out.  A sampler for Greg (I'm driving) and because of another fortuitous house mistake, he gets two for the price of one.  Yay!  It was here I found my all-time favorite beer of the trip.  I don't remember the name - it's a seasonal one - but it was infused with chai flavors.  OhMyGoodnessYummy!!!!  (We did clarify with Krystal and Jay that we're not normally lushes or sots.  We just don't have these types of opportunities - or beers - back home, so we have to take advantage when we can...)

Once again, time to say our goodbyes.  This was such a lovely visit!!  I'm so glad we were able to spend time with Krystal, to get to know Topher and Dal again, and to meet and spend time with Jay.  (Jay won second place in the chili contest on Saturday evening - way to go, Jay!!)  They're wonderful, wonderful people.

Vacation - Albuquerque

After leaving Ogden, I drove south to Moab while Greg napped, since he planned to be up early and hiking in Arches National Park Friday morning (and I planned to get some much-sought-after shut-eye)...  After the long hours on the remodel project, it was definitely nap time!  We had lunch at the Moab Brewery (the first in our tour of the Brew Pubs of the West - the beer is good, but the root beer is divine!) and then we headed further south to Farmington, NM.  We only stopped briefly, to pick up M, and then continued even farther south - ending in Albuquerque.  It was after 10pm when we finally arrived, but dad was waiting up to spend some time with us and chat for a bit.

The Main Event for us on Saturday (aside from the wonderful time spent with family) was the Scavenger Dash put on by Sierra Adventure Sports.  They have these competitions in several cities throughout the US, and we were lucky enough to be in town to participate.  It's like the Amazing Race, on a local scale.  You get clues, have to solve puzzles, and participate in challenges all within a 4-hour time limit.  In the process, you get to see parts of town you might never have been to otherwise.

 We were originally going to be two teams, but that didn't work out.  I convinced M and Greg that I would stay behind, do a little blogging, then maybe head back to visit with Grandma until they were done.  Yeah... none of that happened.  I was reading my book, minding my own business, when suddenly I was swept into being part of the pit crew for our team.

 Between Todd, Jason, Aaron and I, we were able to help M & Greg get to all but one of the destinations, and our team returned just shy of the 4-hour deadline.  There's a picture of them finishing here and here.  We all had a blast!  The event was hosted by Kelly's Brew Pub (2nd brewery of the tour), and that's where the awards were given.  If you have a chance to go there, you should really try the Award Winning Creamy Green Chile Chicken Soup - it's spectacular!

 

While they arrived last, they actually placed 19th out of 22 teams - probably because they completed more pit stops.  There were 12 total and the team that correctly completed at least 11 tasks in the shortest amount of time was declared the winner.  Looks like there's another Scavenger Dash in Albuquerque next October, and one in Seattle next September...  Hmmmm...  =)

The stay in Albuquerque was a short one, but it was particularly nice to see Grandma and Dad.  Amy and I made cookies on Sunday - some for the road, and some to leave.  It's always fun to cook or bake with people, especially family.  I don't know exactly what it is - maybe the bonding and sharing in addition to preparing food for someone else (and I do love to feed people)...  anyhow.  It was pleasant and relaxing and invigorating and soul-filling all mashed together into those chocolate chip and the white chocolate chip macadamia nut coconut cookies (we made two flavors).  I wish it didn't take so much time and money to go down to visit.  I'd go see them more often.  At least we have some new memories to sustain until the next visit.

Endings and beginnings...  The end of a short, but lovely, visit in Albuquerque signals the beginning of our adventures in Farmington.  So we headed north.

Vacation - Remodel Finis

First off, I just have to say that free WiFi is da BOMB!!  The posts for this vacation thus far are brought to you in a timely manner because of free WiFi.

We're done with the Remodel Project. Yesterday was a long, long day, with lots of manual labor causing even more pain and stiffness.  But the results are *SO* worth the effort!!  We were at the house by 8am and hard at work by 8:30.  I spent most of the day doing touch-up for the painting: a sixth coat on one side of the blue wall, lots of re-coating near the trim (where the rollers didn't get), trim touch-up (where painted hands - or clothes - touched already done work).  Tedious work, but important as the little flaws draw attention.

While I was busy with the paint, everyone else was busy too.  Jeannea and Greg worked in the bathroom - laying the flooring, installing the fixtures, etc. - while Sheri laid the entire dining room and kitchen on her own.  Dave was the cut-guy - making sure the floor-layers had all the boards they needed - and fixture fixer (installing light fixtures, new outlets, etc.).  Aaron and his family had to leave this morning, but he got a couple projects done before they took off (mom has a functional doorbell now!).  And Sara helped wherever someone needed extra hands (laying flooring, making sure we were fed - a very important task! - and installing hand rails, etc.).

 

We were working until after 2am to get everything done. Sore, exhausted, and proud.  In retrospect, it's fairly amazing how much work we were able to get done, in spite of the setbacks that are a normal part of remodeling.  As a bonus, I spent time with my family.  If I've ever got to do something like this again, I'd hope that I could share the... joy?... with my family - especially my sisters.

We had to go back for a couple hours today.  Just some odds and ends to take care of: wash the windows; install the bullnose on the laminate for the landing; clean and prep for carpet installation (that's separate, but will happen tomorrow).  The bonus to this is that we were able to see the tub surround after it was installed.  The surround guy is also going to make and install the bathroom sink counter - which should look really nice. 

So we're dropping folks of at the airport and heading out on our Road Trip.  First stop is north to Ogden, where we'll visit my friend Laurie (whom I haven't seen for more than 15 years), then south...

Vacation - Remodel Continued

Today was another long day, and it looks like tomorrow will be the same or longer.  Started the day at 8am, finally back to the hotel at 12:30am - with showers and whatnot, it'll be close to 2am before we hit the sack.  Tomorrow - or later today, if you want to think of it that way - starts by leaving the hotel at 7:30am...

We got a lot accomplished today.  Painting is a chore, but I'm really liking the way it's coming together.  The blue wall took 5 coats of paint, and the yellow took two.  We're mostly done with the white (it's actually a really, really light blue) in the living room, hallway, and stairwell - just a second coat in some areas to finish tomorrow.  Rolling doesn't take much time - it's the taping and cutting in that take the longest and have the least amount of show for the work done.

I didn't get pictures on my camera of the progress in the bathroom - but it's coming right along.  The sub-sub floor has been repaired and sub-flooring put in place.  The tub and sheetrock are in - we put down more leveling compound on the floors in preparation for the work tomorrow when we lay all the flooring - dining room/kitchen, bathroom, and landing.  Also have to finish the painting, install the bathroom components (toilet, counter, linen closet, etc.), install some lights and the doorbell... among other things.

It's coming together...  Everyone's been working hard, otherwise we'd never be able to make this happen, but we're all looking forward to the completion.  One more day...

Vacation - Remodel

We left late Friday night (actually early, early Saturday morning), arrived at mom's house by 10am, and proceeded to work until after 11pm.  Lots of demolition on Day 1.  Day 2 was even longer - at the house by 9am, back to the hotel by 2am this morning.  With showers and whatnot, morning came WAY TOO EARLY.  But today, we were able to start a little later (10am), and we knocked off early - had to clear out of the house for the painters to do the trim, so we went to dinner.  Back at the hotel by 9:30pm... Greg's already asleep, and I'll follow shortly.  Just wanted to post a few pictures of what we've done so far.

Sheri pulling up the linoleum

 Aaron & his t-shirts...

 1st Blister - and 1st injury of the project

  Aaron & Greg working in the bathroom

 More worker bees...

 

Auntie Sheri with both nieces

 Greg

My pictures tonight are just to get something on the blog - not everyone is represented, and there's loads more to document the various states of construction. Will post more as I can.  Time for me to go to bed - we're starting early tomorrow (painting the walls and lots of bathroom work) and who knows how long the day will be... At least we're having fun together!  =)