Trip to Denver ... Interesting and Scary!

In the middle of our already extremely busy summer, I was asked to travel to Denver to represent Rotary District 5420 in my role as Public Image Chair.  I booked my flight, from St. George to Denver, but it turns out I had to fly first to Phoenix. I flew on Friday morning knowing the program didn’t actually start until 6 pm so I’d have a couple of hours at the hotel to rest and relax my seriously painful knee, sustained from a very minor fall.

I left St. George at 7:45 am, arrived in Phoenix at about 11:30 am (hour time change), found the gate for my “ride” to Denver but when I went to the desk, I was told they had overbooked the flight and there was no room for me. I protested that I had a ticket and a boarding pass … to no avail. I was directed to American Airlines Customer Service where they told me the next plane was also full … so my best bet was to wait for the 3:30 plane which had 6 seats available.

As it turns out I was able to get on the 1:30 flight but after boarding we sat on the tarmac for about half an hour “due to weather.” When we finally did get in the air, it was obvious it was going to be a very bumpy ride, but how bumpy, I don’t think any of us knew!  In short, it was terrifying!

When we finally got to Denver, we circled the city for a full two hours, because the turbulance made it so the pilot couldn’t safely bring the plane down.

Coming home was interesting as well. I sat between a 15-year-old girl on her way to visit her sister in Phoenix and an Arizona border patrol agent (in size very similar to Josh Postma) who wanted to talk about the LDS Church. He had a dozen questions and while our conversation took my mind off the turbulance, my other seat mate held onto my arm for most of the flight – terrified the plane was going to go down.

My leg hurt the entire 48 hours of my adventure, but my room at the Embassy Suites was really nice. Time spent with fellow Rotarians was pleasant and informational. Except for my painful knee and my near death experiences (coming and going), it was worth the effort. Now on to the next adventure! Watch for more.

High on a Mountaintop in Idaho

In the continuing saga of our crazy busy 2017 summer we spent the week of July 10-15 in the Henderson family cabin “high on a mountaintop” at Macks Inn, Idaho with Kaytee’s three little girls while their mommy went to Girls Camp with the young women in her ward.  (We served in the West Indies Mission with Clive and Arlene Henderson.  We were in Guyana and they were on the island of St. Vincent – so, although we didn’t actually serve together, we developed a friendship at several couples conferences and have visited them in Idaho Falls a few times since coming home.  As such, she gave us a deal on their lovely cabin which sleeps up to 25).

Kaytee met us in the early afternoon of Monday, July 10 after which we spent a little time playing in the North Fork of the Henry River at Macks Inn before returning to the cabin for dinner.  On Tuesday, we traveled the short distance to West Yellowstone, then our youngest daughter headed back to Anaconda leaving us with Adyn (age 9), Skylar (age 6) and Thoryn (age 2).  We had been forwarned and told to expect “they are noisy, busy and won’t eat anything.”  They were definitely noisy and busy, but ate pretty well.

On Wednesday, we explored the area around Mack’s Inn.  We found the beautiful, crystal clear Big Springs a couple of miles from our cabin where we went to feed fish. From another direction we found our way to the Johnny Sack cabin which the kids enjoyed.  From there we traveled to the upper falls in Harriman State Park – Grandma tried to convince 2-year-old Thoryn to wait in the car but this adventuresome toddler was having none of that.  She wanted to go with Grandpa and her sisters.  Our final stop was at Buffalo Dam where Grandpa used to swim as a kid.  More hiking … more pictures!

On Thursday, we went back to West Yellowstone where we enjoyed a few hours at the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center.  Ask the kids how much fun this amazing place was … they loved seeing both the educational animal displays and the live bears and wolves.  Back at the cabin we built a roaring fire (in 90 degree weather) where we finally got around to roasting hot dogs and making S’mores. 

On Friday, we cleaned up the cabin, loaded every inch of the car and headed back to Anaconda where we worked on a couple of craft items Grandma brought along for them but we didn’t have time to work on.

Other memories from our time in Island Park …

·               ice cream every day

·               Watching “The Princess Bride” all the way through … twice (much to Grandpa’s dismay)

·               Grandma’s bad mood because she has a seriously sore right knee (“is this your sore knee, Grandma?”)

·               A teary – and exhausted – Thoryn telling Grandpa, “No bed, no bed” as she walked alongside him to the bedroom … laid down and closed her eyes.

·               Cuddling with Skylar
-               Meeting another of Erin's doppleganger's (she was only 11 but her similarities were striking ... she's from California, is a catcher, long ball hitter and clean-up batter on her school's girls softball team)

·               Beautiful prayers by both girls

Up next:

·               Rotary meeting in Denver (July 21-22)

·               Steph’s bridal shower in Springville (July 29)

·               Michael and Jessica’s wedding (August 1 in Provo)

·               Steph and Simeon’s wedding (August 5 in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple)

·               Steph and Simeon’s open house (August 12 in St. George)

·               Our circuit vacation (August 15 – Sept. 1)

·              Probable knee surgery when I can stop long enough to get it on my calendar.