Home...

Hmmm... THAT was a longer break than planned. However, there is an explanation. My laptop was running just fine when we got to Estes Park and checked into the hotel. When we got back, Windows would not run. It would start, then scream something about not finding some dll file, flash the blue screen of death, and attempt to reboot. Then the futile dance would start all over. So, either a file got corrupted randomly, or I caught some sort of virus off the hotel's wireless network. Either way, I did as much as I knew how to do. It's impossible to run a virus scan when Windows won't keep running long enough even to open the scanner. So it's going to Galaxy tomorrow. It looks like most of my files are intact, so I'm hoping they can rescue them if a hard-drive wipe is necessary. Especially the picture files.

So...highlights. No pure Montina flour to be found at either Wild Oats or Whole Food Markets. Wild Oats had a Montina blend, which I did get, but I really want the pure flour. So I will soon find a place to order it. Might even be cheaper that way. I did find a zafu (round meditation cushion; this one is filled with buckwheat hulls) and a set of dress-clothes. All my dress-clothes were polyester, and while I hadn't yet gotten rid of them, I am currently unable to wear them. The new ones are light blue silk with a mandarin collar. It's a pants outfit that almost looks like a dress. The "shirt" is a vest with very long tails that swirl around the pants. In winter, I'll probably put a long-sleeved shirt under it, but for summer it's perfect.

Camp was awesome. Amazing how people that I'd only seen for one week a year ago, and some that I barely met, can feel like family so quickly. Sunrise Ranch is a nice, relaxing place, too. Darren mentioned that there were plenty of other places that would be cheaper, but that everyone was rather fond of the ranch. Good food (mostly; when spelt isn't involved), and friendly people, and a welcoming, peaceful atmosphere. As always, camp was over far, far too quickly.

Afterwards, my mom and I went to Akron to visit some of my grandma's old friends. Mom had been there once already, to drop off some things she thought Grandma would have wanted them to have. One was a large Christmas set in white and gold, of Santa and a sleigh and (I think) a reindeer. It went to Virginia, who's always been like an aunt to me. She also got some Broncos memorabilia that we found. We also brought down a whole bunch of Grandma's hardcover books. I guess the original plan was to donate them to the library. That is still likely to happen but only after the "coffee girls" get done with them. The coffee girls are a group of people, mostly around Grandma's age, who always went to coffee together before they retired and didn't see retirement as a reason to stop.

Next day we went to Estes Park (where my laptop contracted some dire illness), stopping in Fort Collins for lunch. At camp I learned that Beau-Jo's pizza actually had a gluten-free crust available (Thank you, Aaron!), so for the first time since going to college at CSU, I had Beau-Jo's pizza. Their GF crust is made by another company (probably comes pre-prepared), and isn't the best, but the toppings are excellent. The crust is too thin. I was hoping for something more similar to Beau-Jo's wheat crusts. *shrugs* It was still wonderful, though.

In Estes, we wandered the shops a bit. Compared to my mom, I really didn't find too much. A few rocks at the rock shop. A book or two. A magnet set. My mom more or less forced herself out of the rock shop before she could buy out the store, and this was after filling the back of the trunk with a full Bose stereo system while I was at camp.

Then we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. I finally convinced my mom that, YES, there IS a road that goes into the park in a more-or-less southwest direction. We have never been down that road. We always go in through the Fall River entrance. Anyway, we stopped at a few scenic spots and I hiked to Alberta Falls (picked because it was relatively short: roughly two miles round trip). Very pretty. The nice ranger who told me where to turn also warned me about the 200 foot elevation change, and suggested that I stop at a different parking lot and ride the shuttle back if I was tired. I sort of blinked and told him I was used to 1000 foot changes, which startled him a bit, then he quickly changed mental gears. I was breathing a bit hard, but only because the elevation there is over 9000 feet. On the way down, I overheard an interesting conversation between two ten-year-old girls about burying pets and making memorials for them. Apparently one memorial kept getting stepped on, but "that won't happen now. It's covered in poison ivy."

Then we drove over Trailridge road and stopped at the visitor's center at the top. I found a few presents for my dad, and my mom found a Christmas present for me. Yeah, I know what it is, but it's against MY rules to get it before Christmas (much to my mom's disgust, oddly). I was going to hike up behind it, but when we got there it was 14:00 or later and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. My body screamed "food" rather than "hike," and it would have been about an hour before I felt up to hiking. So we moved on, stopped a few more places, and stayed the night in Granby.

From there, it was homeward bound. The only question was, which way? I talked Mom into going through Flaming Gorge on the way back, as I didn't remember ever being there. It made for a longer drive, but it was well worth it. Highway 191 between Vernal, UT and the Wyoming interstate is beautiful. Also, fun to drive. At least, on dry roads and in daylight. On icy roads in the dark...not recommended. There's a sign that says something like "10 switchbacks in the next 9 miles". Eight of the switchbacks were labelled with mucho-decreased speed limits. The other two were continuations of previously labelled ones.

I was all for going on after we got back to the main interstate, but Mom was violently tired (odd combination, I know) and wouldn't even concede to going 40 more miles to Little America before stopping. So we stayed in Rock Springs. With two or three hours of daylight left. *sighs* On the bright side, I found a used $40 book for $8 at the Hastings there. It's a Smithsonian book about U.S. National Wildlife Refuges, and is worth $8 for the pictures alone. I'll eventually get around to reading the text, too. :^)

And now, I'm home. Lots of unpacking to do, as well as laundry, and rescuing drowned plants (my aunt was a bit overenthusiastic with the water on at least one of them). I can't get my laptop looked at until tomorrow, so I'm leaving it in its case. That way I won't get frustrated enough to do further damage. My sword came while I was gone, and is beautiful. Tonight I must find space to do the sword form with it. The park might be a good spot.