Sunday, February 17, 2013

I Left on a Jet Plane

The red tail lights were headed for.....no not Spain. Denver. What's wrong with you? Yes, I took a little trip. I was Colorado bound! And although many of my adventures are stories in their own right, I think this one just says....keep it simple, LaLa.

First leg....Charleston to Charlotte:

The flight out was unremarkable. I usually like the window seat, but since this trip was a spur of the moment kind of deal, I was unable to purchase one. I had the middle seat all the way. And if you are the least bit claustrophobic, this seating arrangement will definitely rub you the wrong way. I twisted and turned, crossed and uncrossed my legs, fidgeted with my bag and boarding pass. That's when he saw it.... The guy next to me was paying attention to MY boarding pass. He asked, "So, what you gonna do in Denver"? Have mercy, that was creepy! But, I replied that I was visiting my daughter and that just opened the door. His foot was in and there was no stopping him. He talked my ears off for the duration of the flight. Turns out that he was an employee of  US Air. He was the manager for the group that loaded the luggage onto the planes. Oh wait, I had an exclusive.....Yep, I was the first to know that American Airline was merging with US Air.

Second Leg......Charlotte to Denver:

Soon enough we were on to Denver. Stuck in the middle seat again. This time...a sweet little lady had the window seat, but the light was too much for her. She kept the little blind closed the whole time. Uhhgg! The not so little man on the aisle seat decided he needed a little libations. He ordered one cup of coke and added two mini bottles of Jack Daniels to it. I was paying attention! And, I was waiting for that to kick in. Ha! And when it did.....he started talking to himself. And every once in a while, he would shake his head vigorously back and forth. I scouted out the flight attendant's call button, just in case.

First night in Denver:

My daughter has a cat. Her name is Kitter and apparently she is a stealthy little thing. Sketchy at best. She lays claim to the guest bedroom except when I'm there. Then, she gets shut out, as in....close the door and keep it closed. Well, I had to get up in the middle of the night for a.....umm, you know.....a visit to the loo. I kept the lights off because I didn't want to wake Whitney and Jason. I'm good at creeping around in the dark anyway. But upon returning to bed, I spotted something dark on the floor out of my periphery. OMG! It was moving! Yikes, I pulled up the covers kind of tight. It looked like a black ghost......like a black ghost Kitter. "Jeez, Kitter, you are creeping me out. How did you get in here"? I later discovered that the bedroom door wasn't closed all the way and Kitter is good at pushing it open just enough. Lesson learned.

Normal Kitter

Ghost Kitter

Second night in Denver:

I slept with the window cracked open, y'all. It felt great to have that very cool mile-high air enveloping the room as you're bundled under the warm covers. Only.....my thoughts went back to the night before. I hope Ghost Kitter can't sneak in through the window. It was pure chilling. But with that fresh mile-high air and all, sleep came so easily.

Third day in Denver:

Shopping for some new hiking shoes. Score! And, you know that when mama comes a calling....that she comes a cooking. I made egg sandwiches for breakfast and home made chicken noodle soup for dinner. My child and her husband loved me! Later, we saw the movie "Identity Thief". What a hoot!

Home-made chicken noodle soup.

Forth day in Denver:

We had a full day Saturday. Whitney and I started by going to the gym. I've been running and despite a little knee problem, I felt like I was physically in good shape....at least enough to do 30 minutes on the elliptical. Well, HELLO!  I did the 30 minutes and then had to call 911.... The 911 conversation in it's entirety: "Hello 911, send oxygen! Fast!! 30 minutes on the elliptical and I'm pretty sure I've developed mile-high lung syndrome, rubber leg syndrome and I've gone blind." They were slow to respond so I gathered my belongings and heaved all the way back to Whitney's. After getting cleaned up and my breathing returned to normal, we went to a painting class. That was a lot of fun! It started snowing while we were there, but was finished by the time we were. Later, we took the light rail downtown to have dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Oh my, Yum!

Whitney

That's me.

And these are our finished paintings. That's Norman......2nd bird from the left. Kitter made friends with Norman. She was a little intimidated, 4 to 1 odds that if she didn't, she was going to get a nasty pecking.

Fifth day in Denver:

I wanted to play in the snow and after a disappointing lack of snow in Denver (they only got a dusting), we had to look elsewhere....so we headed towards the mountains. We were trying to make it up to Mt. Evans, but the closer we got the more ice and snow were on the roads. We decided it was a little too scary to try to go all the way. So we turned around and found a small camping area in the Arapaho National Forest just outside Idaho Springs. I got my snow fix. Then I got my Starbucks fix. And, since we had a pretty big lunch, we decided that I would just make some "Hissy Fit" dip and chips for dinner and finish up the chicken noodle soup. If you read my post "I'm still cracking up" then you know I'm vegetarian. And you'll understand when I say....I picked around the chicken. Ha! Ha!

It's me, again.

Whitney and me.

Whitney and Jason, aka ski bums.

The pretty snowy woods.

Sixth day in Denver:

The kids had to go back to work, so I relaxed with the Kitter and read pretty much all day. Kitter and I had come to an understanding. She could lay on my lap and sleep, but my bed and luggage were off limits. She came to terms with that. And we meshed just fine. For dinner I made Buddha Bowls. Yum! You start with rice, add black beans, chopped tomato, chopped cucumbers, celery and avocado, corn and cilantro. Top it off with a little lime juice. Crazy good! Uber healthy!

Seventh day.....back to South Carolina:

This was a very long travel day. It began at 5 a.m. I left Denver and had a layover in Newark, NJ for 3 hours. I took a few pictures of what looked like the Empire State Building. I was pretty sure New York was just over the river. Maybe one of you guys can confirm this for me. I've included a picture of what I saw below. After leaving Newark, my next stop was Charlotte. This ride got a little bumpy. I didn't need any Dramamine which was a good thing considering I left it at home. But from Charlotte to Charleston, it was so bumpy that the flight attendants never came around with the drink carts. A few more minutes on there and I would have paid $5,000 for a Dramamine. Alas, by 9 p.m., we made it to Charleston. And there waiting was my wonderful hubby ready to take me for home.

View from Newark, NJ airport. Is that the Empire State Building? Someone, anyone?

It was a lovely trip, but I was happy to get home.

And then, just today, Whitney calls.... "Mama, I think you need to come back. Jason has a nasty virus and needs you to take care of him. I'm Lysoling the crap out of everything and walking around the house wearing a surgical mask. I don't do viruses".

So, I say....."Mama doesn't either. You'll be alright".

The End.

Laurie


12 comments:

  1. Fun trip to my home town - hope you got to walk around Larimer, downtown, when you went to the Old Spaghetti Factory...or whatever's around there now a days. Heading there in March, myself. Hope your week is wonderful, and virus free! Tanya

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    1. Hi Tanya.... Unfortunately, we were too cold to do much walking around. It was in the 20's. But we did stop by the Cheesecake factory before catching a shuttle back to the light rail. Hope you have a great trip back home! I would love to take the Amtrak out there someday. Wouldn't that be fun! Hope you have wonderful week as well.

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  2. Obviously you had a great time. I like your paintings and especially the cat pictures. We had a cat for 18 years(!!!), a tiger with a very impressing character, he found out how to open the doors for the bedrooms where he definitely was not allowed to go. But that was an invitation!
    Have a wonderful week!
    Magdalena

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    1. Thank you Magdalena. It's crazy how pets seem to claim their place in your home life. But they are so loveable. Have a nice day!

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  3. You crack me up! Sounds like you had a good time despite the flights. Hope that virus thing stays in CO!

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    1. Haha!! Glad I could help. Yeah, I hope that virus stays in Colorado too. Hugging the thrown is not one of my favorite things to do. Thanks for stopping by Jill. 🐝

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  4. Sounds like you had a wonderful time! : )

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  5. In answer to your question first, yes that is the Empire State Building. Now back to your very lovely and entertaining post...I almost peed my pants when you were talking about 911 although I know it was no fun by any stretch of the imagination! Silly girl, lots less O2 up there in that altitude...I bet that was a lesson learned! :D It does sound like you had such a wonderful time though even with Kitter, :D
    Sorry you had the middle seat all the way there as well, I would have been out of my mind! You braved like a trooper!
    Thanks for sharing that wonderful trip with us...and the chicken soup!
    Hugs,
    Beth P

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  6. Fun post! It sounded like a good time with family and I love the pics of your food..I'm not the only one does that! I'm going to Portland Ore, next month and I hate to fly but hopefully I won't have to put up with crazy seatmates..except for my hubby! I love your paintings too...do you paint alot or was this a first time adventure? Glad you made it back and I'm going to be a new follower..thought I already was but I don't see my silly face on your follow list!

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    1. Hi YaYa, Thanks for your kind comments. I used to paint a little when I was in my 20's and crafted a lot in my 30's, but as with most things....I moved on. Now years later, and I have to admit that being a part of Vicki's GYBP and seeing everyone's beautiful crafts, I find that I want to pick it up again. So the answer to your question is that no, I only paint a little and no, I've attended claasses before. But it did rekindle a flame that was just about out. I sure hope you have better seatmates too. Not sure how long your flight will be, but Lord Bless You if it's longer than 2 or 3 hours. I really thought you were a follower too, but last week I noticed that one of my followers dropped off, not sure if it was a glitch....maybe yours or if I lost someone. I'm glad you are back. Welcome! And thank you so much for following! Have a great day and a wonderful trip to Oregon.

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  7. Laurie..... you have me in stitches and I've yet to stop laughing! What a gift for telling a story! Loved the ghost kitty pic!! That wold scare the heck out of anyone! Well... I could go on and on commenting but the end says it all.. telling your daughter that she will be fine handling it on her own!! Way to represents us moms!!!

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    1. Haha! Thanks Kadee. Yeah, Kitter can get a little creepy. I am posting a follow up the the virus comment. Stay tuned! It should be up in a hour or so.

      Have a great weekend!
      Laurie

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