The "Full On" Vacation Post

I am sitting at my aunt's computer, able to blog comfortably (and accurately, for that matter), so I am taking the opportunity to do so. There will be no pictures, as I am not going to hook up my phone to do so, so you'll just have to imagine it :)

We have been having a wonderful time on vacation. Our first stop was Bellingham Washington, where we hooked up with an old friend of A's from back when he was flight training in Texas. He took us to Semiahmoo Resort for dinner and breakfast the next day. Well worth a second trip on our own if/when we can afford to fly down again. I would love to stay at the resort.

When we left Bellingham, we stopped in Tacoma for lunch, to meet a friend from Hawaii. I love it when we can land and eat at an airport on the airfield. The restaurant that we stopped at is owned by a retired admiral in the navy. The food was pretty good. We also could see the Tacoma Narrows bridge on the approach and departure. I tried to take some pictures in flight, but they didn't come out well on my phone. I hope I took some better ones with the real camera.

Arrival in McMinnville Oregon was interesting. We were told by the ramp guy that it was 104 degrees... Oh joy... We secured a crew car for the night (an old "black & white" police car... how cool is that?) and headed off to the hotel for some much needed air conditioning... We ate at the Golden Valley Brewery, which was very good. The waitress that we had was excellent in suggesting beer or wine to go with our meals.

The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is awesome. That was one post that I blogged about a lot from my phone. I won't repeat myself. I will just say that we were so exhausted from looking at everything there, in conjunction with the heat, that we got back to the hotel and didn't even have the energy to order dinner to be delivered... Well worth the trip.

My family reunion was so much fun. We had activities planned practically every minute. When we had free time, I hung out with my brother and his family or I napped... I was very tired most days. In fact, the day we went to Cedar Breaks, I got ill on the mountain. A collaboration of altitude sickness (elev. 9,800+), heat, and not eating for hours (breakfast was at 8:00 am, lunch was after 1:00 pm) and I was out for the count. My father, step-mother, and a few of my cousins decided we were "done" and headed back to our dorms earlier than everyone else. They were all having fun playing football and singing in a meadow behind the picnic area.

I really enjoyed spending time with with my various nephews and cousins. A and I were "dorm parents" in charge of the older boys (age 11-18). We had to prepare the meals for them (other than dinner) and keep them in line. We were told by one of my cousins that we were "cool" dorm parents. We had a blast, and only had to tell them to be quiet so the "old people" could go to bed a couple of times. ;)

Unfortunately, we had to leave Cedar City earlier than originally planned, due to the weather forcast for the afternoon. I'm sad that we missed it. Maybe next time we will be able to stay for the whole thing.

We made it to Walsenburg around lunch time. Our long awaited and much anticipated BBQ was made and smelled wonderful. We ate our fill, then took naps. There is no place on earth better to take a nap than your grandma's. :) Today, we got up when we wanted, had some breakfast, and generally enjoyed the quiet. Dinner today was pot roast with all the fixin's. After dinner, we went for a drive. We took my uncle over to see the plane (and so A could make sure it is still ok after thunderstorms moved through the area yesterday). On our way there, we picked up some cantelope and watermelon from a road side stand. THAT IS THE BEST CANTELOPE I HAVE EVER EATEN!!!!! They are sending some home with us. I expect that the cantelope won't even make it to SLC...

We will be leaving for Salt Lake on Tuesday, so I will return to phone blogging then. We should be home by Friday.

What a GREAT vacation so far!!!!