Denver

I’m tired and cranky tonight so instead of dwelling on my day…which was fine…nothing “bad” happened…I’m going to write about a good memory instead. This memory goes waaaay back 11 whole years to 2010. Jason and I were both 33.

To set the stage…Jason and I both grew up in big families. I was the second oldest…and the obvious favorite (lol)…of 6 kids. Jason and his brother were the babies in their blended family of 7 kids. My family’s vacations usually entailed camping somewhere in Northern Wisconsin. One year we took a trip to Pictured Rock National Lakeshore in Michigan…and I do remember visiting an aunt and uncle in Chicago…but for the most part we camped. Great memories were made. I think the most exotic trip that Jason remembered going on was out to Yellowstone…and they also took lots of trips to North Dakota to visit family. Again…lots of great memories.

So back to my memory…here we are 33 and neither one of us had ever been on an airplane. Jason was working at Boston Scientific by this time and they decided to send him and a few of his coworkers to a conference in Denver. When Jason found out they were sending him he was so nervous about the plane. I think mostly that he would get motion sickness and throw up…he absolutely hated throwing up. The conference was during the week..Monday-Thursday I think…so he asked me if I would want to fly out to Denver on Thursday and meet him and spend the weekend out there with him. I think he was surprised that I said yes because he didn’t think I would want to fly on the plane for the first time by myself. He would at least have coworkers to fly with and show him the ropes. I was not about to miss out on spending a weekend in Denver with him though! As it turned out one of his coworkers had the same plan with his wife…so her and I flew out together.

This was not only our first “airplane vacation” it was also the first time we had really left our kids for the weekend. Anna was 8, Seth 7, and Levi 4. We had such a great time together. We hiked in the Rockies. Rode the cog railway up to Pikes Peak. Went to the Garden of the Gods. Took in the Cave of the Winds…I was on full alert for bats! It was fantastic to have that time to concentrate on each other and just have fun together. Of course we talked about the kids a lot…either that we were glad they weren’t along (when we were hiking)…or when we did something we thought they would enjoy (like the cog railway up the mountain).

This trip was the first of many more “airplane vacations” and I think really gave us a desire to see more of the world. There are so many beautiful spots out there and it is so fun to explore and discover them with the people you love.