A different kind of mountain

After an uneventful flight home I'm now looking at a different kind of mountain - a mountain of laundry! Mud-caked shoes and jeans, hiking capris, plus all the hand-washing of dressy clothes from the retirement ceremony, means lots of loads to sort out and clean.

Dave and Reese missed me. I was home for about an hour before Dave and I took off for dinner, and the dog was most unhappy that I was walking out the door again. Upon our return, he followed me around all evening, and will not be happy to see me pull out the suitcase again for my MDE travels.

Ah, to sleep in my own bed again! I forgot how much I love the new pillowtop mattress! I slept in until 7:40 a.m. - until I realized it was only 5:40 in Colorado, where my biologic clock is set. So, did I really sleep in, or not? I guess it's all relative. But since I got a very refreshing sleep, I'm going to say, "YES! I actually slept in this summer!"

I was supposed to be cut from the MDE training this coming week, but now I'm back in the schedule again. It's gonna be a busy 4 weeks!

Don't Look Down!

The drive to from Durango to Ouray (pronounced yer-RAY) was another wonderland of gorgeous scenery. The road is named “The Million Dollar Highway” both for the amount of ore removed from the area and for the views of the valleys and peaks that follow the road as it hugs the mountains. It reminded me of the road between Franklin and Highlands, NC, where the road follows the Cullasaja River. Very winding, narrow, limited or no shoulder in many places, and NO GUARDRAILS - Hello! Where’s the Colorado DOT? We had 18 wheelers taking up more than their half of the middle on those tight turns, and some steep, downhill switchbacks that were absolutely, ridiculously, out-of-control scary. You could look straight down out the car window, several hundred foot drops, and Debbie is driving?? Yes, the Queen of the Autobahn is at the wheel! Ally is getting carsick, and I’m up front getting a bit woozy, trying to keep my eyes on the mountains and not on the shoulderless drop-offs. It was gorgeous, really, and we got a few adrenaline rushes that added to the fun.

Ouray is a mining town – some of the mines are still active – and has about 650 year-round residents, and one main street. It is nicknamed “Switzerland of America” because it is in a tiny valley with high peaks surrounding the town. It is on the western side of the continental divide. Beth enjoyed photographing the local wildflowers. Pictured here is our favorite, Columbine, the state flower of Colorado. After we arrived and checked into a cute little condo and had lunch, we spent the rest of the day walking the main street, checking out the local spots, and Debbie and the girls went swimming in the hot springs. We picked up pizza for dinner and hit the hay early, as we were taking a jeep tour of the area at 8:00 a.m.

Tim, our jeep driver with Colorado West Jeeps, was, thankfully, a good driver, because if we thought the Million Dollar Highway was scary, it was nothin’ compared with the class of danger and fear we experienced going up single-lane old mining roads, dodging large rocks (or not), the rear of the chassis slipping and sliding in the wet, loose gravel. The mining roads were right on the edge of the mountain, with steep, straight-down drop-offs, where the only things that would break our fall were huge boulders at the bottom of the gorge. And guess what? NO GUARDRAILS! We went east from Ouray up to Yankee Boy Basin, where we saw Beth’s favorite things – wildflowers and marmots. We stopped for photos along the way up; one stop was Twin Falls. You’ve all seen these falls before; they are the ones pictured on Coors beer cans. Another stop was Upper Twin Falls, but we renamed them “Kathy Falls Falls” as I took a good tumble on the rocks and banged up my shins pretty well. We commented that the bumpy road would put chiropractors out of business, as we all had gotten several spinal adjustments during the ride.

Beth spent the afternoon shopping for any type of souvenir with a marmot on it; Deb, the girls, and I went to the hot springs. The springs flow into an area that resembles 3 large swimming pools. The first pool was cooler than the others. One area in this pool was roped off for lap swimming, which Deb and I enjoyed; another area had twisty slides, similar to Wild Waters; there was an area for 13-years and older. The second pool was quite a bit warmer; it was perhaps 85 degrees, and it felt therapeutic just floating around. I checked out the hottest pool, too, which was about 106 degrees. Since the air was very cool and breezy, even this hottest pool felt toasty. The four of us played a game called “Colors” in the least warm pool; this involved the person who was “it” getting out of the pool and standing on the side in that cool breezy air, calling out colors. When someone’s secret color was called, she swam toward the designated “safe” zone, trying to be sneaky and not get tagged by the “it” person. It was a lot of fun playing with the kids, but let me tell you, trying to swim really fast at 8,000 feet had me sucking air real fast!

Later that evening Tim picked us up again in the jeep and drove us along a dirt road – not even gravel this time – to the Mountain Outlaw steak dinner way back in the woods on the top of a cliff overlooking the Uncompahgre River. The area where we ate had extended lengths of PVC pipe with valves. Tim explained that this was the water supply for the Ouray Ice Park. Beginning in December, “Bob” goes along a mile stretch of PVC line at the top of the gorge every day at dusk and turns on the valves, providing a shower of water down the side of the gorge. This freezes and becomes the Ouray Ice Park in the winter. We were the only ones at the dinner and feasted on a custom cooked dinner of Rib Eye, baked beans, corn on the cob, fried potatoes, and salad. Paul, our cook, provided a nice campfire and we roasted marshmallows before heading back to town.

D&SNGRR, Fizzies and wine

Aaaahhh! The Best Western in Durango with soft beds, air conditioning, continental breakfast and wi-fi! I believe civilization is now measured by the number of bars on my cell phone and on Main Street.

Sunday, July 6 found us up early, headed for the train depot to catch the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a steam locomotive that passes through some of the prettiest country we've seen yet. And since we've taken about 200 photos of scenery, that's saying a lot! Time to check out the memory card on the camera to be sure we still have room!

The train followed the Animas River. Beth made me google this, and the original name was "Rio de Animas Perdidas," River of Lost Souls. We saw the river change from a rather tame, wide, slow-flowing mass in town, to fast-moving with Class IV rapids, to the relative trickle near the headwaters near Silverton as the train moved north. Along the way we saw the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their famous cliff jump. Turns out Hollywood did some of their magic, and the jump isn't all that bad. Many of the local teenagers make that jump on hot summer days.

Silverton was a silver mining town with lots of historic markers on the buildings. We couldn't resist a group picture in the town jail, nor the souvenir shop where I found a thimble. The train turned around, so on the way back we saw the sights on the other side of the railroad. By the time we got back to Durango we were all tired and hungry, so we headed out to find a place to eat. We chose Ken and Sue's, and while Beth and I were waiting for a table, Deb and the girls explored Main Street. They found Fuzziwigs, a candy shop that had Fizzies! I hadn't had Fizzies since they were discontinued because of the cyclomate scare. Talk about a blast from the past! So Deb bought me a pack, and I put them in my water at the restaurant, where I ordered pistachio-nut crusted grouper and a glass of wine. Fizzies and wine! Some combination, eh? Dinner was magnificent, as were those great beds back at the Best Western. We crashed hard that night, knowing we had a long drive to Ouray in the morning.

Mesa Verde, Day 2

Today we explored the cliff dwelling named Spruce Tree House, which Beth was pleased to learn did not involve any ladders. On the way back up the trail, we found a side trail that led to petraglyphs, which are pictures carved in the sandstone rock. Deb, the girls, and I decided to hike the 2 mile loop, while Beth opted to spend time in the park museum. So off we went.

The trail wasn't too bad... until it began to go up. And up. And up. And I thought five ladders at this elevation was hard! At one point we had to climb over a boulder, and I thought I was totally done in. But the views from the mesas were phenomenal, and the petraglyphs were very interesting. Our biggest mistake was not taking water with us. By the time we got back to the museum to meet up with Beth, I was really dehydrated.

We ate lunch and took a tram ride of a second mesa, with Deb and the girls doing one more dwelling called Long House. Beth and I rode the tram back to the station and spent time reading. When the Beatty's returned we headed to the Far View Terrace for ice cream and souvenirs. We saw some of David Nighteagle's handmade flutes for sale. Don't worry, Dave, I didn't buy one...

As we drove to Durango to spend the night, we all decided Mesa Verde was really cool, and well worth the bugs, heat, ladders and dehydration.

It was a "five ladder" day!

July 4! Time to hit the road for our week-long trip to Mesa Verdi, Durango and Ouray (pronounced YerRAY). We leave leftover Bar-B-Q and Chantilly cake from Tuesday night's celebration in the fridge and start the 8-hour drive to southwest Colorado.

Mesa Verde is a most unusual national park. It preserves cliff dwellings and petraglyphs of the Anasazi, who were ancient pueblo people living in the area from about 700-1300 A.D. Upon arriving at the park, we took a tour of Cliff Palace, which is pictured here; it is perhaps the most well-known of the dwellings. It was a tougy for Beth, who had trouble making her legs cooperate on all the stairs from the overlook down to the site. But it was worth it, especially for Beth, who was an anthropology major, as we stared into the past and saw the rooms, blackened rock from fires, and round kivas, pictured here, which are believed to have served some type of ceremonial purpose.

The way out of the site was up five, count them, five, 8-10 foot ladders. With Deb and me helping place Beth's feet on the ladder rungs and pushing her up from behind (and of course Jennifer and Allyson taking photos of us from above), we finally exited and took a breather. The altitude was about 8000 feet, and those of us from lower elevations were sucking air! So now all things were measured against the difficulty of climbing 5 ladders. Price of gas? Not a five-ladder issue. Bad traffic? Nope. Not as tough.

We went to eat dinner at the Far View 1906 restaurant. The view of the surrounding area was just phenomenal, and I swear we could see at least 100 miles, all the way to New Mexico. We were able to watch the changing colors of the canyons and plateaus as the sun set. I decided to get brave, and ordered a cactus dip appetizer to share. My reasoning was that if I didn't like it, I could share... It was absolutely delicious! Bummer! Now I had to share!

As we ate, we enjoyed the Native American flute music of David Nighteagle, who was just a few feet from our table. He invited the girls up to help accompany him with N.A. percussion and drums, and eventually Deb and I took a turn, as did many other diners. He was very interesting and gave us quite a bit of information about himself and his flute-making trade. He knew where Ocala was, as he visits pow wows in Lady Lake. Small world...

We eventually headed to our hotel room, #142, and were dismayed to find that the key (an actual key, not a key card) didn't fit in the lock. So we tried it upside down, tried it in the door handle and the dead bolt, and as I was fiddling with it the door suddenly opened from the inside by a big ugly man! I must have screamed, as it scared me to death. He politely suggested that we had the wrong room. Deb headed back to the front desk and discovered we should be in room 242, even though the key envelope said 142, so we headed up the mountain. It is now dark, the girls are tired from a very long day, so it was a relief when the door opened successfully. But we were immediately hit with a blast of hot air. The room had no A/C and had been closed up all day. So we opened the door to the little balcony, left the front door open, raised the one tiny window and then watched Ally freak as moths invaded the room. Jen's shoe was drafted and the war against the invaders was on. We had to decide between heat and bugs, and chose the heat. We dubbed it a "five ladder day."

Deb and the girls tried to go to sleep, and Beth and I sat out on the balcony and watched the moon set and the stars come out. There are very few lights in that area, so the stars were especially pretty. The next morning, I got up early and hit the patio with my homework, and the guy in the next room took a leak off his balcony. We decided to try to get out of the 2-night minimum. When Debbie told the front desk about our unpleasant experiences, they didn't seem too upset about our woes until she told them about our "neighbor." They let us out of the contract. So we packed up the car and prepared to spend another day exploring other cliff dwellings. Let's hope our "neighbor" wasn't the beginning of another five-ladder day!

There's no traffic, really!

Thursday, July 3 was a “down” day with no activities planned except laundry and looking at possible locations for the rehearsal dinner in February.

Ah, the majestic mountains! We have had a standing joke about photographing the scenery: as we drive around Colorado Springs, one of us will want a shot of the mountains – right now! The first time one of these Kodak moment occurred, I looked in the rearview mirror to check for traffic. There was nothing behind me, so I said something to the effect that I could stop in the middle of the road because there was “no traffic behind me, really.” Of course, I didn’t stop in the middle of the road, really, but on Thursday Beth and I decided to finally capture some of those Kodak moments while we were looking for the rehearsal dinner spots. We pulled off the road into a corporate complex, and did a U-turn just after the lovely island of plantings (Dave- FYI – it had pansies). I parked at the curb and we jumped out to take the much-wanted photos, and a truck comes up the hill out of the complex. The van wasn’t exactly blocking the exit driveway, really, but it was going to be tight. Next a little Acura comes whipping up the hill, and Beth is concerned he won’t see the van. I’m feeling like a total tourist, and said so. Beth said, “The way I see it, it’s paybacks for all the tourists we have to put up with in Florida.” So now, anytime we have to make a quick lane change, U-turn, try to parallel park or whatever, the comment always comes that it’s OK because there is no traffic behind us, really.

Eventually all the photos that everyone took the whole week will be posted to Snapfish so you can retrieve any that you want to print. The hotel’s wifi has been kicking me off every two seconds, probably because I'm trying to upload 150 photos at 2.4 MB each. So I’ve not been able to get all the photos up there yet. But for teasers, here's one of the random tourist photos Beth and I took of the Rampart Range on Thursday. It's beautiful out here, and very little traffic. Really!

Deb's Retirement

Wednesday afternoon's retirement ceremony began with the families (Rower's, Ellis, Van Vleet and Beatty's) being escorted into the room, and seated in the first two rows. On my assigned seat was packet of Kleenex. Who knew? Good thing, because the ceremony was one big, long kleenex train, and not just for me. First, the Honor Guard posted the colors and the national anthem was sung. First Kleenex.

Lt Webb narrated the ceremony, Ed Luminati (the man who led Jeff to the Lord) gave the invocation. Kleenex #2.

Debbie's close friend and fellow White House nurse, Colonel Kim Sinisculchi, gave the tribute. She spoke with no notes, detailed Deb's entire career and accomplishments for the Air Force, which were many with deep impact on the way Air Force nursing would be done in the future, and even spoke of Jeff's dedication to the home front so Deb could serve her country. Kleenex #3 and 4.

Neighbor Lori sang a song called "My Daughter's Eyes" that Deb dedicated to the girls, who are pictured here with their grandparents and aunts. Add another 2 spent tissues to the purse. Fellow nurses from Mountain Home, Idaho, Andi and Will performed a flag folding ceremony, then Debbie gave the flag to Dad in honor of his service in WW2. Tears, tears and more tears. I'm even tearing up as I post this. It was very moving. Next, Parents medals were given to Mom and Dad Rower, Children's medals given to the girls, and the Spouse medal given to Jeff's mother, Nina. The packet of tissues is almost gone at this point. Finally, gifts were presented by a variety of nurses, nursing organizations, and letters read from commanders who could not be present, including the current Commander in Chief George W. Bush, and former Commander in Chief, George H.W. Bush. The letter from Bush #41 finished out my tissue pack. He really loves Debbie.

There was a nice reception following, with good food and fellowship. The medical world in the Air Force is small, and people knew each other from previous assignments, even though they had made the journey from Alaska, California, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, D.C., Georgia, and Florida. Debbie has had a remarkable impact on many, many people.

In the picture at the above right Debbie is shown speaking with Nina Beatty as Beth looks on. We were so pleased Nina and Jeff's brother, Dave, and his family could attend and support Deb. Mom and Dad were part of the receiving line, and they were so proud and happy. Both of them commented how wonderful Kim's tribute was. By the way, at the end of the ceremony, Debbie announced something that Kim would never have told us, since it was totally supposed to be Debbie's day. Deb said that Kim was being promoted to the rank of 2-star General, and would be assuming the highest ranking position a nurse could attain: head of all the nurses in the entire Air Force. I'd say Debbie keeps pretty good company.

As you can see, Dad's eyes are looking a little less purple, and he called this his "mask of Zorro" look. True to form, he made the best of a tough situation. I think, in spite of the "mask" that this is one of the best recent photos of the two of them.

So, we all chowed down on the goodies, visited with all the out of town guests and Air Force Academy staff who attended, and went home to empty the kleenex wads out of the purse. All in all, a great day.

Grandparents pic

Dad Rower (with black eyes), Nina Beatty, Mom Rower

Pics!

Debbie eating BBQ



The Chantilly Cake from Whole Foods YUM!



Cheyenne Mountain - Tour of a lifetime - see
tomorrow's blog!

Semi-automatic: Locked and loaded!

First things first: Krista Renner Wilson gave birth to Emma Ruth Wilson yesterday. Pictures are up at http://emmaruthwilson.blogspot.com/

I got a text message on July 1 at 12:10 a.m. (that's 2:10 a.m. for most of you). Janice said they were "on the way." The baby was born a little after 7:00 a.m. with minimal time pushing. Whoosh! Automatically Janice and Bob are grandparents! "Grandma" and "Grandpa" Renner were still on the road in South Carolina, and Janice called my cell all excited to share the great news. Now, you do the math... what time was it in Colorado? I figure since I was also pulled out of bed before dawn, that makes me a semi-automatic grandma with all the rights and privileges thereof. Kristi, please draw up a contract... Congratulations to all Renners and Wilsons! I'm honored to have been one of the first to know, really!

Yesterday was a busy day, the culminating event being a nice BBQ - Yes! Dave's BBQ! It was delicious, and many of the out-of-town guests were present. Multiple trips to the airport picking up guests, orthodontia appointment for Jen who just got her braces off (great smile!!), setting up a tent, tables, chairs, decorating, lots of things to do, but well worth it, as the event went off without a hitch. Pics coming as soon as I get a chance.

Today we go to Cheyenne Mountain where NORAD has been housed. Deb says this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity even for her, so we're excited about going. The retirement ceremony is this afternoon. Another busy day.

Until tomorrow,
Kath
the locked and loaded semi-automatic grandma

You should have seen the other guy!

The dog found me out, and hadn't even seen the suitcase yet! He just knew. He's too smart for his own good!

As I was driving to the Tampa airport at dark o'clock, my cell phone rang. Beth said Dad had fallen and they were having trouble stopping the bleeding from his face, nose and arm. The neighbors, Don and Mim, were helping (Mim is a retired nurse) and they finally got him patched up. I don't even want to know how fast Don drove to get them to the airport, but once there, with the help of an awesome and friendly Skycap named Winston, we got to the gate and were the last ones to board. Dad looks like he's been in a prize fight - but you should have seen the other guy, whom Dad claims was George Foreman, all because Dad wouldn't buy his grill! It's good to know he's kept his sense of humor through all of this, as he's got to be hurting and sore. So... we're in our seats on the plane...

Then the stewardess asked us questions about Dad's very obvious condition, as he had started bleeding again a little bit. When they found out he was on Coumadin, they booted us off the plane. The medics checked him out, but airline policy prevented us from reboarding until a doctor certified he was OK to fly. Beth asked if that doctor could be Dad himself. Uh, no. So we drove back to Sun City Center to the emergency room where they began a thorough exam including X-rays and CT scan. They diagnosed a broken nose, patched him up with better (and pricier) bandages that apply pressure to the elbow to help with bleeding. Eventually he left with a doctor's note saying he was cleared to fly.

The airlines was wonderful in accommodating the situation, and got us on the same flight Monday. We even got Winston as our Skycap when we got to the unloading area at the airport. He remembered that Dad has a pacemaker and Mom has 2 bionic knees, and got us through security as efficiently as possible. We arrived in COS as uneventfully as you can traveling with 2 wheelchairs, a worried mom, badly bruised and black-eyed father, a tired and somewhat stressed sister, and a tired me.

Beth and I drove around looking for hotels and places to have the rehearsal dinner for the February wedding, then Deb's in-laws arrived and we headed out for dinner at Biaggi's, a nice Italian restaurant near Deb's house.

Dad has been coming up with great jokes about his black eyes and swollen nose and face: His parachute didn't open, those prizefighters aren't all that great after all, etc. All in all, the one day we missed out here was a day Debbie didn't have anything planned, so all's well that ends well.

Stay tuned for Tuesday!