We have been hired by Amazon to work this next holiday season. We will leave Texas at the end of October and head to Kansas. We have read and heard good and bad things about working at Amazon. Again, it will be a learning experience. I will let you know how it goes.
On June 12, we flew Meghan and Aislynn into Denver. We picked them both up but Meghan was early in the morning, and Aislynn's flight was later in the afternoon. It was the first time Aislynn had flown and we were all a wreck but she handeled it like a pro. It was so great to see them both. And such a joy to see Aislynn running down the ramp into my arms!
We had an action packed five days. Unfortunately two days were spent getting to and from the airport. It is about a three hour drive from here. The other three days were spent having tons of fun!
The first day Sean and Meghan went on a full day rafting trip. We didn't feel comfortable taking Aislynn down the river (though they did offer a trip she could go on) because the river is at all time record highs and swiftness. Instead she and I went horseback riding. They saddled her and I up first. We waited while the others were getting saddeled and she looked at me quietly and said "Grandma, I don't think I can go horseback riding." I looked at her calmly and said oh yes you can. She mentioned it again while we waited and I just reiterated that she could do it. I think the waiting was the worst.
Before the end of the day she was shouting directions back to the rest of the riders....watch out for the branch, going uphill, going downhill, potty break! She quickly became comfortable and loved being the boss of such a huge beast! When we finished she asked if we could go again the next day.
Meanwhile Sean and Meghan were up to their ears in white water. I wasn't with them, but they said they had a great time!
The next day we went to FIBARK in Salida. FIBARK stands for first in boating on the Arkansas. It is a huge rafting competition and festival. There was also a big carnival that we let Aislynn participate in. She occasionally would share her tickets so one of us could go too. She is fearless!
Swings are almost as fun as the rides and are FREE!
Then oddly enough Sean and I both spotted old fellow co workers from when we lived here. My friend, Christina, worked with me at the Boys and Girls Club in Pueblo. We chatted and got each other's phone numbers and we have since visited and got somewhat caught up. Sean and his fellow co worker also chatted for a bit and exchanged emails. Small world!
After a very long day we headed back to camp and had a well earned good nights sleep. The next day was Father's Day and we headed to Leadville for a train ride. The views were beautiful!
After another exhausting day we headed back so as to get everyone packed and showered to make our three hour trek back to the airport. Aislynn was once again fearless and didn't even hesitate about getting on a plane to fly home. We waited until she left the runway.... I was sad to see her go. She is a handful but I love our time together. She is such a character!
Ready to go!
The photo her mom took when she landed back in San Diego
Once again we had to wait in Denver for the next flight, so Sean, Meg and I went to the red rock stadium to check it out.
We said good bye to our beautiful daughter and headed back to Buena Vista.
We had to work the next few days and it was hard getting back into the swing of things. Plus the Rv was a mess and I had a ton of laundry to do but eventually we got to our next few days off and we went on a drive to St. Elmo. St. Elmo is a small, well preserved ghost town near here that we had first discovered years before with the kids when we took them camping here. There is also an old graveyard that we had found a headstone with the name Hellman on it. I have a photo in a file so where of the kids around the gravestone. We went back to see if we could find it again and we did.
The graveyard
After this we headed up to a hike we heard about called the Tunnels. It was beautiful and we learned some interesting things about the railroad in the area.
Blurry but you can see the trail.
Steep mountain sides still covered in snow.
Wild flowers
For several miles the trail turned into a small creek from the melted snow
The next day we went to Salida and went to the farmers market and visited with my friend Christina. Now we are back at work and only have one day off for the rest of the month. We will be going zip lining with our fellow co workers. Hopefully we will have some photos from that!
