Rocky Mountain High!

Spending 5 days in Denver, the 'mile-high,' city was so much fun! My dear cousin Rita and her wonderful hubby, Denny, their 3 dogs,

1 cat and 1 grand-dog who they were baby-sitting, welcomed me to their lovely

home where I was wined, dined and shopped-till-I-dropped.

I was picked up from the airport and whisked to a great mom & pop Greek restaurant that had fabulous food and great service. The next day was my TJ Maxx fix day. How I miss that store! Even if I don' buy a thing, the thought of maybe finding a really great buy is always within the the realm of possibilities within the confines of that store.

The next day Rita, her lovely daughter Averial and I met my old Danville High School friend Mary Volburn, who lives in Colorado Springs, for a great, long, talkie lunch. Afterwards we ladies 'hit the Mall' and when Ed called, Mary and I met his son, brother, sister and spouse at a local pub and shared lots of stories about our hometown and 'do you remember' remembrances. It was nice to see Ed smile and enjoy himself. (Mary had dated Ed in high school and neither knew the other lived in the Denver area).

On Sunday Rita, Denny and only 3 of the dogs (Mini Pincher, Wheaten Terrier and German short hair) piled in their car and headed for Estes Park and a tour of Rocky Mountain National Park. We had a 'perfect weather day' and a great time. Estes Park was crammed full of tourists but we didn't care. Denny dog-sat while Rita and I shopped, ordered and ate a huge pizza, then took turns watching the dogs so Denny could eat.

Once in the park, we took Trail Ridge, the original dirt and gravel road, up and over the high mountain Rockies. Beautiful views and lots of elk and moose, which all 3 dogs tried desperately to jump out of the car and get. I found that standing up on the front seat, shooting pictures out of the sunroof was easier than trying to open the door and keep the dogs in! As you can see, lots of beautiful vistas!

Flew back to Billings on Monday, met a friend in Red Lodge for a fantastic dinner and great conversation and got back to Cody about 9:30 p.m., just in time to have missed a huge storm that included massive amounts of wind, rain and hail. Winnie made it through without damage and stayed nice and dry inside.

Back to work on Tuesday and now a nice weekend. Spent today giving Winnie a good cleaning, inside and out; unplugged and unhooked and drove all of 100 feet over to the propane tank and fill-up so I could continue having hot water and a stove to cook on. Sunday is grocery and museum day and Monday I'm going to play golf for the first time since I arrived - yeah!

So until next time...take care of each other.

ReAnn

PS - Got home to an email that Ed and his brother Con are both on their way to Afghanistan. They will one of the first group of non-combatants sent there to oversee and build bases for our troupes. Son Eddie will also be there after the first of the year. Like his dad, he's a graduate of the Air Force Academy and now a fighter pilot presently stationed in England. Danville boys do get around. Pray for their safe return.