We don’t take vacations.
We aren’t good at it. Mostly
because Rob was always at work, so we couldn’t go. If he had time off work, we would use it to
go camping or for hunting camp. Granted,
we prefer being in the mountains to anywhere there are crowds of people,
cities, tourist attractions, etc. But
also, we couldn’t afford to go either.
So we’ve always stuck close to home for the most part.
We did go to Glendive, Montana for a weekend to see the
dinosaur museum (best one ever) and Makoshika State Park. But honestly, our last family vacation (with
all of us there) was driving to Reno for 3 days so Cody could bugle in the
World Championship elk calling contest.
He was 6. That was half of his
lifetime ago!
Last June we had an impromptu family reunion/camping trip
with the In-Laws since several of them were crazy enough to sign up to run a
half marathon in Yellowstone. Sometime
during that trip, we started to seriously think about visiting Rob’s brother
Sky (and his fiance Whit) in Denver. Why
not? Well…of course, it’s expensive, but
I budgeted out the trip costs and we should be able to swing it.
So…off to Denver we decided to go. And shoot – if we are planning to head to
Denver, we might as well pair it with a pro game! We aren’t fans of the Denver Broncos, and the
tickets are crazy expensive, but we do like the Golden State Warriors, so we
thought we should catch them in Denver!
February rolled around and we hit the road to Denver. It was great to get Rob out. Some parts of the trip were a little
stressful, because all of the responsibility is on me…but…overall, it was so
great to get out and have family time.
We were able to laugh a lot in the car.
We took in the big city – which is always an eye opener for people like
us who think Bozeman’s population has gotten completely out of control.
We stayed at a hotel in Sheridan on the way down so that the
kids could swim, and we had a great time.
The hotel was brand new and very clean.
We were the only people in the pool.
Rob has lost his ability to swim, and I had to help him in and out so he
wouldn’t slip, but he stood in the pool and laughed at us while the kids and I
goofed off. We stuffed him in the car
again in the morning and hit the road to Denver. We laughed over so many things, it was
wonderful. He started telling a bunch of
his old hunting stories and I tried to write some of them down so I could
remember them, but I couldn’t get them down while I was driving. Oh man, has he lived an interesting life!
This was the first time we used his handicapped tag, but he
was real accepting of us using it, especially in the city. We had a great time with Sky and Whit. We went to a Dave and Buster’s and Rob
struggled with quite a few of the games, but then we got him on a race car
driving game and after a few rounds he was “tearing up the track.” – It was
bittersweet watching him. He used to be
a professional driver, but now his driving is limited to very short trips near
the house, so he had to drive a video game instead.
We went to the zoo, and he did a pretty good job of walking
around. He wasn’t afraid to tell us when
he was tired and needed a break. We also
went to the aquarium and did the same thing.
The aquarium had an escalator that posed an issue momentarily, but he
got it. I do have to help him on uneven
ground and stairs a lot more now, but he is usually willing to accept
help. Some of the crowded places at the
zoo were a bit overwhelming for him balance wise, but he did okay.
Sky and Whit live in a gorgeous neighborhood
along the river with a lot of walking trails, so I would “take the dogs” for a
walk just to get Rob some PT time. He
used to out walk me like mad, but now we all have to take it pretty slow so he
can keep up. We also can’t go very
far…but that’s okay.
Cody got to go to top golf, which was awesome, and even play
some holes on the course with Skyler.
We had fun at the warriors vs. nuggets game.
It was a short, short trip, but it was good for him and for
all of us, to have the time together. We
also realized that it isn’t that intimidating to take a trip that doesn’t end
up camping in the mountains! Ha ha. Most importantly, we were able to make some
memories and work on some family bonding.
Cody can always remember going to watch the Warriors play in Denver with
his dad and “Uncle Bucky.”
We will have to consider visiting family or traveling more
often. Denver is not that far to
go. We’ll just have to try to budget
some more travel time in. Especially
before it becomes too difficult for Rob to travel long distances.
