The result of recent travel

Traveling can be fun and interesting, but it sure is good to get back home.

Good points:
--We got to visit with Ken's bother, sister, and their spouses. And we met Ken's nephew Nick and his wife Angie.
--We enjoyed the company of my daughter and her boy friend.
--We had an uneventful trip with the car (meaning it worked well and we had no problems).
--We got to see some fun sights in Las Vegas, such as the gondolas, actors, jugglers, and sights of "Venice" at the Venician. We had the "Star Trek Experience" at the Hilton. We were there for around 7 hours. We never suspected it would take that long. The best part was the behind-the-scenes tour. We had dinner and saw the show at the Excalaber--horses, jousting, sword fighting, eating with our hands. Great fun.
--The air conditioning in the hotel room worked well.

Bad points:
--It was HOT the whole time we were there!!! 97 degrees at 11 p.m. It reached 116 the day we left (fortunately we were gone by the time it got that hot).
--We walked until I could not walk any longer--very sore feet.
--We ate too much.
--We spent a lot of money (no, not on gambling).

We had a good time, but it would have been more fun if my other children and their spouses could have been there too. Oh well--some day.

The trouble with traveling

I often think of the places I've never seen and that I would like to see. The problem is preparing to go on a trip of any kind. The plans have to start way in advance--it is really hard to be spontaneous. First you have to decide on a date that is compatible with everyone involved. That in and of itself can be a daunting task. My husband's sister lives in Georgia. Her son is in Las Vegas, which is a lot closer to us than is Georgia. She called and told us when she was going to be in Vegas and suggested we come there for a sort of family reunion, since it would be easier to get there than to Georgia. Only one of our daugters could arrange to go that week. So we each arranged with our respective places of employment to get that time off. For me it wasn't just asking for it. We had to meet together and figure out who could cover my shifts while I was gone. Unfortunately, another of my co-workers needed part of the same week off. It was really quite a balancing act to get everything covered. Then, several weeks later, we found that the best time for Ken's brother to go to Vegas was the weekend before we were going to be there. Well, I'm afraid it was too late to try to re-arrange the work schedule at that point. We just said, sorry, we'll miss you. However, they were able to change and come when we will be there. So the dates are now set.
Now the planning of who will water our garden when we're gone, arrange to have the mail picked up, get the car ready for a long drive, pack so that 4 people's stuff for 5 days will all fit into one trunk, trying to plan for "what-ifs" that may happen on the trip.
The night before we leave almost always is a long night of packing and worrying and having a headache. Everyone seems to be on edge. I'm working real hard to try to be calm and take things as they come with a sense of humor. I really want to enjoy myself and have everyone else enjoy the trip also. Is it worth it? I REALLY hope so!

About traveling

41. I haven't traveled much until my children started traveling. Then I wanted to go with them. I suspect that trend will continue.
42. Before I had kids I traveled to Utah, Nevada, California, Idaho and maybe Arizona. (Wow impressive).
43. After getting married we visited Ken's relatives in Arizona and attended a family reunion in Coffeeville, Kansas.
44. That was the first time I ever saw "lightning bugs".
45. I went to Canada with my daughter on her choir tour when she was in high school.
46. I went to Ecuador to pick up my daughter when she finished working with orphanages down there.
47. I went to Hawaii when my son and his wife said they were going to Hawaii and I said "you can't go without me!!". We allowed Ken to come too.
48. I don't know how excited they were at first to have us invite ourselves along, but I sure had a great time.
48. I went to New York, Washington DC, Palmyra, Philadelphia, and Niagra Falls on a tour with my husband and my son and his wife. It was another wonderful experience.
49. I've been to Alabama and Florida to visit kids and grandkids.
50. I've been to Georgia to visit Ken's sister.

Hunting Trilobites

My husband, one of my daughters, and I went on a trilobite hunting trip a few weeks ago. It was dry and I thought it was getting kind of hot. However, the week after we went, we heard the temperature was much hotter. We climbed up a dry, baren looking hill. After seeing a bunch of dead-looking things, I decided to find something more lively. I got several pictures of flowers growing on the dry hill. Here are some pictures.