How much fun can you have on a weekend trip if you spent 20 hours in the car getting there and coming back?  I submit that there is much fun to be had.  How tired will you be?  Try it and find out!  (Click the pictures below to make them larger)

We had the opportunity to go up to Colorado (Springs to be exact) with some wonderful friends for some family (theirs) and fun.  To make sure we had as much time there as possible we decided to leave on Thursday late afternoon, drive until the wee hours of the morning, get some sleep when we arrived and then start the fun.  Something similar happened but the results were drastically different.

There just so happened to be a concert that we all wanted to attend Thursday night so we decided to push back our departure time till after the concert.  So we didn’t leave town until 10 pm CT.  This made for an interesting all-night drive.  We arrived in Colorado Springs at around 7 am MT and crashed for a few hours before getting after it.

Since our friends grew up in Colorado Springs we got a tour of their past which was really cool.  Then we headed to Denver to meet up with some family and see a Rockies game.  Great game!  The Rockies pulled it out in the bottom of the 9th for a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.  Baseball games are interesting when you are delirious for lack of sleep.

After that we headed for a pizza place in downtown Denver.  Great pizza but there was this table of girls really close that didn’t know what a volume knob was.  And the more they drank, the less conscious they were of their volume.  We didn’t get much conversation in there but the pizza was good.  Drive.  Bed.  Sleep.

After a whole nights sleep (our first since Wednesday night) we went to eat breakfast with another of the parental units.  They live in a very beautiful suburb of Colorado Springs.  We had a wonderful time there and then headed out for some sight-seeing.

There is just something about mountains (especially when you are from the central plains of Texas) that take your breath away.  The majesty of creation has God’s name written all over it.  We first went to the Garden of the Gods, a place of massive and beautiful rock formations.  As we left we decided that a better name for it would be Garden of the One True God.

Next, we traversed a road that took us up into the mountains.  There is so much beauty to see there.  It was an amazing drive that allowed us to see the mountains up close.  The end of this road left us at the base of Helen Hunt falls.  We journeyed to the top, enjoying the scenery around us along the way, and then enjoyed the view.

After some driving around town we visited the Saturday night service of the church our friends attended when they lived in the Springs.  And then it was to the parents house to enjoy some wonderful food and fellowship.  Then to bed for we had a long drive ahead of us on Sunday to get home.

And a long drive it was, but it was fun too.  It is nice to travel with people you like.  I think traveling is one way to figure out how much you like people.  Especially on long trips.  Ten hours in a car at a time will either drive you apart of knit you closer.  I am happy to say that it was the latter that happened.

So, thank you, Bardwells, for allowing us to experience this little vacation with you and your family.  It was a blast!  And remember, there is always a party going on in the USA, you just have to know how to find it you Dumb ‘ole Donkey!  (To get this, you had to be there)

Brian

Fortunately, both Lacey and I were able to get off work Thursday and Friday so we thought we would drive down Wednesday night when we got off work in order to maximize our time with my brother and sister-in-law (and Crispin, their dog).  Thursday we slept in to start the day.  I can’t do this very often but I am willing to make an exception since we were on vacation.  My brother and his wife had not seen The Dark Knight yet so we tried to go catch it at the IMAX but all showings were sold out until the next Monday.  That movie is going crazy at the box office.  We watched it at a regular theater instead.  I loved it the first time I saw it but the second time was even better.

After the movie we lounged around for a bit before going to (probably) the best restaurant at which I have eaten.  Texas de Brazil is a steak house, but not your ordinary steakhouse.  You start your meal off with their salad bar that could substitute for your whole meal if you let it.  Everything I had off of it was great.  Then they bring out a couple more side dishes.  You are given a token that you put next to you plate that is green on one side and red on the other and when you are ready for the meat you put it on green.  The different cuts of meat are brought around on skewers by servers who ask you if you want some of what they are offering.  If so, they slice you off a piece.  It was fantastic.  I highly recommend it if you are in the Dallas area.  It is expensive so be prepared.  We finished the day off with some Guitar Hero 3.  I haven’t played this game too much so it was really fun to learn it.

Friday, we got up somewhat early and headed towards Glen Rose Texas to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve.  It is set up so you stay in your vehicle and drive around the roads seeing the different animals, sometimes up close and personal.  We had zebras sticking their heads in the truck to be fed.  This was a lot of fun.  It took almost two hours to drive through the whole thing so there was lots to see.  We headed home and grilled out that evening.  Of course we had some time for some Guitar Hero as well.

Saturday was shopping day.  Lacey and I are about to work on fixing the fireplace in our house but that required that we get a new entertainment center since the one we currently used is built in over the fireplace.  So we started looking at IKEA (great store) and the first thing we saw became the item we bought.  We did look at some other furniture stores but didn’t find anything we liked.  After shopping for an entertainment center we went looking for a store for Lacey to look at cellos.  We found one and Lacey played her first notes on a cello there.  I can’t wait until we have enough saved for her to get one.

Next came Half Priced Books, one of the best stores known to man.  We ate dinner at Pasado’s which was good and then we headed home to hang out and to, you guessed it, play some Guitar Hero.

My brother and his wife are trying to find a church to attend in their area so we tried out a new one with them on Sunday.  For lunch we had to go to Freebirds since I don’t get it very often.  Since we were close we stopped by another Half Priced Books (the largest one in the Dallas area).  I always enjoy picking up hardback books for the same price as paperback ones, don’t you?  Next we swung by IKEA to pick up the boxes for our entertainment center we bought.  I am really excited about this since it signifies the beginning of our fireplace project.  After that we loaded up and headed out of town.

I praise the Lord for my brother and sister-in-law!  We had so much fun being with them.  Being on vacation just made it that much better.

Brian

I thought this one was funny because when I read it a Brian Regan voice pop into my head that said, “no, really……think about it”. (If you haven’t heard Brian Regan you really must) If it can cut metal do I really have to think about what it can do to me? Can you just see some one standing there, cutting metal with the thing, getting gum on their hand, and attempting to wash it off with the water gun they have? Maybe some things aren’t as obvious to some people.

This one was funny just because the guy is holding a bomb. “If it seems unsafe……” Hmmmm. Again, another Brian Regan voice, “Well, it seems…….it seems that this thing is about to blow up in my hand.”

This was in the bathroom trailer at the site. I don’t know what is in the water but we were not supposed to drink it. That isn’t even the funny part. The funny part is that someone tried to mark out the “Do Not” part of the sign. As if people would see it and think, “oh, I guess I can drink the water now”. Also, did the person who did this really think this would be a funny prank? What is in that water anyway? I am assuming it will at least make you sick hopefully not more than that. I guess they thought that if they got their co-workers sick that they would have more work to do?

This sign was on the door at the end of hallway in the lodge at which we stayed. This was the only way to get out! You had to go through this door to get back to the lobby. I guess they think they can make more money if they trap people in the hall with their rooms. Does the “all times” refer to when you need to go through it? I opened it just enough to squeeze through. I hope that is ok.

So there you have it. Serious/Funny signs in Canada. I’ll also throw this one out there. A guy I met up there kept using the phrase “once upon a day”. I guess that is the equivalent of “one time” or “one day” but I thought it was amusing too. See? My trip to Canada was completely productive.

Brian