Hot Enough For You?

Hot Enough For You?

I HATE HOT WEATHER!

Therefore, it was a pleasant bit of news when my online USGW friend Sundee, who lives in Colorado Springs, reported that it had been cool and rainy in the Springs a few days before we were scheduled to depart on our annual trip to visit my dad.

I didn't exactly trust her weather report, though, because traditionally it has been very hot each time we've visited. So I proceeded to pack one pair of jeans and about 3 or 4 capri pants, t-shirts, one long-sleeved denim shirt and one hoody. Also my lightest-weight pj's.

Surprise! Sundee was right! Well, the day we arrived (Sunday July 19th) was a little warm, but not bad--since we're used to weather in the '90's when we visit, but it was only about 80-ish. And this was certainly MUCH better than what we left behind (85-90's). Monday through Wednesday was cool enough to wear my jeans, and we saw lots of rain and thunderstorms while we were visiting. We almost got rained on in the Garden of the Gods, and we did get rained on while shopping in Manitou Springs.

But HORROR of HORROR'S! One of my friends back home reported that it would be in the 100's this week here in my Pacific NW city! I was tempted to stay in Colorado, but of course we couldn't. So here we are, dealing with 100+ degree heat.

I went to Tar-jay this morning, as I needed freezer bags to put my grated zucchini in. Left home around 9:30, and it was already almost 90 degrees. I really wanted to stay back in the Back-to-School corner of the store, since there was a GREAT breeze from the air conditioner blowing there. But that may be a place to visit later on today. I just checked our thermometer, and it's 102.4 degrees out/82 in. I wish I could stay holed up here in the family room with the air conditioning unit running full blast, but alas! More zucchini await me, plus cleaning up the kitchen and making a macaroni salad to go with our dinner tonight (sandwiches).

I'm thinking of setting up the sprinkler in the back yard and running through it, just like our kids did when they were little. Stay cool, everyone!

"Quite a Trip"

It hardly seems possible that our annual trip to Colorado Springs to visit family is over for another year. We left on Saturday, July 18th, and got back home on Friday, July 24th. A little shorter than usual, but then so were our funds. We really wanted to make this trip without adding to our credit card debt, and I'm happy to report that we did just that.

We rented a car for the trip, at the insistence of Kt, who accompanied us. Glad we listened, as the Toyota Corolla we ended up with was air conditioned and had comfy seats. She kicked in for the price of the car out of her tax refund. The car did well, got between 31 & 35 mpg, had a smallish gas tank so we didn't break the bank each time we filled it up.

We drove straight through, mostly to save money for motel for one night. While we made the trip okay with no mishaps, we wished we had stopped for the night--we were beat!!! Sunday night we slept for at least 10 hours to make up for it.

We rented a motel room while in Colorado Springs. We used to stay with my folks, but their house is so hot and we are getting to old to deal with discomfort. A couple of years ago, when my brother went with us, he suggested getting a motel, and we are all happier for doing this. My folks are getting older, and when you're used to two people kicking around the house, suddenly adding a few extras can be a hardship. We arrived at their house every morning anywhere between 9:30 & 11, depending on if we did any shopping or other activities first. We'd leave to go back to the motel anywhere from 7 to 8 p.m., enjoying a couple of hours of channel surfing (no matter how many channels there are on cable, doesn't seem to be anything worth watching), air conditioning, and comfy beds. I went to bed earlier on this trip than I have in years, and for the most part, slept pretty good.

Our touristy trips included a mini-hike through the Garden of the Gods and shopping in Manitou Springs for souvenirs to take home. We've made this trip so many times that I was all "souvenired out," but did buy a little something for Hi-D (who took care of our house and pets) as well as my buddy in Sweet Adelines chourus. Kt bought a few things for her dh. We both bought post cards and stamps, then forgot to mail them out.

The trip home was another straight-through drive, but we had a better night's sleep the night before, so it wasn't so hard. We did stop for a couple of hours at a rest stop and slept before continuing on.

Hard to believe it's over for another year, and that we're making plans already for the next trip.