Floating effortlessly along the bucolic countryside, the fresh farm air infused with much more oxygen than usual, we are mesmerized by the metronomic cadence we are able to maintain and by the crunch underfoot of - PAVEMENT? Are you kidding me...? Read on.
Last weekend we hopped a quick flight out of Denver and headed over to visit Kathleen's family in Iowa. Her mom's prognosis is on the dim side as it appears she is losing a battle with appendix cancer. We wanted an opportunity for Kathleen to have a nice visit while mom is still able to be up and about. We also know that we are getting to the sketchy weather months between here and NW Iowa and we hit the weather jackpot for our trip. Just two days before we left, DIA registered in the 20" range of snowfall, but we left under sunny skies and mild temps on Saturday. We brought our warm and sunny with us to Iowa as well - sweet! The corn farmers are working OT to get the harvest in, as seen in the pic above. As for the Happy Trails part, if you have been reading for any length of time, there are none here. Well, one 2 mile
sort-of trail but that's it. So it was, gulp, road running - and no photo evidence that could incriminate us in the future... No offense to you die-hard roadies, but dirt is where it's at. Period. We slugged out 8.5 miles Sunday and 5.5 miles Monday and that was all we could take. It is, however, sweet running at 1400' elevation when you live at 6800' - it is like having an extra oxygen tank built in!!!
K's dad out mowing the north 40. Well, not quite, but a 2.5 acre immaculate lawn takes a bit of work. Two and a half hours on a Craftsman 54" mower with a couple stogies thrown in and that is dad's "quiet time"!!
We had a really nice visit with the family, and as always, got to spend some nice time with K's brother and family who live in the same town.
Got a nice visit in and had some awesome sunrise vistas over the cornfields. It was bittersweet leaving, knowing that savoring life's finer moments often involves capturing memories that sustain us in the future. So it was that we took off for a return to home - Colorado's mountains. We would be taking a little down time to process and unwind in Estes Park, gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park - stay tuned...
Last weekend we hopped a quick flight out of Denver and headed over to visit Kathleen's family in Iowa. Her mom's prognosis is on the dim side as it appears she is losing a battle with appendix cancer. We wanted an opportunity for Kathleen to have a nice visit while mom is still able to be up and about. We also know that we are getting to the sketchy weather months between here and NW Iowa and we hit the weather jackpot for our trip. Just two days before we left, DIA registered in the 20" range of snowfall, but we left under sunny skies and mild temps on Saturday. We brought our warm and sunny with us to Iowa as well - sweet! The corn farmers are working OT to get the harvest in, as seen in the pic above. As for the Happy Trails part, if you have been reading for any length of time, there are none here. Well, one 2 mile sort-of trail but that's it. So it was, gulp, road running - and no photo evidence that could incriminate us in the future... No offense to you die-hard roadies, but dirt is where it's at. Period. We slugged out 8.5 miles Sunday and 5.5 miles Monday and that was all we could take. It is, however, sweet running at 1400' elevation when you live at 6800' - it is like having an extra oxygen tank built in!!!
K's dad out mowing the north 40. Well, not quite, but a 2.5 acre immaculate lawn takes a bit of work. Two and a half hours on a Craftsman 54" mower with a couple stogies thrown in and that is dad's "quiet time"!!
We had a really nice visit with the family, and as always, got to spend some nice time with K's brother and family who live in the same town.
Got a nice visit in and had some awesome sunrise vistas over the cornfields. It was bittersweet leaving, knowing that savoring life's finer moments often involves capturing memories that sustain us in the future. So it was that we took off for a return to home - Colorado's mountains. We would be taking a little down time to process and unwind in Estes Park, gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park - stay tuned...
5 comments:
It's so fun to visit family, even though it does involve pavement. Cute mention about dad's quiet time. Too cute. Glad you made it home safely! Missed your posts.
So glad you are back. I have traveled through Iowa many times living in Kansas. Found the people as warm and friendly as all the friendly looking folks in your family pix. Very important to have this time to gather. Amen, to all that Meg Runs just said.
Like the new look layout as well.
Glad you guys made the trip back. I know it means so much to K.
Like the new blog layout, but I liked the other one too.
What a great family photo! Glad you got the chance to visit with your family.
Your dislike of road running? Funny!
I like the new blog look, too!
Tina-
Not so much dislike of road running - more dislike of how it treats my body! I just don't recover well from pavement.
S
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