rocky mountain escape

joe and i took a trip to colorado this weekend without the boys. this is something the two of us together have never done. never. it was really strange and we weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves. we unpacked only 2 suitcases, had a quiet dinner out at a very cozy restaurant and came back to the hotel whenever we felt like it. we stayed in silverthorne where it continued to snow all night and all morning. we called the boys, "guess what jonah. we're in a winter wonderland!" "a wonderland?!" he responded. he thought that was pretty cool, but couldn't talk long because he had things to do. aunt sara and uncle justin were babysitting which meant it was 'all paris, all the time' for jonah. i thought he'd manage while his mama and daddy were gone.

yet, the novelty of the snow quickly wore off when on the second day we were trying to get to our destination in carbondale and the roads were too icy and full of upside down cars to risk the 100+ mile drive. so we got as far as vail, got out and walked around a bit, then headed back toward denver so we wouldn't have to worry about making our flight the next day.

this is a picture of joe in front of the breathtaking national renewable energy laboratories (NREL) visitors center near denver. 'the what?' you say. uh huh, exactly. 'and they have a visitors center?' yup. it basically showcases technologies that can save energy and improve the environment. since we couldn't make it to the school joe wanted to visit in carbondale (SEI), he thought it would be really great to visit NREL since it was on our way back. after finally agreeing to stop there, i tried my best to be interested in fuel cells, biomass, and energy analysis. although i was completely engrossed, when he finally said we could leave i could hardly keep myself from running back to the car. not that i don't appreciate joe's goals to save the world and be a custodian for our earth and provide a better life for our children.

we ended up staying in boulder that night. we went downtown and had dinner at a local pub. then went back to our hotel and watched movies all night. alone, without kids or the need for subtitles. the next morning we had breakfast at turley's and took our sweet little time so that we almost missed our flight back in denver. a little jog through the airport to burn off those cage-free, non-growth hormonal eggs and home brewed chai. but we made it.

back to our poor little pink-eyed boys. and on top of that, ikey with a temperature and a cold. we had visions of our children running to us, arms outstretched when we walked through the door. that's not what we got, but i think they were a little glad to have us back.

rocky mountain high - john denver