Down to Colorado Springs to spend the day at Focus on the Family, to spend the night at Glen Eyrie, home of the Navigators, and celebrate our 39th anniversary over  a Fondue dinner!

The Focus organization has grown to to an amazing world-wide outreach that Steve and I can say we have supported since practically since  the very beginning with our tithes.  I hang my hat on Dr. Dobson’s books for raising our kids.

The Navigators group arose from sailors sharing their faith. They have an awesome complex next door to the Garden of the Gods and we were so fortunate to find they had room for us in the castle.

From the Springs we drove up to  see Dave and Sandi Sunde in Louisville, Co. before heading to the airport!

Breckingridge and Vail were not too far away and we  explored them also, but because it wasn’t winter for skiing, or summer for biking  and hiking, most everything was closed for Mud Season; the time when the  ground is just soggy with the snowmelt and spring rains.

I mean to tell you that shops, restaurants, and some roads were closed up tight!  So I had to spend time at the Outlets, darn.

When we first got there we signed up for the tour and were given a tea bag as our ticket. We were encouraged to sample any of their current 80 flavors.  We downed a few, had lunch in their colorful cafeteria, and then reported back for our tour. This place goes 25/7 and brings in ingredients from all over the world.  The gift shop was tea-riffic , and I bought several flavors I had not seen before (“Orange Zinger” makes a great ice tea). We went back to try even MORE flavors after the tour.

We took in the pedestrian walk in Boulder…also a hippie throwback, but the day was all about the tea and being together!

Colorado had not decided what season it was yet because we had hail, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder and lightning all in the same hour!

I haven’t seen most of these Lavender Ladies since graduation, 39 years ago though Christmas cards keep us updated with some.  Many hugs, tears, and remembrances! I think we look great (you can tell who we still are, if that makes sense), and are all on the verge, or have just retired and are eagerly tackling new challenges. And not to be trite, but 60 sure looks and acts like the new 40!

A few aches and pains, several grandchildren — or none at all — lots of travel, and all good people. I even made some new delta friends from other classes.  Imagine, 425 ladies attended out of the 1200 members that are still alive — a whopping third!  We were singing sorority songs, eating, and drinking a lot of wine or ice tea.  I never thought I’d be at this end of the spectrum, age wise, but was amazed and challenged by the sisters attending who were in the decades ahead of me.

What a beautiful day to treasure forever!

We returned home with some inklings that all was not normal, so doctor appointments started lining up. Sonagram, pap,biopsy, specialists, waiting, and then the day you have a date with an oncologist. How do you be cheerful as you walk in that door, the one at the very end of that long hallway?

But just like the adventures in Europe, the doctors, nurse-practitioner, staff and volunteers at Scripps-Mercy Hospital, Scripps-Green and RB joined with all my friends and family to hold me up in prayer. Betty and Mary and Andy babysat me after surgery, Donna cooked and Steve e-mailed updates. I was so loved and cared for that fear NEVER had a chance to take hold. Radiation zapped some strength, but not the knowledge that God loved me and had placed me amongst the most wonderful people in the entire world.

I need to get a map with some bright pins to mark all those special destinations I hold in my heart. Just not sure where to put the trip to cancer pin, cause  I don’t want to forget it…it too became a good memory.

We were priviledged to enjoy the hospitality of Cliff and Elaine Faille, who have a new home (awesome eastern building techniques, and beautiful location in St. James) and boat (the “Y Knot”)  We spent the day on the inter-coastal waterway, and even tied up at a restaurant’s dock to have some great viddles. What a wonderful, happy time we had with these two crazy retired Pfizer Pholk.

We spent the evening of Nov. 2, touring the capitol with Joan and her friend Doris at night. It was a gorgeous evening and a whole different take on all the monuments. The moon was awesome, and the line up of monuments (Capitol,Washington,Lincoln, Iwo Jima, WWII) was pretty amazing. What a great end to a wonderful day and time in D.C.