Sherry is still melting. Things are supposed to approve this weekend! Whew.
We’ve been very fortunate to travel this summer so I’m sharing some pictures and thoughts today.
First up in June we visited friends we were stationed with in Los Angeles in the early nineties. Nancy and I became fast friends through our shared love of garage sales. We also had both worked for financial planners and had almost identical dinnerware by Dansk. When our husbands we’re out of town, we had each other’s backs through babies, chicken pox, earthquakes, and anything else life threw at us. They now live on a family ranch in Northern California.
We fell in love with all of their dogs! I miss them!
And the beautiful scenery! No trip to the ranch is complete without a ride in the quad. One wrong step and you’re tumbling down the mountain.
We made a quick trip to Florida to visit my mom and were able to visit her lovely neighbors too. It was so hot, I didn’t even make it to the beach other than to drive by.
Then we were off on a road trip. In St. Louis, my dear friend Dianne, arranged a gathering of sorority sisters! It was so great to see them.
Then we were off to Colorado. Our first stop was Denver where we went to watch Jono Keyes (son of our dear friend Christine) play Ultimate Frisbee with his Australian mixed team. We watched him play in Ohio last summer and had so much fun we wanted to watch him again. I wrote about it here. This year they took fourth place!
After the tournament we spent part of a day at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Go if you ever get a chance. They have a huge herd of bison.
Then it was on to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we met and married. It was a wonderful visit and walk down memory lane. We hadn’t been there in twenty-seven years and it’s thriving. We saw the base chapel where we were married, the place we had our reception, our first house, and visited Mary Rose who was with me the night I met Bob, and saw our Matron of Honor, Peggy.
Being back in Cheyenne, reminded me of an idea I had for a cozy set there. A young woman who’s a designer from LA, goes to help her grandparents run their Western clothing store for a week. It’s Yellowstone meets Project Runway.
We saw more friends we been stationed with as we headed to Avon, Colorado for a week. What a beautiful place. I’ve been to many parts of Colorado but never there. It’s near Vail. One day we drove to Aspen, where we had a two-day honeymoon at the cheapest place in town. It’s now housing for workers.
Then we drove over Independence Pass to Leadville. It’s a stunning drive that you must take if you’re ever out in Colorado. We’ve done it before but it had been many, many years ago.
What a summer with friends, beautiful scenery, historic sites, so many mountains, and vast prairies!
And I couldn’t end the post without saying happy anniversary to my wonderful husband of thirty-three years. I’m not sure how I was so lucky to meet you (it’s a good thing you’re stubborn), but I can’t imagine life without you.
Readers: Is there somewhere you’ve visited that you’d like to go back to?
I would love to go back to Thailand. Pattaya Beach is so beautiful, we have been there several times already. The only drawback is the long flight to get there and back.
That would be a long flight!
I’m so glad you had a glorious trip, Sherry! Did the long drives get to you? I’d love to go back to Grenoble, where we lived when my oldest son was a baby. And I’m finally getting back to Japan next spring, first time since I left there in 1977!
Now we’re all going to demand that you write that Yellowstone Meets Project Runway series….
The long drives were fine until the last two days. On the last day, I was handing Bob some peanuts and one dropped. His reaction was a little over dramatic for the situation — ha.
Loved the Grand Tetons and the New England states in the fall. Also would love to be able to see how the area around Monterey, CA has changed since my Dad was stationed there in the 60’s for 9 years and explore all the things we never went to while there. But my dream would be to go where we haven’t been. I’m always in for a new adventure. This next year we are hoping maybe Alaska – my almost home town.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I love Monterey! We were stationed there for a year and a half in the late 90s. i always say it’s the only assignment where I said, “Yes. We’re here!” I hope you make that Alaska trip!
What wonderful pictures, Sherry. The scenery is gorgeous! I’d love to get back to Puerto Rico someday.
I’ve only been there as a cruise stop and it was brutally hot the day we were there. Beautiful, though. I have friends who have spent a lot more time there and love it.
I would be one of those friends! And I’m going back in December. ;^)
We were stationed in Bamberg, Germany in the late 70’s and loved it. When we left, we said that we would come back, but life got in the way and we haven’t been back yet! I would love to go to see the city that was so hard to leave in 1980.
I hope you get there, Kitty!
I’d love to go back and visit Fredericksburg, TX again. I loved the Inn, the E-rock hike and how quaint it all was.
I’ve always heard what a pretty part of the country that is!
What a wonderful travelogue, Sherry! Happy Anniversary you two love birds!!! Thank you for the photos and entertaining descriptions of your adventures! As a retired airline executive, and now travel agent, I have been to almost every destination I have wanted to visit. There are so many amazing countries that I would love to go back to, but I have only so much time (I am 74), and there are still so many wonders I want to explore. If I had to select one destination I would love to go back to, it would be Bora-Bora, Tahiti. I know that in the 20+ years since I visited, there have been so many more resorts built, but the amazing scenery is still there. I hope you all get to travel there. It is as close to Paradise as possible here on earth. Luis at ole dot travel
Your travels sound wonderful! I hope you make it back to Bora-Bora. I’ve only seen pictures of how beautiful it is.
I would love to read your Wyoming cozy!!
Thank you!
Sounds like a great summer. I’m ready to go on another trip myself. Nothing concrete planned at the moment, however.
Traveling off season is always better!
Sounds like you had alot of fun even though it was hot. We went to Barcelona and then on a cruise ship and saw Cannes, and other places. We plan to go back again next year. It was beautiful.
That sounds fantastic!
Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sharing your travel memories with us. Great pix. I’ve done several around the country trips and have seen a lot of wonderful things, but I’m ready to go again. I love driving, stopping whenever something grabs me.
I think that stopping whenever is a great joy!
What a great summer you have had, Sherry! I love seeing your photos! I would love to visit Scotland and Iceland again someday! And I recently traveled to Berkeley Springs, WV and would visit there again in a heartbeat!
I’d love to visit Scotland and Iceland some day!
The bad thing about going to some place you loved back in the 1970s and 1980s is that civilization and progress has changed them and, in some cases, ruined them. I loved every place we went in Colorado back in the late 1970s–from Durango to Silverton and Ouray to Leadville and Cripple Creek and so many of those places Rocky Mountain Natl. Park is wonderful as is seeing the Stanley Hotel. We did the train ride from Durango to Ouray, drove up Pike’s Peak and went across the Royal Gorge in our car. Our cruise through the Inside passage to Alaska was wonderful. The Blue Ridge Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains is fabulous. San Francisco down to Monterey and Carmel and up to the end of the Russian River was another favorite that we did yearly. I would not go back there now like it is nor would I go back to Portland which was wonderful to the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. St. Helen’s. Another favorite was the Grand Canyon and staying at the El Tovar Lodge. I loved traveling all through the beautiful country of Mexico and seeing all of the ruins but that is another no go now. My favorite though was Machu Picchu and the Amazon River and rainforest. I have been lucky to go many places but there are so many more to see that I probably won’t ever get to visit due to my age and the world now. One last favorite was a float plane trip to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas way below Key West. America as so many wonderful places to see.
I have been to Machu Picchu numerous times to show friends/relatives the sights. Each time was a little more disappointing than the time before. When I first went to Peru it was really for travelers, not tourists. I went every year for 25 years, but I was actually sorry I went the last couple of times.
Wow! Your travels sound amazing!