By the Numbers

Well, I am finally back in Phoenix! But I had another little 2,100 mile trip tacked on to my travel plans.  More on that later...
Jacob finished up Outdoor Nationals strong.  He placed 5th in the 10,000m point race on the road, which placed him 10th in the nation and put him on National Team.  Nas finished as an alternate to the World Team and Lani skated strong on the road.  Because there weren't any rain delays, we had a day to just hang out.  We went to the Cheyene Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO which I highly recommend.  It is one of the most interesting zoos I have ever been to.  However, it does require walking many steep walkways and stairs. 

On Saturday, August 11th, I made the trek to Denver to take Jacob, his coach and teammate back to the airport.  Jared and I spent the rest of the day visiting Garden of the Gods.  Sunday, August 12th, we packed up and took off driving to Phoenix.  The drive was one of the easiest yet.  Normally a 14 hour drive, including stop times, we made it with very few stops and made it in 12 hours!  Side note: 8/12/12 was my 29th wedding anniversary.

While we were on the road, my 22 year old son, Jordan, was accepted into the dance program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, classes start August 20th.  In talking with him, we were going to leave on Wednesday, so I had 2 days to turn around and leave again.  As we got packing and figuring out the drive times, we realized we needed to get on the road sooner.  We mapped out the trip, and saw that El Paso would be the perfect stopping point.  As chance would have it one of my dearest friends lives in El Paso.  I gave her a call and she was more than happy to let us crash there Tuesday night. 

Jordan's friend Michael went with us to help with the moving.  We took off around noon on Tuesday, stopping in El Paso and arriving in Dallas on Wednesday.  Thursday we were able to move Jordan into his apartment and walk around the campus.  SMU is a beautiful 100 year old campus and the Meadows School looks wonderful.  Michael and I headed back to El Paso on Friday.  Michael got word that night, he didn't need to go into work on Saturday.  This meant we were able to sleep in and just laze around Saturday morning and visit.  I was so wonderful to see my friend, Lena after many years.  I finally got to meet her husband and 6 year old son!  She has such a beautiful home and her family were such gracious hosts.  We headed home around noon on Saturday.

Amazingly, I will be home for seven weeks!!!  I have basically been on the road for 4 months!  Wow! That's hard to believe!
 
Here are some of the numbers:
Left on April 25th back home August 18th - 16 1/2 weeks or 116 days.
25 traveling days (23 driving, 2 flying)
17,383 miles on my truck
36 days at home
55 days at other places
31 days of school while on the road (finishing one school year and started the next)

Places?
10 hotels
3 friends/relatives homes
2 hospitals
11 states (CA, AZ, NM, CO, NE, KS, IA, MN, MO, OK, TX)

Food?
3 visits to Josh & John's (best ice cream EVER)
Can't even begin to count restaurants... some notables:
2 hospital cafeterias actually really good food
Fargo's Pizza in Colorado Springs
G&R's authentic mexican food in El Paso
A micro brewery in Minneapolis, GREAT burgers in an amazing old building
Smokin' Bob's Bar B Que (a little partial since it is my brother) His brisket and beans are literally award winning!
I am SOOOOO done with Applebee's and Taco Bell for a loooooong time!!!
6 lbs lost... REALLY!?!?!

Activities?
3 skating competitions (Trophy Meet, Indoor Nationals, and Outdoor Nationals)
21 individual races plus relays
3 moves (Jared moved bedrooms, Jordan moved home and then to Dallas)
2 weddings attended
1 Family Reunion
1 Business Convention
1 Funeral
2 zoos (Lincoln and Cheyene Mountain)
lots and lots of visiting

People?
65 relatives at Daniels family reunion
3 cousins I never knew, Jim, Irvine and Jay
9 friends I haven't seen in YEARS Barb, Tom, Kris Ann, Derek & Sharon, Randy, Karen & Tessa, and Lena
10 relatives I haven't seen in YEARS Vivian, Sarah, Elle, Jenny, JT, Bob, Cheryl, Janie, Mom and Dad.
2 in-laws I hadn't met yet, Keith and Matt
Many, many friends and relatives, old and new, from all over!
I can't even begin to count the number of hugs, laughs and tears.

I'm living on the eighth day, right now!

It's Tuesday so this must be Colorado

As I write this I'm sitting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since my last posting...

Tuesday July 24th, I took Jeff, Jacob and Kylee to fly out of Kansas City International Airport. Jeff went back to Long Beach, Kylee to Rialto, and Jacob to San Jose.

On Wednesday my dear friend, Karen Brundridge came to KC to visit with me. This came about because of Facebook. I posted an album on Facebook of old high school pictures that mother gave me when I was in Paola in May. Many were of Karen and me, in our baton twirling outfits. I, of course, tagged her. These started a conversation that went something like, "I miss you", "It's been too long", "We should get together", "I'll be in KC in July", "I'll be there!” As it turns out, we were staying, 1/2 mile from her oldest daughter's apartment. Here's the pic: Karen, Me and Tammie.

I can't exactly remember the last time I saw Karen, I think it was around the time Mom and Dad moved away from Galena (our hometown). That would have been 21 years ago!!! Karen and I were best friends in high school. She married right after high school and stayed in the area. So while I was in college, I saw her every time I came home. She was one of my bridesmaids (right after my sister). Her daughter was only a few weeks old at my wedding. Even after we moved to Arizona, we talked on the phone regularly. I can't really say why we lost touch after that. I think we both, got VERY busy with children, changed land lines to cell phones and moved a few times. We found each other again on Facebook recently.

Anyway, we spent Wednesday evening catching up and all day Thursday, doing lunch and shopping on the plaza. It was so much fun! I am still a little amazed at how it didn't seem like we had been apart that many years. Actually, it felt more like last week. Afterwards, I was telling her how funny it is that our lives are so similar and we still just "click" as friends. She said, "Not really, there was a reason we were best friends all those years ago." She's right, some friends are for life whether you're around each other or not. Here's a picture of us at 2am after a full day of shopping AND talking into the wee morning hours!

On with my journeys! I was so wired and wide awake that I decide to throw my suitcase in the truck and head for Minneapolis at 3am Friday. I needed to be there early on Friday and I knew I wouldn't be getting to sleep or getting up, in time to make it. I did get tired in the northern part of Iowa and pulled in a rest area and slept for 2 hours. Here is where I slept; it was the NICEST rest area ever!

I left Jared in KC with John. He got to help John and Uncle Bob (my brother) with some barbeque. Jeff flew into Minneapolis on the Thursday night red eye and landed at 5:30am. When we got in the hotel room we took a long afternoon nap! We were up in time for the evening workshops.

We were in Minneapolis for the "Nelsen Family Reunion" which is a business convention we attend every summer for our Amway business. It was a great weekend, with so much good information. We are so excited about the mobile apps and the technical upgrades to our business website. Plus, we got to hang out with some friends we hadn't seen since last year's event and as always meet some new friends, with all of us having the chance to share ideas and information.

Sunday night, Jeff and I got a bite to eat and then headed back toward KC. We stopped in Des Moines, Iowa and got a hotel room.

Monday morning, July 30th, I drove Jeff back to the KC airport and he flew back to Long Beach. I then drove back to John's hotel. That evening we did some laundry, joined Bob and Cheryl for dinner and packed up.

Tuesday July 31st, John headed back to Phoenix; Jared and I headed to Colorado Springs. John is stopping in Tucumcari, NM. I finally was able to unpack my truck COMPLETELY! The crockpot and boxes of food that I have been hauling from state to state finally will be put to use. This is the last leg of the travels. Tomorrow morning I head to Denver to pick up Jacob, his coach, Deb and other skaters from the airport. Then it is 10 days of skating for Outdoor Nationals! I'll keep you posted...

I'm living on the eighth day, right now!