Rocky Mountain Fever

Hi again! I'm back from a few lovely days in Nederland, Colorado and I must say, the words to John Denver's song, "Rocky Mountain High" now have a whole new meaning to me. I'm a flatlander and this tour took me to 12,000 feet! We spent one entire day driving to and through Rocky Mountain National Park and between big gulps of air that don't boast near the oxygen content of Texas air, my eyes were feasting on what can only be called postcard snapshots of in itself breathtaking beauty.

There were majestic mountains layered upon mountains under a blue sky full of fluffy clouds. We even witnessed a herd of elk so tame they merely stood closeby and looked at us as if to say, "Why don't you move off our road so we can pass?" If I can figure out the mechanics of it, I'll post a few photos taken by my able scrapbooking daughter and granddaughters. The elk were magnificent.

Back at the cabin we had no Fox News or football, no Rush or Hannity on the radio, no dishwasher yet we seemed busily occupied from awakening until dark. I learned several new card games and one new domino game which can take hours to finish. We took most of the family dogs too which was an experience. None of the three hounds were accustomed to "doing their business" on an incline or on rocks for that matter and those were their only choices. It was an adjustment, but one to which they finally acquiesced. And then there were the chipmunks and birds to chase ... dog heaven. Poor ole' Bess sliced up her paws pretty badly while in hot pursuit day after day.

On reflection, "cabin" might be an understatement as well. It has for the past four years undergone a major renovation we were told. As first time guests we had not experienced it prior to this trip. What was once a humble getaway outpost has now become a tri-level contender for coverage in Architectural Digest. We slept on the top floor under plate glass windows overlooking 30 foot tree tops! We saw meteor showers at midnight and hummingbirds fluttering in the upper pine branches at daybreak. Only the determined could sleep beyond sunrise with all that expanse of window glass. Anyway, sleep was not necessarily what we went for.

Because of my occupation I suppose, I kept thinking of the scaffolding that will be necessary to clean said glass when the time comes!

I used to think of vacations as frivolous or an added strain on the household budget but after this trip, I truly understand the meaning of the word, respite. This wasn't necessarily an expedient time for us to duck out for a week and some, but we feel so mentally refreshed having done so and our dependable staff proved themselves again by keeping things going in good order. We are fortunate to have them.

If you have an opportunity to take a last minute vacation before school starts up once again ... Let me encourage you to grab it! You'll no doubt make memories for a lifetime and you can always call Clean Reflections for a thorough top to bottom cleaning when you get home!