Tuesday, August 5, 2014

July's Journey

I'm back after a month long trip to the States to visit my college boy.
From Kuwait via Frankfurt to Denver.

First we had to drive from Denver to Alamosa where we walked the Great Sand Dunes and hiked Zapata Falls.


 Drove to Pueblo for the 4th of July.
On to Santa Fe rich in culture and history.
Then the tiny town of Las Vegas, NM where my friend Kathy now lives after 4 years in Kuwait.
A day trip to visit the Taos Pueblo.
Durango, Colorado.
Montrose, Colorado which is close to the town of Ouray, known as Little Switzerland.
In Salida, Colorado I was so happy to finally meet up with blog friend, Jan, who is unfortunately no longer blogging.
In Boulder, Colorado we hiked the flatirons and wandered around Pearl Street where street performers are plenty.

We visited Denver where I found a lovely yarn shop.
There were side trips to Fort Collins and Greeley to visit college campuses.
Around Colorado Springs, there is much to see and do from Garden of the Gods to Pikes Peak.
 
And finally back to Alamosa where we packed and planned for our return to Kuwait.  No matter how many times I do it, leaving my college boy behind is not easy.  And the flight is just so long.  But we are back home now, fighting jet lag and getting back into the swing of things.

Hope that all of you are having a fabulous summer!
Best wishes,

36 comments:

Vicki @ lifeinmyemptynest said...

Looks like a wonderful frip with lots of hiking :-)
Beautiful photos too!

Everydaythings said...

Tammy, you lucky ducky, I've always wanted to go to see sand dunes like that and to that southern part of the states...like taos pueblo - what gorgeous country!

I am sure no matter what their ages are, leaving your boy is a very hard thing for a mum to do!

crafty cat corner said...

Hi Tammy, by coincidence your card and crochet arrived this morning just as your first post is published.
Thankyou so much, its lovely to think that you thought of me during your holiday, much appreciated.
It looks as though you had a great time although I can understand you not wanting to leave your son behind. Believe me, that feeling never goes away, they are always your children no matter how old.
Look forward to lots of lovely posts as usual from now on.
Hugs
Briony
xx

hooksandyarns said...

Lovely pictures - looks like you had a wonderful trip. :)

Mereknits said...

Looks like you had a wonderful trip Tammy. Leaving your college boy is no fun at all. Mine is home for three whole weeks!!!!
Glad you are home safe and sound.
Hugs,
Meredith

Linda said...

Hi Tammy,
I've enjoyed following along in your travels on Instagram. :) Nice to read your narrative as well.

Funny how there are duplicate sites - we have a Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest. Also, the only sand dunes I've ever known of (outside of Nebraska's sand hills), are along the shore of Lake Michigan in the state of Michigan; they're pretty famous there.

I can't get over how much you got to see. We never have this opportunity as the most vacation we can take at one time is one or two weeks at the most.

Hope you're getting all settled back in at home and that you have a nice remainder of the summer. Here, College classes begin on August 18th and August 25th, depending on the college. Our population increases by 45,000! : )

Take care,
Linda

Mary said...

Hi Tammy, so good to see you back here. Your trip pics are great. I'm glad you were able to fit so many exciting places in your travels whilst here…..and you obviously got a lot of exercise climbing up things, hiking etc.

Know it's hard leaving dear son so far away for you - but I hope he's happy here in his uni and that you will be able to visit again soon.

Have a great week dear - you were missed.
Mary x

Claudia said...

Dear Tammy,

I just received your package. Thank you so much! It was a lovely surprise on a day I especially needed one. You are such a dear.

I'm so glad you had a great time with your boy. It sounds like the perfect trip - the only hard part was saying goodbye, I know.

xo
Claudia

Maya Kuzman said...

Welcome back from your amazing trip!
I love the pictures and hope you show us some more next time :)

Sherry said...

It looks like you had a wonderful trip. I know its hard to leave your boy, it always is for me.

Melanie said...

I was wondering where you'd been, Tammy! Wow, that is a ton of traveling! I've always wanted to visit NM (especially the area of Santa Fe and Taos). I can't imagine how hard it is to leave your son in the States as you go back to Kuwait. Really tugs on the mama heart strings.

Tanya said...

Ah, my old stomping grounds - I was back this summer, also, and may have passed you in a bunch of these spots. Probably at the top of Pikes Peak with you, and didn't even realize it! Hope you had the donuts! XOXO

Acorn to Oak said...

Such an awesome trip! It was fun following along on Instagram. I can imagine how hard it must be to leave your son and go back home...so far away. You have lots of great memories and pictures though. :-)

September Violets said...

What a great way to visit with your son! Lots of beautiful views. It's always going to be difficult to say goodbye to our kids as they venture out on their own. I hope mine will want to live somewhat close to me because I know what it's like not to have your parents close. Glad to hear you're getting over the jet lag now. Have a wonderful week Tammy. Wendy x

Dagmar said...

Such an interesting post. sWe have been lucky to have spent quite a bit of time in Las Vegas, NM , we have friends that lived there as well in Albuquerque..love Colroado, so it brought back lots of memories. Hope you are recovering from Jet lag and your boy has another wonderful year in Colorado.
Xo
Dagmar

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Tammy,
Welcome back home; know exactly how that feels... Floating for up to a week because of the emotional adjustments. We love to blame it on jet lag but its more than that.
So glad to read you got to travel together to a lot of exiting places. I've been to Boulder, Colorado on a bus, not hiking... We were there a couple of times in Scottsdale where Pieter gave a paper at the Spawn Mate symposium. Staying at a nice resort in February and making some sight seeing trips with the ladies was great!
We also went to the little village of Rawhide...
BUT I owe you a big thank you for the surprise mail from yesterday. You are so talented and have come a long way since you started crocheting. I'm very proud of you. Plan to use this in some way and post about it... one day. Today we just got lazy, on the balcony in the afternoon, reading talking and having our tea. I had back pain last week and even Saturday when I was preparing the food for the cold buffet on Sunday, for friends. Glad I hit the mattress by 10:15 PM and since than I have not had to cook so this is the bonus time!
A big hug and hope you found Jingles and everything fine at home.
May God bless our world and sending you love and blessings as well.
Mariette

Diane said...

Thanks for sharing your trip, that's a wonderful state to explore, and New Mexico. Kind of funny but it's great to see you home (when you were pretty near Wyoming and now you're 1/2 a world away!) Diane

Betsy said...

It sure sounds as if your month long vacation was a busy one. I've been to most of the places you mentioned although it's been a few years. It's never easy leaving your kids behind. My "baby" is 25 and yesterday every time I leave him behind in Tokyo I cry like a baby.
Blessings,
Betsy

Aishwarya said...

Hi Tammy

Longtime since I said hi to you. it was as if I travelled with you....a wonderful post dear. Pics are simply superb.... good you had a lovely family time. I am readying myself to say bye to my daughter.. A part of life.....

Lorrie said...

Looks like you packed a lot into your month. It's always hard leaving a child behind, no matter how adult-like and capable he may be.
I hope you soon feel settled back in Kuwait.

Tanna said...

No, leaving them behind is never easy... I can't even imagine how hard it is to leave them continents away. {{{big hugs}}}

I sure do like the looks of that old Plaza Hotel! =) So glad you're back! blessings ~ tanna

Blondie's Journal said...

I really, really enjoyed your post, Tammy! The pictures are simply beautiful and such a treat as I've never really explored this part of the country. You really fit a lot of small trips in and I loved the diversity of all your activities. I'd love to hike someday, can you believe I never have? Maybe on our next trip to Asheville.

I can't imagine what it's it like to live apart from my children. I am not handling even the "thought" of an empty nest very well. I think it's wonderful that you had a whole month to spend together with your son. He sounds like he must be a very independent young man.

Looking forward to more posts!

Jane xx

Jennifer Hays said...

Things are looking very familiar to me in this post. :) I'm glad you had a nice time. I can understand how hard it must have been to part too. Hope you'll be together again soon.

kathyinozarks said...

Hi Tammy-welcome back home-sounds like a very awesome vacation-I love Colorado-a very beautiful state-I lived there in the late 70s and loved the mountains-everything about it.
Pikes peek is quite an adventure to drive to the top-so nice you were able to spend a month on vacation. hugs Kathy

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Hello Tammy, what a lovely trip you all had. So many great spots to visit and such beauiful photos. Thanks for sharing. Hugs Judy

Susan said...

Welcome to your home, Tammy! So glad you had a wonderful time----a well-deserved break----and that you are now back, safe and sound.

I got the crocheted doily and loved it! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH.

Nice to see your post, dear Tammy. Susan

Bettyann said...

lovely time with family and friends is the best time of our lives. So glad you had a wonderful time with your son and visited the part of the world that is so spiritual and magical. thank you for sharing your journey with us.

Nancy said...

Oh, you saw a lot of wonderful things - thanks for sharing! Glad you had the time to stay awhile in the states. I'm sorry it had to end with a goodbye, but your boy knows how much you love him and that will carry you both through another year. Hang in there and rest up. And then Skype. =)

Anonymous said...

Great pictures. You certainly filled your month with interesting places.

Pam said...

Tammy, I received a lovely package from you this week. Thank you so much for the lovely hand embroidery piece. I am planning to put it on the shelf in the china cabinet where I display my vintage Blue Ridge Pottery.

What a wonderful trip you must have had. I'm jealous of you spending a month in cooler weather. We are HOT, HOT, and HOTTER here. Then we had added humidity for much of July. Looking forward to cooler weather in "a few months".
Again thank you so much. I will treasure it always.

Serena Lewis said...

Welcome home, Tammy!

I've been following your trip on Instagram when able. The photos of your trip are awesome!!

I can imagine how hard it would be to leave your son. No doubt you miss him terribly but thank goodness for today's technology where you can Skype and email.

Quinn said...

Hi Tammy! I was so happy to see a comment from you on my blog today :)
Glad you had a good trip, and glad you are back safe and sound with more pictures to share. These pictures are of my old stompin' grounds...I lived in Boulder before and after that street was made into a pedestrian mall. And the Flatirons are old friends :)
Thanks for bringing back some pleasant memories!
And I'll be looking forward to your newest yarny creations...

Sheila Rumney said...

Looks like you had a great trip. I bet it was hard to leave your college boy! Just took our daughter up to college and thought it would be easier this year... not so much!

~*~Patty S said...

You have sparked such great memories of our trips to CO ever since our son moved there almost three years ago. We are headed to Ouray for Thanksgiving this year and enjoyed Glenwood Springs last year and Aspen the year before that...
so much to take in and explore!
Our first stop when landing in Denver is driving to Boulder and having tea at the Dunshabe Tea House...what a great town...in fact we've toyed with the idea of moving there.
Thank you for sharing such lovely photos in all of your travel pics.
Oh and we hope to catch up with the lovely Jan this year too...we got to meet her when she came to VA Beach a couple of years ago for an Art & Soul retreat!
Really enjoyed your travels and thank you for helping add more spots to our bucket list :)
oxo
p.s. nice of you to pop by my Magpie's Nest today!

Yarni Gras! said...

oh my goodness, these photos are amazing. I love taking trips with you via your blog!

Kathleen said...

Hi Tammy, what an exciting summer you've had visiting your college boy. I've had the good fortune to travel to Colorado and loved it. We visited Garden of the Gods and took the railway up to Pikes Peak. Enjoyed every minute of it. I've thoroughly enjoyed catching up with your blog, your world is so different from mine and I love seeing those differences. I especially like your walks and the places you visit with friends.
My best wishes to you, Kathleen.

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