Badgerjen Summer Tour 2012 Continued

October 13, 2012

OK- the summer tour is now 4 months old and much has happened since the holidays. But I still want to include you in on all the fun I had on the trip. So I have decided to do a couple of quick summary posts of what happened on the trip- the good, the bad, the stolen luggage. I'll discuss the highlights and post some pics. If there is anything you want more of- let me know!

I left off as I departed Dublin and headed to the States. The beginning of the journey was fine...my first layover was in Raliegh, NC. Nothing that exciting here except that, for the first time, I paid extra for the use of the First Class lounge and it was great!! Made the 8, yes 8 hour!!, layover slightly bearable. The next leg of the journey was to Denver, CO, my old hometown. When I walked off the plane and into DIA, I felt like I was home. A quick pick-up of the luggage and turn around to check back in for my final flight of the day to Durango, and I was headed down to the train to Concourse B.

I arrived at the gate and checked the board....CANCELLED!! Are you kidding me?? I just checked in 10 minutes ago. But, yes, it was cancelled. And the last flight of the day. I stood in line with everyone else and listened as they announced that the soonest they would be able to get us on a flight would be in 3 days!! What??? The woman next to me made a joke, but after over 24 hours of traveling, I broke down in tears. I just wanted to get home to Mom and Dad. The woman took pity on me and we worked out a strategy- if we couldn't get a flight the next day, we would rent a car and drive down to Durango together. Luckily, that didn't need to happen. The airline put us up in a hotel and got us seats the next afternoon. Really, it ended up not being a big deal as I just needed to get some sleep and wouldn't have done much in Durango that morning anyway. Eventually I made it to Durango and the shopping, I mean, the holiday really began!!

Some of the highlights from Durango & Colorado:

Shopping!!!!! The first full day back involved a trip down to Farmington, NM to hit up Target!!! I pretty much bought the store :) And it didn't really stop there.....Mom & I hit Durango, Albuquerque, Farmington, and all stops in between. I even went to 2 more Targets in Denver (I may have a slight Target addiction). I ended up having to send a box of stuff home to the CZ because my bags were so full.
Jeeping. Mom, Dad & I went over California Pass. We, also, went up Missionary Ridge. I love Colorado and I love the jeep trips. It's always fun to be scared to death as Dad assures us that it's "not that bad" going over huge boulders in the rain!! haha. Though it wasn't great weather over California Pass, we ended up eating lunch in the jeep, the scenery was still breath-taking.
Bastille Days. Celebrating with every French person in Durango (did not know there were that many) was fun and delicious. Pastries and champagne= yum!
Colorado History Museum. I highly recommend it. It is very interactive and we could have stayed all day.
Denver. Meeting up with old friends on Friday night and touring all the old haunts was so much fun. Though it just reminded me I'm not as young as I used to be. Spending the day with Jen in the Highlands and seeing how much it has grown up really made me think about moving back for good. Denver is such a great city with so much to offer- I truly miss it AND my friends.
Family. Spending time with Mom, riding up to Silverton for lunch in the sports car with Dad, watching the Olympics with Mom & Dad. Seeing my cousin, Kevin, and his family. It was awesome. Of course, I missed Mark, Laura and Maggie. And all my friends in WI. But spending a whole month with my parents was a gift- though let's be honest, by the end it was probably time for me to leave (am I right, Mom & Dad?)

Badgerjen Summer Tour 2012's stop in Colorado was a huge success. It was really hard to leave and, yet, it was time to go. The third part of the tour was up.....LONDON and the OLYMPICS!!!