The "A" Team

This past weekend I traveled to a place I love to visit a person I love. I flew solo to Colorado to visit my dear friend, Andrea. Yes, I went on a trip without the Claranator. It was great. Of course I missed her, but she had probably the best weekend of her life. What could be better than a weekend with both sets of grandparents plus lots of daddy time? Not much.

It marked the first time in almost two years that I've used a purse. I am actually quite impressed that I found a purse in my possession at all. It was buried in a plastic tub in our basement. I had almost forgotten how great (aka light) a purse feels, compared to a diaper bag.

Some other luxuries: transitioning in and out of Andrea's car with ease, continuing our plans through the afternoons without even a pause for nap time, sleeping in until eight o'clock in the morning, and leisurely reading multiple books on the plane.

As for the "A" Team (aka Amy & Andrea), we had a wonderful time together. Andrea had been heckling me to make a trip to Colorado Springs for months. It was about time I went her way. She's visited me many times in the past few years. And when she said she would "sponser" me to join her in the Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer and get us a hotel in the mountains before the race, it sealed the deal. Five years ago, the two of us stumbled upon this event by accident while attempting to cross country ski at the Frisco Nordic Center. We loved it. The event has grown by about 300% since that first year, which is awesome. Even with the mass of people this year, it was so much fun.

We couldn't spend time in the Silverthorne area without a stop at the outlet malls. It is a great thing I don't live ten minutes from them, like I did when we lived in Frisco. They're trouble.

We headed back to Colorado Springs after the romp and enjoyed a girls night with two of Andrea's dear friends, Lisa and Jenna. We made some homemade pizza and went a little crazy with Whole Foods dessert. I have a slight obsession with the chocolate pot de creme. Hmmmm. That might be an understatement. Maybe it's good that I don't live by the outlets or a Whole Foods.

After church in the morning, we decided to bust up the incline, which is alongside the Pikes Peak trail. It's basically a mile hike where you gain 2,000 feet. It's like walking on a stair climber for an hour straight, except at times you're scaling steps at hip level. Andrea runs up this thing in her sleep. She's done it over a dozen times. She even sprained her ankle on the run down the mountain once and had to be air lifted out of there. Okay, maybe she wasn't air lifted but it took her about four hours to make it down. It's a dangerous place ;). But we survived. And of course had a great time doing it. Or maybe it wasn't that we had a "great time". I don't know anyone on that kind of hike who doesn't stop at some point and think, "why in the world am I choosing to do this?" But there is just something extremely gratifying about accomplishing something challenging. And breathing that rocky mountain air and seeing the lovely view doesn't hurt either.

On the way back to the airport, we stopped by to spend some time with my grammy at her care center. It was both wonderful and heart breaking to see her. She suffers from dementia and has changed dramatically in the years since we moved away from Colorado. Her sweet spirit is still very evident, though, and she loved the pictures of Clara I showed her on my phone. Isn't she just darling? She's wearing a sweatshirt with all her grandkids from many many years ago.

Now I'm home. And already reaping the rewards of my absence. My clingy, tired lady seems bound and determined to make me suffer for leaving her. It may just take a few days but we'll get into the routine again, I'm sure. And despite the fact that I miss Andrea and Colorado air and purses and pot de creme, outlet malls and leisurely plane rides, there is no place I'd rather be that with my little lady (and my husband!, I do have a husband :)) again. Thanks again, Andrea, for a wonderful weekend away!