Roman Holiday

Watched it last night. I should have been sleeping, however Rich was up working on a proposal and had the classics channel on when I went in to say goodnight and that was that - sucked in by the boob-tube. Not sure how much he accomplished either. Love Audrey... Gregory Peck is too funny in the beginning and such a bittersweet ending. And Eddie Albert! Who remembers watching Green Acres? Ok, so I only saw it in reruns, but younger Eddie - not so bad!

I've been thinking of Roman Holidays, er, vacations lately. Just ordered some fun necklaces because 11 years ago I had my first little girl who LOVED pulling on my necklaces with her cute chubby little fingers. Haven't worn many since, not that many remain still in one piece. Of course the necklaces I was drawn to and eventually settled on were the ones that reminded me of Hawaii. Lovely place, I daydream of it often. {laugh} Could be the gorgeous photos on the wall in the dining room...

Summer vacation is almost here, with it's lack of responsibilities ~ or at least, minimized responsibilities. Art classes and the occassional piano lesson for the girls, daily swimming at the pool, gardening, barbeques, bike rides and pretending I will never ever have to work in summer again (summer is for daydreaming too you know!) . We're hoping for a few local weekend camping trips and at least one with my cousin Karen who the girls adore (well, we do too).

A few years ago we drove through the Medicine Bow area of Wyoming on our way to Yellowstone, fell in love and vowed to return. Lake Marie was one of the most beautiful lakes... We briefly considered camping there this year but we are travelling about the same time of year and there was still snow on the ground in places so we made other plans. Then a friend sent me this link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24453651/ talking about bugs causing tree damage forcing campsite closures. I hope the damage isn't too great, but I think we were lucky this year in not going.

We choose this years starting location as Mesa Verde as Natasha studied the area a few years ago, and Sarah will soon. Rich and I spent a few days there back in 1996 and Natasha was thrilled to find we had actually been there AND had photos, brochures, etc. (It pays to be a scrapper/paper hoarder!). We'll vary from our usual MO of a short first day drive that allows us a leisurely start, instead waking up early to an already packed truck (we'll see) to tackle the entire 10 hours to Colorado Springs in one day. Yes, we will be staying in a hotel that night, a hotel with a POOL for 3 girls to burn off energy after sitting all day. I have to point out that they are excellent travellers and observers who like to look out the window, get along well and can read for hours on end. From Co. Springs we'll head south to Mesa Verde, about 6 hours, and set up camp for 3 nights. From there we have a reservation at Hovenweep for one night, which will allow us enough time to see everything we can safely see with Mira. Natasha is itching to go to 4 corners, I think we'll be able to manage that sometime during these days... After that, we'll visit Natural Bridges National Monument, and on to Devils Canyon for a night. Looks like a beautiful place to explore, not sure how far we'll get with Mira, still... From there, we'll head toward Moab, stopping at Newspaper Rock and then on to a Campark in Moab.

Yes, a campark. Reservable sites at Arches and other local state & nat'l campgrounds filled months ago, before we were even sure we were going. Not taking a chance on first come with 3 kids, especially when some of those places have no water facilities. Rich and I stayed in this very campark 12 years ago - bonus is that it has a laundry! Good memories of that trip. We'll spend 3 nights there, visiting Canyonlands and Arches National parks and Dead Horse Point State Park. Would have LOVED to stay at Island in the Sky, but again, no water, no reservations. Next time. It will be beautiful to spend the day or more exploring and hiking and driving - it felt so desolate and quiet last time - beautiful and eerie all at once. I have a feeling with 3 girls it won't be quite so quiet this trip...

Then we're off to Black Canyon of the Gunnison for 2 nights. Steep drops into the canyon on some trails so we will do the outside trails here and may drive down canyon to the Curecanti National area if we find we have extra time (doubt it). Bear boxes for food - we will all be sleeping in the large tent here, together! No girls off being grown up in their own tent, no way. After that, it's a relaxed half day drive back to Colorado Springs with whatever stops we feel like in-between, ending the same hotel suite with pool as at the beginning of the trip. Last day will be a 10 hour drive, although we'll have an extra day built in so we can stop along the way to play, and we'll all be clean! Then two days later we'll be off again for a short, 1 day adventure closer to home before Rich has to get dressed up and play the grownup again.

Where will your Roman Holiday be spent this year? I'd love to hear what your plans are - leave me a comment.

In the meantime, it is again past my bedtime, so I will leave you with these photos from the neighborhood. The flowers are fading and being replaced by lovely green leaves, but for the past few weeks this was the view from every street - beautiful pink, purple and white flowering trees. Love my neighborhood.