We're home. House is dry. We're happy.

Just a quick update for all you who called wondering how we were doing in the flooding last week.

We weren't ignoring you.

We were simply out of touch. Way out of touch. Camping for 10 days. No news whatsoever, unless you call state park newsletters news!

On Tuesday, our last day camping, we met a nice couple on a trail. They talked to us because we had 3 girls - they had 4 girls they left at home (teens) so they could hike without hearing whines & complaints about sore legs, boredome, being thirsty, etc. hehe. (we only had a little of that)They took a photo of us together, we took a photo of them. They found out where we were from and asked if we had been affected by all the flooding. "Um, flooding? Not sure..." we said with puzzled looks. They looked abashed, waved their hands, and knowing we were headed home in the next few days, quickly said, "Nevermind, just enjoy the rest of your vacation!" Yeah, sure.

Truly, we knew when we left that water levels were getting close to 1993 flood levels, and with much forecasted rain, were likely to exceed that while we were gone. Past that, we knew nothing of the awful devastation flooding and tornadoes were wreaking on Iowa, and were confident in our sump pump, the area we live in, and that our neighbors would have tried to contact us at any of the various numbers we left. Still, the first thing we did when reaching our hotel in Colorado Springs late yesterday afternoon was to:

1. find the weather channel and watch,
2. call the neighbors watching the cats & house.

What we found out was that our state was a mess (and continues to be), and that while our part of the city was without water for a few days, it had come back on 3 hours before we called anyone. Reassured, we then

1. washed three days grime off everyone
2. ate dinner out
3. swam in the pool
4. and slept in real beds.
5. Woke for breakfast, and drove 10-11 hours with stops and loss of an hour in the change to Central Time zone.

Tomorrow I will call some of you in between doing laundry, filling the fridge, laundry, mowing, and more laundry. For those I don't manage to reach (as I'll also be trying to reach a few who may still be affected by all the water), we'll be adventuring a little closer to home this weekend at the Quad Cities air show, so will be back to regular life sometime Monday.

Summary:
We had a wonderful trip. Beautiful scenery & stunning ruins, great hikes, a few biting gnats, a harrowing 57 mile drive alongside a HUGE bike tour on winding two lane roads with no shoulder, 5 National Park Jr. Ranger Badges earned for each of the girls, and great weather until we hit Lincoln, NE tonight, after which we saw no less than 4 sets of rainbows, two of them doubles. We'll take that as a good sign.