Lloyd and I drove out to Colorado over Easter to visit my Dad. We had our new schedule down pat: We leave as soon as I can get out of school, drive to Denver for the night, then get up early and high-tail it to Western Colorado, arriving a little before noon.
It was a good trip. My Dad is doing well at assisted living, but whenever me or my siblings visit, we bust him out and head up to the house for the day. We got a few errands done with him – a trip to the bank and the post office – and then just hung out. It was delightful.
Back in February, my sister visited and helped my Dad upgradto a larger bed (full size) so he could be more comfortable. She had loaded the twin-size mattress and adjustable platform into Dad’s truck back and we said we’d get it into the house when we were there. Here’s a screenshot from the cameras we have all over the house. (Don’t try to rob us – we’ll know it’s you.)
Saturday morning, Dad called us to say that he hadn’t slept well and was going to take a nap, so we shouldn’t rush down to see him. We actually had a box spring from the twin bed we replaced that needed to go. Sooo….. We went to the dump! I’d never been to this dump, but it was quite the adventure. See, Eckert is on the side of Grand Mesa – the largest tabletop mountain in… America? (The world? The universe?) It’s high up, but not ‘steep’ high. There are lots of ‘dobies’, too – dusty hills that look like cloth draped over old furniture, like this stolen image from the internet:
Well, we found out that at least one of those dobies is made of garbage. We drove into the dump, then up and up and up and up until we were on top of a mountain made of trash. It was hilarious, and I kept singing ‘High on a mountain of love’, only changing the lyrics.
Afterward, we tried to stop at a thrift store in Cedaredge, but it was closed. I did manage to get a stunning photo of Lloyd, though.
On Sunday, we went to Easter services. This was the first time Dad’s been to church since his fall in October, and it was so nice to be there with him. (He even went up for communion instead of having it in the pew!) Look at us – so stained-glassy.
After church we went back to the house for naps, a family Zoom, dinner with his neighbor, then more hanging out. It was a delightful day.
On Monday we were up early. We stopped by to say goodbye to Dad and then were on the road by 7 Mountain time. The landscape was eerily foggy – beautiful when it was far away, boring and creepy when we were in it.
I drove until we hit wet weather, then Lloyd took over until Denver. Denver to Ogallala was me, then Lloyd took us home. We drove the return trip the fastest we’d ever gone: 10 ½ hours instead of 11 ½ or 12, but holy cats: I was DONE being in the car. I was rather crabby the last couple of hours.
I hope your Easter was lovely!