Travel – The Lieslands

Lake Life – in December!

The weather was awesome this week, so Mary Connor found a lake house for Gary and Kathie to stay at for a couple of nights. Mary, us and the Reagens came out for a day to enjoy the warm weather.

Elliot, Cam, Andrew, and Ian, after getting in

Thanksgiving 2020

For Thanksgiving this year we headed south to the Connors’. The weather was awesome and they had a beautiful setup in their driveway.

My uncle Tom, who lives in Colorado Springs, has not been doing well. His mental and physical health have been declining and I had the opportunity to go visit with him for a few days at the end of last week. Susan stayed home on kid duty and I spent my days visiting with Tom, making time for a hike each day.

Susan playing at the creek with the kids.

I camped in Colorado. It felt like our RV trip to pull into the campground after dark and have to find my spot.

The view from my office. I worked on Eastern Time, so I had a couple of hours each day to get some work done before heading in to visit with Tom. I was fortunate that the weather was still warm.

Tom liked to hold hands and one of my primary responsibilities when I was there was to make sure I was available for that.

Meanwhile, life went on at home and Susan had to get all of the kids to their activities. here, Andrew is running in a XC meet , maybe at Southeast Polk.

My first hike in Colorado Springs was to Garden of the Gods. I tried to stay pretty close to town.

Susan also had to get up early with Oreo, who insists on waking us just a little earlier than we would like.

During this time, Mari also submitted her application to work at Coldstone Creamery. With soccer and XC winding down she will have more free time, and she is saving up for a new phone.

Red Rock Open Space in the foreground, with Garden of the Gods in the background.

Cincinnati Fun

We haven’t been to Cincinnati in a year and we have been working hard this summer to find a time to go. A good window presented itself and we made the trip, staying just a few days in Cincinnati. We mostly hung out with my family, except for visiting with the Herrels.

Driving to Cincinnati

After a slight delay, we are headed to Cincinnati! We delayed our trip one day because Elliot started developing a rash. We weren’t sure what it was, but after a few hours we could determine that it was poison ivy.

The big kids like to rotate who sits in the back and are committed to making sure they switch at the right time. Here they are, doing the rotation.

Gulf Shores Vacation

Back in the Spring, just before the pandemic started, we booked a vacation to Gulf Shores, AL, with the Reagens. A few months later, it didn’t feel quite as comfortable, but we decided to make the trip anyways. The Reagens were not able to come because they wanted to be closer to Nate’s dad, who has not been doing well since the end of June. Vacation was definitely not the same without the Reagens, but we did our best to have a good time.

Andrew skim-boarding. He hurt his back the first day and was out of commission for about 12 hours, but was back at it the second day.

Day 3, Susan and Rose relaxing under the umbrella

We buried Lucia. I think she fell asleep.

Our favorite dinner spot. This balcony overlooked a lagoon, on the back side of the condo.

Special Dessert. Susan and her family used to go to TCBY often in Des Moines. It is not here anymore, so Susan was glad to find one.

Overnight in Memphis

Today we started our drive to Gulf Shores and spent the night in Memphis. I was in Memphis a few years ago for a conference and looked forward to spending the night in the city again. We arrived in Memphis at around 7, stopped at our hotel, and then headed to the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination and current National Civil Rights Museum. We picked up some BBQ nearby and took in the experience, which felt more significant due to the current upheaval that is affecting the world. After that we headed to the Beale St. area, just to drive around.