Welcome!

Have you met Sadie?  Sadie is the sweetest little puppy any girl could ask for.  Sadie is about to make her very first cross-country trip.  She will be joining my husband and I as we travel to Colorado.

The purpose of this excursion, aside from the pure joy of traveling, will be the transport and delivery of our Colorado daughter’s king size quilt, the recently refurbished sewing machine and cabinet as well as the last little tidbits of her childhood memories.  Those little tidbits have been in storage, in our basement, since she left home for grad school.  Now that she is married and has her own place it is time to move her belongings up and out of the basement.  Also traveling along is her portion of my china.  You see, my mom and I both had the same set of china.  I picked mine out first.  Once my mom saw the pattern she fell in love and purchased a set for herself.  My mom parted with her 12 place setting set several years ago.  I was the proud recipient.  Since that time I’ve lost interest in maintaining and storing the dishes.  The combination of her 12 place setting set and mine makes a grand total of 24 place settings.  I have three daughters all of which expressed an interest in the china.  Not wanting to give it to just one person I decided to split the 24 place settings into 3 sets of eight.  My oldest daughter already has her portion.  Now all that is left is the distribution of the remaining sixteen.

I almost forgot, there is one more item traveling in the back of our truck and that is the metal outdoor chair that my daughter adopted.

You will see in the picture there are two chairs.  The rocking chair is mine and the other one belongs to my daughter.  Mine was purchased at a yard sale and the other one came from my sister.  Both were recently sand-blasted.  Each has been primed and is now waiting for a coat of paint.  I’ve been pondering what color to paint mine.  I think I’m leaning towards pink with white polka dots.  The chair that is going to Colorado will be painted in Colorado.  I will have to show you pictures when they are finished.

Now, back to this trip to Colorado.  The trip was registered in our calendars early in 2012.  We try visiting our Colorado daughter at least once a year.  Our mode of transportation is not always the same.  Sometimes it’s by vehicle and other times it’s by air.  The journey takes about sixteen hours, give or take a few.  There are so many factors influencing that total.  It all hinges on the number of potty breaks, stops to eat, stops for fueling and stops just to get out and stretch our legs.  Of course if my husband had it his way he would greatly limit the number of times we took a break.  Fewer stops means we get to our destination sooner and he has fewer occasions to lose his place on the highway.  Ladies you know what I mean, if you stop you have to pass all of those cars all over again.  He thinks it’s wonderful when I fall asleep because nobody’s keeping track of the mileage and the timing of the next pit stop.  If I’m sleeping he can put the petal-to-the-metal and rack up as many miles as possible.  Whether we drive straight through or divide the trip in half, with an overnight stay, is yet to be determined.  If we do chose to stop we will have to find a place that will allow Sadie to stay as well.

As with anyone else there are suitcases to pack.  Our packing list for the fall 2012 journey to Colorado will include a new set of luggage.  The new set of necessities belong to our Sadie.  On her packing list are the following:

• One Clipper 2 Dog Kennel
• Two super comfy dog beds.  One for the kennel and one for her exercise pen
• Two blankets for snuggling and entertainment
• One exercise pen
• Two collapsible pink and white food and water bowls
• Loads of treats to fill her treat pouch
• One retractable leash
• One pink and white sun visor
• As many toys as possible
• Poo bags
• One pair of nail clippers in case she needs a manicure
• One small tote bag
• One large tote bag

I know that is quite the list of items to pack for such a little dog but a gals got to be prepared you know.

Leading up to our Colorado trip we have been taking Sadie along on short excursions.  We thought that perhaps the exposure to traveling would help get her use to riding.  So far she has been a wonderful traveler.  We have an extended cab pickup truck so when she travels in the truck her Clipper Two gets strapped into the back seat with the doorway facing to the front of the cab.  That way she not only can see both of us but she can also see out the front window.  Most of the time she is sleeping.  Seldom, if ever do we hear a peep from her.

While vacationing in Colorado here is a sampling of the items on our agenda:

• Sewing
• A trip to Littleton for antiques shopping and a special breakfast
• Perhaps Boulder
• ???

Who knows how many of those items we will do or how many will be added?  All I know is that the vacation will go way too fast.