Dam It

First, read this:

http://twebsterarmstrong.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

That was nearly a year ago.

Those guys have been busy as...

Beavers!

My Mom & Dad, inspecting the dam construction...

My Mom & Dad & I embarked on our whirlwind art gallery tour through the Rockies this morning. We left the Flint Hills fairly early, sunrise, got 3 miles from my house before we stopped to check on our neighbors who had just hit a deer. (It's deer season in Kansas.) They were fine, but their car and the deer were not. Poor thing. We then drove another mile, discovered we couldn't find a cell phone, and back-tracked and got it. On to the Rockies!

We drove all day and I had my head in a book very nearly the entire way. We stopped at our first gallery in Evergreen, Co. Mom & Dad got out of the car much quicker than I, because I was taking a moment to drink some water. Well. That's all it takes, apparently, around impatient parents. They locked the van and headed up the steps to the gallery door. I was left behind, knocking on the minivan windows and laughing hysterically. My parents had locked me in the back of the van, and I couldn't get out. The first 10-15 minutes, I waited, looking up eagerly every minute or so like some spaniel who had been left behind in a car. I thought sure they would notice that I wasn't in the gallery. In fact, they HAD noticed it, according to my mother, who later said she remarked to my father, "Well, she certainly must be enjoying her book!" I read some more, played with the new Garmin, checking directions to destinations we weren't even remotely planning to go (Newfoundland? Fresno?) It was about half an hour later that my Dad came out to the car to get some paperwork. "Hi, Dad! You locked me in the car!"

I went back into the gallery with him, had a quick tour, and then we three jumped back into the car and headed for the hills. We took a little shortcut through the Front Range, and I saw a bighorn sheep grazing alongside the road. I saw it all of, say a split second: Dad was barreling through the mountains at 100 mph, so it was a quick sighting of any wildlife. OK. I exaggerate. But we certainly didn't dilly-dally after the Subway sandwich maker took too long with the lunch orders...

Tomorrow: Vail & Aspen...