A Father's Day To Remember!

This past weekend was the best weekend ever! Briony arrived in Denver at 6:30pm on Saturday night, and we drove down to Colorado Springs, Colorado and checked into our hotel. We went to bed pretty early, because we had to get up a dawn on Sunday. Now, on most Sundays I wouldn't want to be up at 5am, but on this particular Sunday, we were both excited to do so.

First thing when I got up, I was presented with my very first Father's Day card.

We spent Father's Day with wolves at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colorado.

They had a special Father's Day program, but we also experienced the Ultimate Alpha Experience, which involved interacting with two different sets of wolves, and a pair of foxes. This was the most amazing experience ever.

The first wolves we went in with were Keyni, Kekoa and Sakara. We did not interact with Sakara, she was the alpha, and very shy, but Keyni and Kekoa were wonderful. Keyni was my favourite of the day, mostly because he hung around us the most. He loved having his belly/side scratched, and it made him kick up his back leg in reflex. Kekoa took a little break from us and started howling, and every wolf there started as well. It was a pretty phenomenal thing to see.

After spending time with these two, we went and met Tala and Navi. Navi is the alpha of these two, and he LOVED Briony. As soon as we went in and knelt down he started licking her face and scent marking her, by rubbing his head and neck all over her upper body.

At the end of each set of wolves, we got to feed them a snack for an even more cool photo op. With Tala and Navi we got to do it at the same time, which was fun.

 After we finished with Tala and Navi we went to meet the foxes, Lika and Nevada. They don't like petting as much, but they love their treats. 

It was so great to spend this once in a lifetime day with my beautiful daughter.

The only thing that would have made it better was if Cale could have joined us.



In the afternoon we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and learned about the Anasazi Indians.

Later, we went to the Garden of the Gods, but it was so hot (100degrees) that we did not do any hiking, but watching a video on the area and the rock formations.

We did see this cute little deer having a snack as we were driving around.

Marking Geocaches Off My List.

Now that the weather has started to stay warmer a little more reliably, I decided to get back to work on two of my current Geocaching challenges. I am doing a DeLorme challenge which involves finding at least one Geocache on every page of the Wyoming DeLorme map book, and also in every county in Wyoming. I started these challenges after I'd already cached in various parts of the state, so some of my trips have been to places I've been before. Like yesterday.

I started by driving straight up to Buffalo, Wyoming, to find a cache from page 16. The cache I chose involved a lovely walk along the Bozeman Trail, and I learned a little about the Fetterman Massacre that occurred on 21 December 1866. Georgia was not as impressed with the view as I was, and due to my having to drag her along the trail to get the cache, we did not finish the mile long route.

After I marked page 16 off my to do list, I headed to Tensleep to find a cache in Washakie County. I had just gotten to GZ (Ground Zero) and started reading the informational sign about the name Tensleep outside of a small bar, and a truck pulls up. I pretend to stretch my legs and read the sign, and she comes up to me and asks if I'm looking for something. I smiled, and she told me that the hiding place had been taken down for repair, and she'd take me to it. It was in the back room of the bar. She took me through the side door and I got quite a few strange looks as she takes me to the back room and lets me take the cache out of the hiding place and sign the log. I put it back and thanked her, and she said she'd keep an eye out for anyone else looking and help them out until it got put back where it belongs. As I left the bar there were quite a few people discussing "that geo-thing." If I hadn't been on a time crunch, I'd have sat down and tried to convert them.


I decided at the last minute, to come home a different route than I went up, so I headed over to Thermopolis, where I saw an entirely different view of the hot springs that I visited last year.
 

I wish I'd brought my swimsuit, so I could have gotten my free 15 minute soak in the State Bath House in Hot Springs State Park (copper roofed building). This link will tell you all about the area, but here are a few tidbits from their website and what I learned while visiting there last year.

The mineral hot springs are believed to have healing powers, and are maintained at 104 degrees in the State Bath House. When the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes gave the land the government in 1896, they put in the treaty that it would remain open to the general public and be free of charge. Anyone can go in and soak for up 15 minutes per day.

Right next to the State Bath House is the State Bison Herd. Last year I didn't see any, due to a visitor right before apparently having let his off leash dog run them into a canyon out of view (so said the nice lady at the Bath House). It is a beautiful area, the Hot Spring State Park.

The Spirit Hole is an extinct hot spring, and shows what the currently active hot springs look like under the water's surface.

This was a cool little walk to where the settlers got their first glimpse at the hot springs.

Here are the few bison I saw today. I had forgotten to take my camera with me, so I only had my cruddy cell phone to document them. I imagine the big one in the front is daddy, and the ladies up the hill with the babies are his harem.

I was going to go down this set up steps to see a spring entering into the river, but it was overgrown, and there was a snake, and some freaky looking spiders, so I settled for this view instead.

Upon leaving Thermopolis, I traveled through the Wind River Indian Reservation, and was reminded once again how beautiful it is here. I don't know why, but I absolutely love these tunnels, and this section of river.

And that was my day. I left home after work, about 9:30am, and returned home at 11:30pm. I only got the two caches, but they were what I needed.

I got the two circled ones, and in two more trips can get the rest. I'm headed to Yellowstone in a few weeks, so I'll be able to get 10, 11, 20, & 21. I should be able to get bottom corner over a three day weekend. It will take a while, because there isn't much of anything in most of those boxes, so the caches are few and far between.

The Pass Is Open.

Since I have been living in Laramie, I have driven the pass over the Snowys each Memorial Day Weekend. This year I was a bit disappointed in the trip. The snow was not nearly as deep as it has been in the past few years, and very dirty, so there were less photo opportunities.

I did stop at this pull over to admire the dedication some folks have to skiing.

This hillside was covered in ski tracks, from the top down. The photo does not do justice to how tall this is. I wouldn't want to climb it, that's for sure.

I also stopped at a couple of my favourite spots along the way. These are some of my favourite mountains, towering over Mirror Lake.

I have a particular fondness for the overlook at Libby Flats.

It provides these views:

It is always very windy here, and Georgia was not loving it today, as this was the path from the car:

She hates walking on snow, but loves eating it. It's a short walk, but I got hot so I took off my sweater and just had a tank top underneath for the walk back. My shoes and socks were soaked, so I took them off as soon as I got back to pavement. There was a family getting back in their car that stood and gawked at me. I overheard them saying that maybe they would come back on a day that was warmer. I did my best not to laugh at them. It was 44 degrees and sunny. Yes, the wind does make it chillier, but it's nothing like 44 degrees in Virginia. I think I have adapted very well to the weather here in Wyoming.

Appledore.

Appledore is my family home in Virginia. It was built by my great great grandfather, Dr Massie Lobban McCue, and completed in 1896. I have lived there off and on through the years, and it has always been home to me, no matter where I lived. So many celebrations have been had in this home, Christmases with our cousins my whole childhood, birthdays, I was even married here. 

Appledore was left to Heather and myself, but many years ago we came to terms with the fact that even if we both lived there together, for the rest of our lives, we still would struggle our entire lives to keep it up and take care of it. Our beautiful home has suffered greatly by sitting empty these last three years.

Appledore is finally on the market. Selling what is HOME to me is makes me sad, but I will have so many more freedoms with my life once it is sold.

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I'm Dreaming... Of a New Vehicle...

I have owned a number of vehicles in my life:1975 Ford Thunderbird.1989 Cutlas Sierra. Ford something sedan. 1994 RAV4. 2013 Nissan Rogue.

Each time I got a new vehicle it was because something happened to my previous one, whether an accident (never my fault) or major problem that would cost more than the car to repair.

I thought that I loved my Rogue, and c'mon, it's a ROGUE, I love Scotsmen, it was PERFECT for me! But it turns out that although I can sleep in the back, which was one of my requirements, it's not the right vehicle for me at this time in my life. So I am looking for a new vehicle, not out of necessity, but out of want, for the first time in my life.

I thought that Honda Element would be great for me, because they were designed to be camped in. Honda stopped making them in 2011, and there is a high demand for them still, keeping their sale price higher than it should be for a vehicle their age, and with the miles on them that I've seen while shopping.

I have narrowed down my ideal list to the following vehicles:

Nissan Xterra (which they stopped making in 2015)

Toyota FJ Cruiser (stopped making in 2014) – to be replaced by 4Runner Trail Edition

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Apparently I have an affinity for vehicles that are no longer being made.

I talked with a client the other day that has an FJ Cruiser, and he loves it. He is 5'10" and uses his to go hunting and camping, and he sleeps comfortably in the back. It was wonderful news to talk at such length with someone who owns one, as opposed to just someone who is selling one.

After all my research, I can't wait to start taking some of these out on test drives to see which one will be the perfect match for me.

House Hunting. Mother's Day. Wedding Planning.

I need a house! My Realtor and I went and looked at two houses yesterday. One is more than I need, but the price is right. The other is more than I want to spend, but nearly the perfect little house for me. I know that the right one is here somewhere, I just need to find it.

Not only would a fenced yard be nice when the weather is crappy, but Georgia also would not get attacked in my own fenced yard. The weather was great today, so we headed out for a nice walk to Washington Park. Three houses into our walk, I hear a panicked voice. The tone made me turn around, just as a big black hairy dog with a foaming snarl came around a bush. We were in the street, not even on the sidewalk, and this dog was so big that I froze. The guy thankfully was able to catch up to his dog before it's teeth made contact with Georgia. We finished our walk to and around the park, and it's amazing that in leggings and a sweatshirt I was sweating when we got home. In March. In Wyoming.

It frustrates me so much that people let their dogs be off leash at their homes, at the park, everywhere in this town. And why they all want to attack my baby, I just do not know. Georgia was so good, though, she didn't even react to this mean dog.

Despite this incident, it's been a great and relaxing weekend. I woke up this morning to a wonderful Mother's Day message from Briony. I then spent a good portion of the day looking at wedding bouquets and picking a florist in Boise for Jenny's ceremony next weekend.

First Geocaching Road Trip of the Year. Leap Year.

Georgia and I went on a road trip today to add a couple of map pages to my DeLorme Challenge.

It was a glorious day, with temperatures hitting 62 degrees.

We saw some cool sites on our travels.

 

 

 

 

On my travels I saw a beautiful bald eagle, but was unable to get a photograph of it. It's the second ever that I have seen in the wild, and it was beautiful. These buffalo and elk weren't in the wild, but it's still majestic to see them.

By the end of the day I had traveled about 360 miles. I only got five geocaches, but I got two more pages completed on my challenge.

I also got my Leap Day Weekend Geocaching Badge.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day. It is a day that I could let get me down, but I refuse.

I got married on this day in 2009. I did not do it because it was romantic or cute. I did it because this is the day that made the most sense. We had a one week window when he would be in the US, so it was either this day or the next weekend. Though I resisted choosing this day, due to it being Valentine's, it made more sense to get married at the beginning of the trip instead of at the end.

When we got divorced, I thought that this day would live in infamy as a sad, lonely day, a reminder of all the things I had lost, and that I would never be able to get over it. I thought that any future relationship would have a cloud over it on this day, due to the fact that it would have been my wedding anniversary.

This has not happened, however. I love this day. On this day in 2009 I became a mom. It is a day to celebrate that moment, and not to mourn over things that were not meant to be.

On this day in 2009, I pictured a completely different future for myself than where I am now.

On this day in 2009, I never imagined that I would call my daughter my best friend. I could not have imagined (nor wished for) a sweeter Valentine's message in my inbox when I woke up this morning, or that she would make me cry like a little baby with her loving words.

Today is Valentine's Day. It is a day that I will always celebrate as being one of the best days of my life.

I love you, Briony and Cale. Always and Forever. xx

It's Called Being A Grown Up.

The other week a friend of mine shared a video on Facebook. The video chronicles a couple that got divorced, and then both parents remarried. This couple put their child first, and the video is celebrating the new step parents.

I cried like a little baby during pretty much the entire six minute video.

I haven't talked much about what happened here in Laramie after I moved here. Briony moved in with me pretty much right after I got here. She was not in a good place when I got here, and though I made things better for her, she still was not happy living here. Just over a year after I moved here, she moved to Wales to live with her birth mum's parents. She has struggled there as well, but our relationship is better than it ever has been. We are planning vacations together and she's going to be coming to visit this summer. I can honestly say she's one of my two best friends. We share everything, and that's not something every mother can say about their relationship with their daughter. I miss her like crazy, but we are in communication a couple of times a week, and that makes it manageable, at least.

That first year Cale came over for dinner once a week. He and Briony continued to have a close relationship, and it made my heart happy to come home from work and find them hanging out together, in an unplanned visit. I think they probably got along better than they would have if they lived together, because they weren't constantly getting on each others nerves.

The week after Briony moved to Wales, Nid cut me off from Cale. I had made him mad by speaking my mind, not rudely, I was just honest for the first time since he'd moved. People asked my why I was so supportive of Nid after he left, and this is why. I knew that if I upset him he'd cut me off. And he did. It was his choice to let me continue to have a relationship with the children when he moved. Legally, I had no rights. But he wanted me to continue to be their mom, and assisted me by taking them to and from the airport so that I could have them for school breaks in Virginia before I moved here. Then I said one honest thing, and that was the straw that broke my relationship with my son.

Aside from occasionally passing Cale at the park with his friends, and the soccer games I was able to make it to, I have not seen Cale in nearly two years. And my heart breaks every day with the loss. Briony has been gone the same time, but at least I can have a relationship with her. All because Nid and his wife are too insecure to share our son with me.

Am I a perfect parent? Certainly not! I'm hurt by what they have done to me. But the person that is hurt the most is Cale. He is given whatever he wants, and left to come and go. That sounds like a great childhood, but what he's missing out on is real love. He is missing out on having a parent that cares enough to make him to his schoolwork so that he can get scholarships to college, instead of getting Ds and Fs. I have continued to buy him presents and cards, I regularly write him notes, and I put money in a savings account for him. I hope to one day give these to him, so that he knows that regardless of what he has been told about me, if anything, that he is never far from my thoughts.

I haven't wanted to air my "dirty laundry" in public before, but I didn't do anything wrong. Do I want to hang out with and socialize with Nid and Carissa? No. But I am a grown up and I could do it. For the sake of the children. It wouldn't even be that hard, since I have learned over the years, that we are all better off for the way things happened.