Loooong trip

I don't know if Denver is slowly moving farther and farther from the area of western Michigan where we vacation, but it sure seems like it.

Then, again, it could be that we have various pieces parts which are wearing down a bit, making them work less well on a trip of this length. Example: after two or three hours of driving, when we stopped, I had to be very careful getting out of the car because my legs were not exactly willing to carry me around at first.

Still, we made the trip intact and arrived well after dark Wednesday night. Yesterday was a lot about recuperating, and I do feel better this morning than I did yesterday!

There is strong consideration underway now to move this from a two-day trip to a three-day trip. We'll see...my only concern is losing two days at the lake if we spend an extra day getting here and an extra day getting home. Even a day like yesterday when I felt like dog doo which had been run over by several large semis and then dropped off a 30-story building is not a bad day when we are here!

Julia's father, Bob, is flying home today to North Carolina. We had a good day of visiting yesterday, as I learned several new stories of his adventures at Epworth as a young man (he is now in his mid-80's) and the various people he came to know very well as he began spending as much as five months a year in his cottage once he retired. This summer was less satisfactory for him as he suffered a fall on the trip here. He spent more than half the summer rehabbing from the injury which resulted. Several times yesterday, he commented that he felt robbed this year.

I figure it will only make next summer that much more precious for him.

To his great credit, brother-in-law Steve (husband of Julia's sister, Ann) is accompanying Bob on the flight back to North Carolina. All of the family has contributed to Bob's recovery, and Linda (her other sister) was the hero as the first responder. She was by Bob's side in the hospital in Grand Rapids and as he moved to a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids. Ann quickly made the trip from North Carolina to Michigan and pitched in as soon as she could.

Once Bob graduated to a rehab center here only a few miles from the cottage, he began lobbying for his release. Steve was instrumental in making that possible by spending two weeks or more here in Bob's cottage to help Bob gradually reach a more self-sufficient level of recovery.

I'm sure Julia would join me in honoring her sisters and their husbands for all they have done. Our contributions were more of the long-distance variety, and yet Julia was always staying in touch and keeping up with the news so her energies could be counted toward Bob's growing level of health.

While he may see it as a wasted summer, I see it as a chance for an entire family to pull in one direction and reach a goal together.

No photos yet, but I will be posting some in the days ahead. This morning looks like one of those gray, socked-in days when everybody hunkers down with a comforter and a mug or three of hot tea, along with plenty of good reading material.

No, Ann and Steve, I will not be posting the results of last night's card games...