My recent trip.........

[Bonnie M.]

I'll give as brief a report as possible about the chartered bus trip I returned from last week.  The weather was perfect for the nine days we were traveling.  We enjoyed the "Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad trip", leaving from Pagosa Springs, CO and ending up at Alamosa, CO.  The scenery was beautiful through the mountains, the Aspen were in full bright yellow colors, and the other trees were beautiful, also.  That was a pretty full day.  Lunch was at "Chama, CO.," the only building at that location is the large restaurant where they served a "Thanksgiving Style" meal to the 500 or so of us who were there at noon.  What a deal!  We toured on and spend quite some time at the Royal Gorge, then on to Colorago Springs where we spent a couple of nights.  We toured the Air Force Adademy, I'd been there before, it is beautiful.  My daughter, Cathy, went with me on the trip, as Bob has problems with his breathing, and the altitude wasn't going to agree with his situation.  We had a really great tour of Dr. Dodson's "Focus on the Family" facility, and the day was so clear at Pike's Peak that Kansas could be seen!  I didn't take the train trip to Pike's Peak, as I was already having problems "breathing," so I got the report about seeing Kansas from all of those who did go.  We enjoyed a guided tour of Santa Fe, NM, and had a nice lunch there.  We spent a couple of nights in Albuquerque.  The 50 of us on the Chartered Bus were on the bus at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, where we were driven to the area where the Balloon Fiesta was held, and we were there before daylight.  We were "in awe" of the 700 or so hot air balloons, many went up before daylight, with the balloons "glowing."  What a sight.  If only I knew how to post pictures to this, I would show you a couple of pictures.  We stayed there for several hours, then went back in to Albuquerque where we had a tour of the Museum of Biblical History & Archeology, which was very good.   We did go back to the Balloon Fiesta on Saturday night, and watched the "glow," wherecthe balloons are inflated and anchored, and the blasts of flames are coordinated to go off at the same time, an "awesome sight to behold."  Following the "Glow" event, there was a fireworks extravaganza, the likes of which we had never seen!  We had all taken folding chairs with us on the bus, so got to sit during the Saturday night events.  A few mishaps were happening along the way, and the "major" event was when one of our ladies got sick at her stomach on the bus, on Friday afternoon, setting off an episode ending up with 15 or more of "us" getting sick.  My daughter is a Nurse Practitioner, and she certainly was using her skills all along the way, she was definitely the "nurse on duty!" We were all thankful that the sickness happened at the end of the trip, as we all got to see and do everything we had set out to see and do.  Cathy certainly was greatly appreciated, and this morning at Church, she was given a number of "thank you" notes, gift certificates to nice restaurants, etc.  So, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play!"  Actually, it was a great trip!

[Diane Amberg]

Oh, Bonnie what a wonderful trip! I saw most of what you saw.  You brought back wonderful memories!  We loved our balloon trip at dawn at Albuquerque, and the Cumbres and Toltec trip too. We ate Frito Pie and bought jewelry at  the Governors Palace in Santa Fe. How nice (and necessary!) that Cathy went with you.