dreaming@echonyc.com

my suitcase has arrived. my pictures are uploaded. i'm ready to begin the travelogue.

after spending saturday night in a denver airport hotel, betty and i met mom sunday morning at the rental car pickup. our trusty white suv was ready to go; it barely held our three suitcases and bean bags, but through heroic efforts we managed to wrestle the liftgate closed and embark on the northward trail to cheyenne.

en route, we stopped at a waffle house to rustle us up some grub. (i'm pretty sure there's a federal law requiring the use of cowboy lingo when referring to wyoming, so buck up, pardner.) betty reported that her grits was good* — surprising when you consider our distance from the hominy homeland. after a quick visit to the dansk outlet and harry & david, we eased on up the road once again.

we hit cheyenne and tried to check in to last year's hotel, but it was full so we settled for the days inn. after half an hour of our favorite ritual (lying on the bed), we struck out to explore town. our first priority is traditionally a stop at a kmart/wal-mart/target to acquire supplies for the trip — a styrofoam ice chest, soft drinks, paper towels, and community toiletries. chores done, we returned to the hotel for dinner and some more bed-lyin'.

i should point out that cheyenne's not exactly a gourmet town. though we drove around town in a valiant quest, we had great difficulty finding any restaurant that was not:

• fast food;
  
• closed and boarded up; and/or
  
• professing to be a "kountry kitchen"

the next day we woke early. (well, mom woke early. betty and i were awakened early. see the difference?) we arrived in estes park before check-in time at our cabin, so we took the first of many drives up the mountain at rocky mountain national park, just a quick visit to say hello. we were back down at the cabin promptly at check-in time.

a few words about that. it's a two-bedroom cabin at idlewilde by the river, comfortable, well furnished, and immaculate. its screened front porch is about three feet from the bank of the big thompson river. it has a tiny but useful kitchen, two bedrooms, and cable tv. the friendly managers, lloyd and donna, keep the entire property in excellent repair. i doubt there's a better place to stay in estes park.

mom in the river directly in front of the cabin

hey, look! mom's in the river! (this will become important later.)

if you sit on the porch swing, you'll see hundreds of steller's jays, big blue birds with an absurdly pointed crest. there were also a mother bear and her cub on the property several times during our stay, though we never saw them.

steller's jay

so we settled into our home for the next few days, unpacking our suitcases and lining up our three different morning beverages. maybe it was the constant rushing of the river, or maybe it was the cool darkness, or maybe it was even the tylenol pm — but i slept like a baby the whole time we were at the cabin.