Not so Bland… Part I

We are on VACATION! We left Katy on Saturday, the 18th, and we got to Broomfield, CO (near Denver) yesterday, the 20th. If someone would have asked me a year ago how Samuel would do on an 18 hour road trip, I would have cried at the thought of it. Talk about the 10th circle of hell! Even a week ago, Scott, Maggie, and I were still terified of this trip, although we all desperately needed time away together. But, as he usually does, Samuel surprised us! He was extremely content and pleasant. There was little head banging, and his stimming was bearable. We stopped 2 nights on the road, and we took 3 driving days to get here, but we made it with minimal insanity and a ton of thankfulness.
We stopped in Decatur our first night, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth. And, we stopped in Dalhart in the Texas Panhandle the second night. There was a great old antique store on the way, and we went to Cadillac Ranch, too. Maggie had such a good time spray painting the cars, and Sam was content to playing with empty cans and lids.

We have been playing the license plate game along the way, and Maggie has been keeping tabs.

We stopped in New Mexico, about 1.5 hours from our destination, at the Capulin Volcano National Monument. It was amazing! It erupted 60,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, and the solidified lava is still covering the land surrounding it. We drove to the top, at 8000 ft., then took a path to the center. The weather was cool, the humidity low, and the view was spectacular. Maggie came away with 2 lava rocks for her garden rock collection. She started her collection at just 3 years old, and every new place we visit, she finds just the right one. She even used to water them every day. Ha! Samuel decided he could climb stairs while we hiked the paths. We were stunned and oh so proud! PROGRESS is PROMISING!

    Maggie and Scott inside the volcano.

We are staying at an apartment for the week, near Scott’s work job site. He is working some and playing a little, too. Today, the kids and I went swimming. The air was just warm enough, but not for long. We have an awesome view of the Rockies, and we are going to Estes Park, Pikes Peak, and St. Mary’s Glacier while we are here.