The start of a vacation

6:50 am July 2, 2010

We boarded the plane this morning at promptly 5:50 and by 6 am we were comfortably seated and prepared to take off. The gracious flight attendants demonstrated the exits and emergency procedures, though it was most likely unnecessary. The captain, a man with a pleasant voice, the kind that you could listen to for some time without getting annoyed, informed us of where we were headed, like we didn’t all ready know, and gave us the weather report. Mother was fretting, of course, about the inevitable take off and clung to fathers arm like a vice. She repeatedly inquired upon my sister as to her comfort status, and she replied in curt remarks, becoming annoyed. My older sister and younger brother attempted to share the view out of the diminutive window, watching the ground fly by as we rambled down the runway. Increasingly gaining speed we all looked at each other and grinned in enjoyment as we prepared for our favorite part of the trip.

I fell in love with the mountains that day. I was once proud of the small hill I have lived on my whole life but it is nothing to the foothills of the Rockies. Driving into them is like entering a wonderland of flowing cleffts. One easing into the next as easily as one ocean wave into another. I vowed that day that I would return, someday, and hopefully, live here. I have a new goal!