If we were having coffee, I would tell you about our recent whirlwind trip to Colorado to visit our grandson (and our son and daughter-in-law too, of course). I mentioned last month that my hubby is retiring at the end of the year. When he calculated his remaining vacation days, he determined that he had two days that were unspoken for. I immediately began researching flights to Denver.

To get to Steamboat Springs from our house requires a four-hour flight and a four-hour drive after the flight. We left on Wednesday after work, stayed in Denver for the night, then got up early on Thursday and drove to Steamboat Springs to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday with this guy before flying home late Sunday night.
Friday was a vacation day at his pre-school, so we visited the candy store,
went to the local airport to watch airplanes land,
played at the park,
and (his favorite) watched videos on Mimi’s phone of Atti and his two cousins Brycen and Henry.
After I got my “grandma bragging” out of the way, I would tell you that I am surprisingly un-nervous (is that a word?) about my upcoming marathon on Sunday. Usually, I am fretting about my time, thinking about nutrition, worrying about whether I have properly trained.
I know that this marathon will be my slowest to date. There will be a lot of walking going on. The only time I have to worry about is the cutoff time of 6 hours 55 minutes. I think I can complete the marathon in under that amount of time, but we will have to see.
It’s actually freeing to run a marathon under these conditions. If I could keep this attitude, but lose the injury that engendered it, that would be the perfect combination.
I would tell you that our visit to Colorado coincided with the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. On Saturday night, before bed, we all trooped out to the deck to try to see some shooting stars.
The Orionid meteor shower is caused by the earth passing through the tail of Halley’s Comet. Debris from the tail falling to earth is the shooting stars we see. They are called the Orionids because the meteors originate close to the constellation Orion.
We couldn’t even find Orion, much less a shooting star, so we trooped back in, disappointed. Because this trip was so short, I was still on East Coast time, which meant I got up early every morning. At 5:00 Sunday morning, I got up, quietly let myself outside, and found Orion easily. I watched for about five minutes, saw one shooting star, waited for 10 minutes longer to see another one, and decided that this show was just one per customer. The one meteor I saw was well worth shivering in the pre-dawn cold of the high altitude autumn morning.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?– Psalm 8:3-4
The last thing I would tell you about over coffee is my newfound love for taking nature pictures in my own backyard. I was inspired by this fabulous blogger (if you are not reading the blog Quaint Revival, you should).
I am not nearly as talented in any facet of photography as Shelley, but I am learning. I captured this Common Buckeye butterfly flitting among my late-October marigolds and snapped a quick picture with my phone.
Butterflies, flowers, and spiders have been my favorite subjects so far, which makes me wonder what I will take pictures of when they are gone for the winter. I guess I will just have to wait to see what turns up. Who knows what pennies heaven will throw my way? I may just have to slow down, pay attention, and look more closely to find the beauty in the austere browns and grays of November. I will keep you posted!
I am linking up with Coco from Running With Perseverance and Deborah from Confessions of a Mother Runner for their Ultimate Coffee Date, Jessica and Amy at Live Life Well, Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5, My Little Tablespoon and Laughing My Abs Off for their Fab Finds Friday, Susan B Mead for Dancing With Jesus, Spiritual Sundays for Welcome, Embracing the Unexpected for Grace and Truth, The Blended Blog for Friday Loves, and Counting My Blessings for Faith ān Friends.
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Looks like a wonderful whirlwind trip! How cool that you got to see that shooting star!
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Whirlwind is exactly right! I will take any time with Atti I can get! š
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I have never seen a shooting star. Probably because I’m in bed at that time of night!
Quickie trips can be a ton of fun.
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I think there is one more meteor shower this year. I was only awake because I hadn’t adjusted to the time change! š
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What an awesome trip and so glad that you were able to spend some time with your grandson!
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Thank you! The flight and drive were totally worth it! š
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Looks like a great trip!
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It was! š
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You caught some incredible pictures for this post, but as a fellow grandmother, I must say the pictures of your grandbabies exceed them all!
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Haha! I have to agree with you, of course, Michele! š
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How fun! What a busy time!
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A quick trip that produced a wonderful view of a shooting star! Stunning!
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Yep. And the best part was seeing my own little shooting star! š
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Aw, Laurie, I’m so touched by your kind words of encouragement and the call-out to my blog. I’m always inspired by your blog posts and the photos you use to reach us your readers on a deeper level. Your grandson is ADORABLE – you should use all the bragging rights possible š Good luck on the marathon – your outlook on it is so motivating, I’m sure you’ll complete it on time, and you’ll have enjoyed the run in a new and different way from the past races!
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Thank you, Shelley. Your photography is what really motivated me to put more effort into finding good pictures. It helps me to see the beauty in my own backyard! š
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Awww how fun to spend time with Atti! That’s quite a trek to get there. I saw a shooting star the other day but had no idea as to why. So fascinating.
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Yes, Steamboat Springs is beautiful but so remote! The trek is worth it, though, if I get to see Atti! š
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Sounds like you had an awesome time with him. A is lucky to have you!!
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We did have an awesome time. We are lucky to have him! š
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I love clear country skies. So amazing.
Glad you had a good whirlwind trip.
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Yes. The lack of light pollution and the dry air makes for great stargazing!
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What a great trip, although I would not like to travel in a car for 4 hours after that long flight but I bet it was totally worth it!
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Yep. We actually broke up the trip out there into 2 days. Totally worth it! š
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Youāre so lucky to witness that shooting star. Cute kid! Shelley is a dear one. I admire her photography skills too.
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Thank you! I think he’s pretty cute, too! I should feel grateful for seeing one shooting star, rather than regretful at not seeing more. Working on it! š
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Youāre welcome! š
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The image of the butterfly on petals is gorgeous, the oranges of autumn / fall distilled.
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Thank you. My favorite colors!
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Aren’t grandchildren fabulous. I too love taking backyard pictures and am blogging friends with Shelley as well. Its so much fun sharing pictures. Check in with Irene of Heavens Sunshine. She has wonderful trail pictures. http://irenetron.net/2018/11/02/through-the-woods/
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Yes – grandchildren are certainly fabulous. this little boy just lights up my life! Oooh! Thank you for the suggestion. I will check in with Irene. I love good photographs.
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Nice job capturing the butterfly. Butterflies make difficult subjects since they donāt seem to cooperate very well at staying in one place for long. I love Steamboat Springs! I am sure spending time with your grandson made it so worth the trip. š
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Thank you! I got a bunch of pictures of part of a butterfly, but one pretty good one! š Yes. The flight and long drive are certainly worth it to spend time with Atti!
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How cool to see a shooting star! I try not to adjust to different time zones if I’m only gone for a few days. Your grandkids are so sweet!
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That was my strategy too. And as a bonus, I got to see the shooting star! Thank you. I think they are sweet, also!
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Sounds like a quick and fun getaway Laurie. The time is going to speed by for retirement for your husband with the holidays on the way. I just followed Quaint Revival; I looked at some of the recent posts and I know I’ll enjoy this blog as well. Thanks for the tip you gave me over our cup of coffee.
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Yes, I think you will like Quaint Revival. shelly is a great photographer, just like you! My hubby just told me this morning he has 30 work days to go! š
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I think I will like her too from what I read Laurie. She did have some nice photos. Thank you for the compliment but I think I am mostly lucky in my photos especially with the squirrels – they pose nicely most of the time. Look at that header picture yesterday – was not that the most content and sweet little squirrel you’ve ever seen? Today I took a ton of photos, more than usual. I was in a big park with all the trees in golden yellow, some red and orange – mostly golden. Such gorgeous. I thought I’d include them in today’s post, but there were too many to sort through and winnow down, so I just did a short post today. I was going through the photos and I nodded off – all that fresh air and about 6 1/4 miles walking around. Finally a sunny day and I was not going to waste it! That’s funny because now it sounds like your hubby is ready to go (he has gotten over the initial shock of deciding to retire … bet it was the getaway to Colorado that made him think how fun it will be all the time).
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I hope he is ready to go. I am ready for him to go. We actually have several trips planned for winter and early spring to help him with the transition. We had a beautiful day here, too. We took our grandsons down to the local park on their scooters and had a wonderful time. Not sure how far we walked, but it wasn’t over 6 miles! š
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He’ll be more receptive to the idea after your vacations I am sure. I am surprised he did not think how nice it will be to have a getaway like you had in Colorado. It will come in time, plus not only the vacation time, but time spent biking and hiking. Today was not nice, and so blustery that I did not end up raking leaves – my neighbor’s tree is more on my property and I get leaves from this maple tree and the wind was blowing in the direction of my house so I figured no use in wasting my time. After our high winds this coming Tuesday, perhaps all the leaves will be down … that would be nice. I just have an ornamental Japanese Maple and it loses no leaves – sheds them in Spring usually. Is this the Park where your grandsons like to feed the ducks Laurie?
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Yes, I am sure his apprehension will fade as he experiences retirement. No. The ducks are at a different park. We must drive to that one – it would be too long a walk for little legs. This one has some musical instruments that the boys like.We got the rain today. What a dreary Monday morning. I think I need to go to the gym to blow off the cobwebs! š
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The park is the best educational experience young kids can have and you’re doing a good job letting them get immersed in nature. That enjoyment will stay with them forever. I know it did for me. We had the rain, then it stopped and it will be a blustery, rainy election day tomorrow – 45 mph winds in the afternoon. I’m hoping I don’t lose power like I did back in mid-June. And … we may get snow showers Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow is a lost cause, so I’ve got two days in shoes and maybe back to the lug-soled boots for traction if its sloppy. I hope they are wrong!
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Rainy day here tomorrow too, but I’m still gonna vote! š
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That’s the spirit Laurie – they are very worried here about voter turnout due to the rain, but more worried because of the high winds. Our energy provider already has a plan in place in case the polls go dark – 90 minutes maximum to restore electricity at each of those polling places that go dark.
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Sounds like a great trip!
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It was! š
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What a fun time visiting the grandson (and his parents LOL). I was (actually, still am) an astronomy gal…I didn’t know about the recent meteor shower (#bummer), but we did travel for several hours last August to witness the total eclipse in all its wonder….does that count? š
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My middle son lives in Oregon. His town was right in the path of total eclipse. Unfortunately, it was cloudy here the night it happened. I guess I forgot to mention my son and daughter-in-law, didn’t I? Shows you where my priorities are! š
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How cool you got to see a shooting star. I have yet to see one.
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The sky was so clear in Steamboat Springs. It was easy to see. Hubby and I used to see them all the time when we would sit out in our hot tub. We don’t have the hot tub anymore!
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I love Colorado! We thought about moving there but would miss our families too much. I am a little confused, I thought the MCM was last weekend?
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Our son and his family asked us to move there to be close, but it’s just too much winter for me. MCM was last weekend. I just wrote the post before I ran the race.
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It sounds like you had a fabulous time visiting your family in Colorado. Just think, once Bill retires you can stay longer when you visit!
We were at the beach house two summers ago during the Perseid Meteor Shower and I counted 61 meteors during the 45 minutes we were outside. It was incredible! I also saw some while on an early morning run many years ago which you can read about here if you so desire. http://debruns.com/watching-meteor-shower-run/
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I am counting the days until Bill retires (30 working days) for just that reason! I think the Perseids are the best meteor shower, but the most I ever saw was about 1 per minute. We used to see them much more when we had a hot tub and sat out there in the evening!
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your trip to Colorado sounds wonderful! I can imagine that the time you get to spend with your grandson is truly treasured! Way to take advantage of those days off!! I’ve never seen a shooting star but I know up in that area the night skies are amazing. My family is in New Mexico and something I love to do when I visit is just sit out back in the evening looking at the sky and the stars. I really miss that! Here in the Netherlands the sky is just too low, we rarely see any stars at all.
I know MCM was last weekend – I hope you got through all right. I just did Amsterdam and my only goal was to finish within the time limit and hopefully under 6 hours. Mission accomplished!
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Yes, you are exactly right. The time I spend with my grandson is treasured. The Netherlands may not have many stars, but it is a beautiful place too! We visited several years ago, and loved it!
Congratulations on completing the Amsterdam marathon! I did complete MCM. My race report will be published tomorrow.
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I would so, so love to go to Colorado someday! That’s awesome that you got there at the peak of the Orionid meteor shower–I’m glad you ended up getting to see a shooting star! I miss being in a place with less light pollution! š
Photography is something I’d like to get better at too! I wish I had a backyard! š
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Yes, we are fortunate to get to visit such a beautiful place regularly. I am not a very good photographer, but I do enjoy “working” at getting better! š
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Nothing better than a trip to visit the grandbabies, huh?
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Oh, so true!
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How awesome! A nice trip to see the grandson! Lovely! Hope all goes well with the race! And keep looking for those pennies! These are the things that give us a joy and a hope!
Thanks for linking up @LiveLifeWell!
Blessings,
Amy
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Any trip to see my grandson is a good one! š The race went great. I loved it! Thank you, Amy.
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