Prodigal Daughter & Some Biking

A quick plane ride, a drive, and a little sleep deprivation, and I found myself in Colorado Springs, CO -- where most of my family lives. No one killed the fatted calf.

I spent about 4 days, largely driven by an agenda written by a six-year-old. My niece decided that I was coming to visit her, and proceeded to make plans. No sooner did I arrive at my mom's house was I off to the swimming pool for a "swimming lesson." I told my niece that I hadn't been swimming in a very long time, and she thought maybe she could teach me in the same way she'd been taught. She was impressed with the results, I daresay.

Here we all are for a group photo. Left to right: Dylan (screaming "CHEESE!"), his mom, my sister, Kristin, Niece Devyn on my back, me, Niece Kassidy in front, her mom, my sister, Karen in back, and my brother Jeremy. I think we got some more photos like this, but I didn't end up with any of them.

After the swimming, we all went out to dinner. It was a long wait, but luckily, I had a purse that Devyn could completely empty and ask about each item (note to self: clean out purse before visiting 6-year-olds).
More waiting around. Jeremy, Kristin, her guy Kevin, and my mom (seated). Jeremy recently hired a trainer and a wardrobe consultant/personal shopper. That's why he looks so nifty, in case you were wondering.
Here's Dylan and John (my mom's husband). This is about as close as Dylan was willing to get for a long long time.
I coaxed him over by showing him how to take pictures, and then looking at them. Thank goodness for digital.
The following night, we had a BBQ dinner (it poured and poured, so we ate inside), and 30th birthday celebration for my "little" brother. Here he is making sure there are 30 candles. There were. My mom is very thorough.
Blowing them all out. He did. He gets a wish. I'm guessing it had something to do with either not being 30 or the lottery.
I borrowed a bike while I was in town. I've never really ridden in Colorado and I was a little nervous to try. There are hills EVERYwhere. It's just a series of hills with some paving over it. Both Karen and Jeremy said they'd ride with me, so we went out to the Garden of the Gods and hit the road -- joined by all the Texan tourists and boy scouts.

Here's a photo of clouds, rock formations, and a gigantic bike lane. What do tourists do with bike lanes? They use them to pull over suddenly when they spot deer or bird or bunny or whatever. Then they park in the bike lane, open their doors, and take pictures. Dangerous, stupid, and rude.

Karen and Jeremy.
Karen riding by a unicycle (who told me he can't imagine riding his unicycle around Lake Tahoe -- after I told him about the guy in Tahoe who did it).
Pikes Peak as seen while riding by.
Triumphant end of ride self-portrait. Colorado Springs is just over 6,000 feet above sea level. Not a lot of oxygen up there. So when I kicked both siblings' butts on this ride, I was feeling pretty dang good about myself. On a car parked in the bike shop parking lot. I made my brother go there to buy a helmet. He would not. But he did get a pump.
More swimming. I tried to load this video of Devyn swimming ALL the way across the pool, but it won't load. Maybe this will work: ** I think I fixed it**

Devma swimming across pool from Heather Rowan on Vimeo.

A run -- only 2.3 miles, but really hard up and down and this way and that. See note above about altitude. Then running behind Devma while she tries to ride her bike sans training wheels. I think my mom got some photos of that. She's sort of kind of getting it. Then some more hot tubbing.

Then another ride. Solo. Rode back to the Garden of the Gods on Monday morning and met the welcoming committee:
Here's the road in. Gorgeous, no?

My borrowed ride. We took a minute to enjoy the view. I'm rather used to going here and hiking around, but I was limited by my biking shoes. So I just soaked it in a little.

Monday night: up to Boulder for the Indigo Girls! (With Julie Wolf on the accordian back there.)
All four of us -- me, two sisters, and a brother -- went up to the concert. It was a great night. I wish we'd gotten some photos. Oh wait -- they took a photo of me talking to Julie Wolf. It's good that she was standing there and not Amy Ray, as I would have fallen into a puddle on the floor and probably would have missed my flight. As it was, I was only slightly shaky.

I think there are a few more photos, but again, I don't have them.

It was sad to leave. Hard to been in the midst of all these loving people, kids who are growing up too fast, and familiarity and come home to my life far away from all that. But I had a fantastic trip, and had so much fun.