Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I thought it would be easier to send an email to everyone about holidays instead of calling or texting them.  I sent Karla an email to ask what we were doing for Thanksgiving this year and she sent me an outline of what was going to happen.  We made sure everyone got the information.

This year for Thanksgiving (and fall birthdays) we were going to Kevin and Karla's house again.  Also, this year was the first Thanksgiving (and first family holiday) without Grammie and everyone was going to have a hard time with it.  I was already having a hard time with it.  I really didn't want to go because I wasn't sure how I would handle it.  I went anyway.

Ben went to his aunt's house with his mom and sister.  Erika went with me.  We were the first ones over at their house so we sat in the Escape for a few minutes.  We were hoping other people arrived soon.  Mom and dad picked up grandma, grandpa drove himself, Doug and Jenn came together and Tracy didn't make it because she was sick.

Everyone eventually arrived and we all brought in our stuff...desserts and presents.  Karla had everything ready we just needed to say grace and dish up our food.  When Kevin said grace it had a sadness to it.  I tried really hard not to cry.  I missed her so much and wished she was still here with us.

Dinner was also different. You could see the sadness in everyone's demeanor.  We talked mostly about funny stuff to take our minds off of the void that was missing at the dinner table.  After we were done eating we cleaned up and got ready for our birthday party.

The birthday party wasn't the same either.  I sat there and tried not to cry.  We sang happy birthday to Grandpa, Grammie, Dad, Mom and me...in that order.  We didn't blow out any candles or anything but we did have some pie as a birthday cake.  Presents were passed around to everyone.  Grandpa gave us money inside of a card, I got some Ball glass jars with tops on them from Kevin and Karla and a few things from Grandma.

I usually get a family group photo but this time I really didn't have the desire.  It's terrible and selfish but I just didn't have it in me that day.

We all really didn't have enough energy nor the desire to play any games so we continued to visit for about another hour or so.  We gathered all of the stuff we brought and what we were given and thanked Kevin and Karla for having us over.  We briefly talked about Christmas and that I would have an email for everyone in the next few weeks.  We got outside and discussed if we were going to Walmart or not for some shopping. Doug and Jenn opted to go home and do it tomorrow, Erika decided to go with mom and I to the Tumwater one.

I mainly went to get a carpet cleaner.  I had seen some of the ads earlier today and saw a great deal on one since our house really needed one between the cat, the dog and our shoes.  When we got there of course everyone else in a ten mile radius was there.  We parked pretty far away and had to dash across the parking lot in the rain.

There were tons of people with shopping carts disregarding everyone's personal space to grab stuff they really don't need.  I went in for one thing and ended up with a new pillow, some new Pyrex containers (to replace some of them) and an ottoman.  I had a use for all of them.  We made it pretty short and sweet and were in a line and through in no time.  We went back to our house, I dropped Erika off and took mom home.

I headed back home and we spent the evening watching shows and hanging out.  This Thanksgiving was pretty hard and emotional and I really don't think I will ever be the same.  Grief is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to experience as a human being.  Everything reminds me of Grammie.  She was such a huge part of my life and I will always remember her.  I hope this gets easier but I don't think it will any time soon.

Next Adventure: Gingerbread Houses, Christmas Party and Fa La Llamas

My 35th Birthday: Plane Ride Back to Seattle, Renewing Driver's License and Relaxing

Our alarms went off at around 4:30.  We got our stuff ready and ate bananas while Fitzy got ready for work.  We threw all of our stuff into the truck and headed out around 5:15 towards the Denver International Airport.  It would take about an hour.  Along the way we chatted about various things while Ben fell asleep in the back.

We got to the airport around 6:30, Fitzy dropped us off at the departures, we gave each other hugs, thanked her for having us visit and that we will see her again soon.  She said she would like that.  She told us safe travels and happy birthday since today was my actual birthday.  She headed to work and we went inside to check in, get our boarding passes and our bags checked.

We got through security somewhat quickly.  We did have to take all of our stuff off including our shoes, our food, laptop, belts, keys etc.  Very easy peasy.  We put everything we took off back on and I shoved my laptop back in the pack.  We headed to the train to the C gate.  We walked to gate C49 and hung out for about a half hour.  It gave us some time to use the restroom before boarding.  We were basically last on the plane.  We literally had to find spots in the back.  I was really hoping I didn't have to sit in the middle of two strangers.  Since Ben was behind me I chose to sit in the last row in the aisle seat next to a dad and a 20-something year old son.  They were traveling from the Kentucky t to SeaTac to pick up the moving truck and drive it back to Kentucky and Denver was just a layover.  We chatted about several things including college football because they saw my WSU Cougar sweatshirt I was wearing.  They were LSU fans.  I think Ben just slept the entire time.

 
Little did I know that he got up once when I wasn't paying attention...

I read my book for a while and the flight attendants were giving out drinks, pretzels and plane cookies.  I watched our progress on my phone as we got closer to Seattle.  We got to see Mount Rainier in your face.  That mountain never ceases to amaze me.

We arrived on time to the B gate.  I told the guys good luck on their travels when I heard the pilot get on the intercom to wish a passenger a happy birthday.  I was super embarrassed.  Ben had gotten up and told the flight attendant to tell the pilot that it was my birthday.  I guess you got to do it at least once in your life right?  This was the first time I flew on my birthday.  I did get a flood of birthday text messages, Facebook posts and phone calls throughout the day.

We headed to carousel 11 and grabbed our bags and headed outside to catch the shuttle back to Ajax.  He arrived shortly and we gave him our card to where the Escape was parked while we were gone.  We were in row F.  We gave him a tip, grabbed our bags and piled into the Escape with our stuff.  It was nice to be home.  We paid the booth and got my state employee discount.  We drove to I-5 and I immediately wanted a sandwich from Jersey Mike's.  The closest one was in University Place off of Bridgeport.  Ben took me the longest way possible.  I didn't care because I was starving.

We found the building.  They did some changes to the area.  They moved the UP ducks.  We parked, went inside, ordered food and inhaled our sandwiches.  They truly hit the spot.  We headed home via Mounts Road.  We got home, unpacked the Escape and Ben went to Tenino to get his check.  I went to Centralia to get my license renewed.  Over the years I've driven down there because it's quicker than getting in renewed in Lacey or Olympia.  I am literally there ten minutes or less.  This time I was there for about ten minutes.

When I got my print out copy I noticed that they changed your license number and the amount of years before you have to renew again.  I have to come back in two years instead of the typical five.  I figured they wanted everyone to be on the same renewal cycle?  Oh, by the way, my photo is hideous.  Probably the worse picture I've ever taken on my license.

On the way home I stopped by the cemetery to visit with Grammie.  I wanted her to be there with me on my birthday.  It was the hardest birthday so far.  I missed her birthday phone call, her presence, her voice, her special birthday cards.  It is hard to accept something you deeply care about when you can never have it again.  It is emotionally and physically painful.  I try so hard not to cry when I visit but I just can't help it.  I miss her so much.  We were still waiting for the real headstone but in the meantime we had the small plaque.

I drove across the street and got a few things at the store and then headed home, put the stuff away and started a load of laundry.  We watched some shows, made chicken strips and fries and cleaned the house.  We got our showers, folded clothes and got my lunch ready for work.  I was sad that I had to go back to work after having a mini vacation from it.  I enjoyed my time in Colorado even though it wasn't long enough.  Until next time.

Next Adventure:  Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and Birthday Dinner

I slept in until about 8ish.  Ben stayed asleep for a bit longer.  I got up and decided to put some clothes and boots on and went for a winter walk.  I walked down their road to the main road through the houses and up the hill for about a half mile.  I took several pictures of the snow and scenery as I walked.

From where the road turned to go further up the hill is where I stopped because I could see the city down below plus I was out of breath...the elevation does get to you after a while.  The sun was starting to melt the snow and you could hear piles of it fall off the tree branches onto the ground.

I figured Fitzy might be on her way back from Pueblo now and Ben might be up so I meandered my way back down to the house.  I finished getting myself ready for the day and Ben was up moving around and Fitzy did show up just after I got back down.  I really didn't feel like making a huge breakfast so I settled for cereal.  Fitzy said there was only soy milk so I dumped some of that on a pile of Kix.  I also made some toast, had a banana and washed it down with some orange juice.  Ben had the same thing but he had coffee with his.  Fitzy and Chaise had omelets with a bunch of random stuff from the fridge sprinkled into it.

After breakfast everyone got themselves ready for the day.  I asked Fitzy if we could go to Garden of the Gods and she said sure!  That will be our first stop of the day.  We all piled into the truck and stopped for gas along the way.  We were not that far away from the park.  The last time I was here was back in late winter 2012 when we came to Colorado to help Erika get ready to head into the Army.  We drove down to the Springs and saw some stuff while we were here.  We just drove the loop and saw some of the brief overlooks.  This time we actually parked and walked part of the trail system that snakes its way around the rock formations.  I knew Fitzy and Chaise have done this probably a few times so Chaise stayed in the truck while Fitzy walked around with us.  I wanted to do a few geocaches while we were here.  They were mostly virtuals and earthcaches and the questions were pretty easy.  This place is absolutely stunning.  Even after all the snow we got the day before.

I knew Amber lived nearby in Manitou Springs so we texted her to see if she wanted to come out to dinner with us later that night.  She got back to us and said it would be great to come out and visit.  I would text her later the time and the place.  She wrote back, looking forward to it.

We found the plaque for Beautiful Garden of the Gods (GC7B73Y) and took a group selfie to prove we were here.

We walked around the corner to answer a few questions about three rock formations, Garden of the Gods-Three Graces (GC1GJ7K), Garden of the Gods-Sentinel Rock (GC1GJ7E) and The Love Struck Camels (GC2QQH4).  All three wanted us to learn more about the geology of the area including the composition of rock, what layers and epochs they came from along with the color, texture, the outcroppings etc.  I took pictures of the signs, the rocks in question and most of it I figured I could find online when I got home.

We walked back to where Chaise was in the parking lot.  For the life of me I could not remember where the really cool overlook was from the first time I was here.  We ended up driving past it unfortunately.  We made one last stop at the famous balanced rock.  It was much busier than the last time I came.  We found a place to park and Ben and I got out and looked for a good spot to climb up.  We had to be careful not to slip and fall.  We got up to the top and took some pics.  I checked to see what kind of questions we had to answer for The Amazing Balanced Rock (GC2QQGY) and we found all of them on the informational signs down below.

We got a few more pictures before we moved on to the next thing.  We thanked Fitzy and Chaise for taking us to the park.

Fitzy wanted to take us out to Manitou Springs for some shopping.  We parked in a small community parking area and walked to the shops.  I told Ben about the last time I was here and we went and saw the cave dwellings and the Cave of the Winds...which was just right up the road.  While we walked I checked out my caching app to see if there were any around the area.  I saw an earthcache and a virtual we could do before we leave here.

The first store we went into was the Christmas ornaments store.  There were literally thousands of ornaments.  Anything you could think of was an ornament at this store.  We spent probably a good hour inside here looking at the ornaments.  Every year since Ben and I have been together we try to get a new ornament every Christmas with the year on it.  I guess this is one tradition his family did when he was a little kid.  We narrowed it down to a Seahawks and a holiday penguin one.  We had the penguin one personalized and the year put on it for free.

Fitzy was really excited to take me into the next store.  There was a giant duck out in front.  She called it the duck store.  There were thousands of rubber ducks inside.  She added that for my birthday present I could select one of them to take home.  It was so hard to decide because all of them were pretty cool.  I ended up with the most plain duck on the shelf and he was awesome.

From there, we went into a couple of souvenir shops because I had to find mom a shirt.  I got a few other things while she was deciding which one she wanted while I was on the phone with her.  She figured out which one she wanted and I paid for my stuff and met everyone outside.  Chaise found out his parents were out driving around and that we were going to meet them at The Keg in town.  It turns out they were already at a place and had eaten.  We finished our drinks, paid and headed back to the truck.  We saw his parents inside the place they decided to eat at so they spent a few minutes hanging out with them.

Meanwhile, Ben and I hurried ahead and found two geocaches while they visited.  The first one we did was a virtual called Too Tough To Quit (GCA58B).  There were some informational boards we took information off of to answer questions about a large locomotive that was in front of us.  I learned a lot about how important trains were in this area.  It didn't take us very long to get the answers.  We got our photo and we moved onto the next one inside the park.

I really enjoy doing hands on earthcaches. 7-Minute Spring (Manitou Springs) (GC2176K) was one of those hands on unique caches.  We did everything it asked us to do except for ones that required the signs that were missing.  We had to make the best of it by trying to find the answers online.  We even tasted the water since it came from an aquifer as run off from the melting waters of Pike's Peak.

We got in the truck and headed into Old Colorado City to have a light lunch and drinks at the Alchemist.  We parked at one of the free lots in town and walked the short distance to the bar.  I saw there was a traditional cache nearby so I stayed behind to grab it while they went inside and grabbed a table.  Ore You Ready?? (GC34V75).  Finding the cache was quick, waiting for the crosswalk to change twice took the longest.  I had to explain what I was doing to someone walking by and she knew what geocaching was.

I finally got across and met my people inside.  Ben and I got beers and shared a bowl of mac n cheese.  It hit the spot.  We hung out there for a little while.  I checked the caching app again and saw there was another virtual nearby within walking distance.  We all paid for our food and drinks and walked down to the street towards Log House Virtual (GC9181).

We got the necessary information and our picture and then met Fitzy and Chaise across the street at La Baguette.  They wanted a hot chocolate because it was pretty cold outside.  I used the bathroom really quick and we headed back to where we parked the truck.

We got back to the house and chilled out for a while.  I texted Amber again and she said she would have to take a rain check because she tried getting out of her driveway but got stuck in the snow and ice.  She almost slide down her little cliff next to her driveway and had to have her neighbor help because Josh was on crutches.  I told her it was too bad we didn't get to hang out but I understood.  Fitzy and Chaise had a heck of a time trying to get the kids to do their chores, homework and practice their band instruments.  They told them that they couldn't go with us to dinner if they didn't do all of their stuff.

We piled into two cars, Ben and I went with Chaise's mom and dad and made our way down to downtown Colorado Springs.  It was freezing outside.

Fitzy chose Oskar Blues, a Southern food bar and grill.  They sat us down and took our drink orders.  I ordered the Blackberry Paws because it sounded good and I like trying out new fruity beers when they are available.  We visited for a bit and then the waitress came by to take our orders.  I ordered the salmon fish and chips.  They were absolutely delicious.

I wish we wouldn't have had that late lunch earlier because I could barely finish it all and I really couldn't take it home with me since we were leaving tomorrow pretty early.  Since it was my birthday weekend the waitress brought me a free dessert.  Everyone sang happy birthday to me and we shared the dessert if anyone wanted any.  Chaise's dad picked up the tab.

I definitely ate way too much and sleeping was going to be uncomfortable.  We headed back home because the kids had to get ready for bed.  I took a shower in the fancy shower one more time, got my pajamas on and got back in the room to organize our stuff.  I put out what I was going to wear and packed up everything else.  I wanted to sleep in as long as possible.  I tossed and turned all night.  Between being really full and really hot I slept like hot garbage.  Tomorrow was going to come really fast.

Next Adventure:  My 35th Birthday:  Plane Ride Back to Seattle, Renewing Driver's License and Relaxing

Snow Storm, Leaving Boulder and Heading to Colorado Springs

I got up around 4:30-5:00ish to pee and then on my way back to bed I decided to look out the front door just to see if it still was snowing.  It was and it had accumulated at least 4-5 inches since the first time we checked just before bedtime.  I snapped a few pictures and then went back to bed for a few more hours.

I ended up getting up around 7 because you could hear people getting up and packing up their belongings so they could hit the road.  I looked outside to see how much snow accumulated since I checked around 4ish this morning.  It was up to about 8-9 inches!

Chaise's brother and his family had a long drive back to Missouri.  I got my clothes on, did my bathroom stuff and started packing up my stuff.  Ben eventually got up and got himself and his stuff ready to go.  We ate cereal and had some orange juice.  Over the next hour or so we helped clean up the house before throwing our stuff into the back of Fitzy and Chaise's truck and heading south to Colorado Springs.  We drove through Denver and pointed out to Ben where the Broncos played football.  Part of the way down near Castle Rock, Ben had fallen asleep for a bit.  It snowed the entire hour to Fitzy's aunt's house in the Springs.

We roared up the steep driveway and we were glad both us and Chaise's parents had all wheel drive.  We unpacked the truck and Ben and Chaise grabbed the shovels and started pushing the snow off of the driveway.

I was so amazed how much it accumulated since last night and it kept falling!  We unpacked the stuff out of the truck and  Fitzy explained where everyone was going to sleep, showed us the rooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen, their place downstairs, etc.

After shoveling and unpacking, we all relaxed a bit and I made Ben and I a sandwich for lunch...mostly to get us by until dinner time.

It was almost time to watch the Seahawks and Rams game but unfortunately it was on CBS and it was really hard to find a free stream of it.  She had to sign up for a trial version of CBS so we could watch it.  She would have to remember to cancel it before they start charging her for it.

This was the second match up with the Rams and we were the visitors at the Coliseum.  We took the lead at the end of the first quarter and I think it freaked out the Rams because we were the underdogs.  By the end of the first half, we were only down by a touchdown.  From the way we were playing today, we could steal this game from the Rams and screw up playoff seeding for them.  The third quarter was a lot of back and forth by both teams but we were ahead going into the fourth quarter.  I was impressed with how we stayed in the game up to this point because the "experts" thought this would be a cake walk for the Rams.

Fitzy wanted to know if I wanted to go for a walk with the dogs.  I said sure.  It hasn't been just us the entire trip so it would be nice to visit as we walked the dogs in the snow.  I didn't bring any snow boots so she found some I could wear.  She took us on the normal route up the hill and into a housing development loop.

We talked about various things including jobs, family, future endeavors, any news, random stuff etc.  It was nice to get away from everyone and have our time to hang out and chat.

We came back after a while and we found out the Seahawks lost because they always wait until the 4th quarter with 5 or less minutes left to try and win the game.  I guess we had the advantage at the end of the game.  We just needed a touchdown and an extra point to win.  We turned the ball over on downs and all the Rams had to do was kneel.  We lost 36-31. So disappointing.

Ben and Chaise shoveled the driveway again and dug out Chaise's parents car.  We all started talking about dinner and what we were going to do.  Fitzy and Chaise suggested we go to Rudy's BBQ.  I was game for whatever.  The four of us (Fitzy, Chaise, Ben and I) took Chaise's parents car down to the bbq place.  We stopped at Walgreens first to get Ben some more cold decongestant and then drove across the highway to Rudy's BBQ.

We went inside and looked at the menu.  There was a lot of food combinations to choose from.  We got some of this, a little of that, a container of this and finally a hunk of that for a bunch of people.  I had no idea if her aunt and cousins were going to eat with us or not.  When we did get back to the house, her aunt and cousins were home and I guess the kids were at a friend's house and her aunt's car got hit by a truck (due to the weather) near Pueblo, where she works, and her boss took her home.

We got the table set and all the food was placed on the table so people could grab what they wanted.  I tried a little bit of everything because it all looked so good!  We chatted about various stuff as we ate dinner together.  We watched some TV and then Fitzy and Chaise helped Ben and I set up our bed in the office.  I got a shower in the most insane tub/shower I have ever seen.  I definitely felt rich staying at this mansion.  We hung out for a little bit longer and then decided to head to bed.  Fitzy had to get up early and take her aunt to Pueblo for work.

As we settled into bed it had snowed over a foot today and I have never in my life been around this much snow before my birthday.

Next Adventure:  Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and Birthday Dinner

Cougar Football Saturday: in Boulder against the Buffaloes

I tried not to get up or move around very much throughout the night because that air mattress made so much noise.  I do remember getting up once because I had to pee.  Ben had snored a few times because I think the altitude was getting to him or he was getting sick or maybe both.  Anyway, we got up when we heard everyone else get up (around 7) because we were in the living room with all the noise.

I got myself ready for the day.  I pulled out my new Cougar jersey Ben got me for my birthday.  It was a little small (inspiration to start working out again) so I wore it as a under layer.  I really wasn't sure how cold it was suppose to be today so I dressed in layers.  If I needed to I could take some off.  I went into the kitchen and there was an assortment of breakfast foods...you could make a breakfast burrito, have pancakes, French toast and/or bacon and fruit.  I had some French toast, bacon, a banana and some OJ.  We waited around while everyone got ready for the day and had breakfast.  I bought some Cougar face sticker tattoos so we took some time and put them on.  I made sure I had all of my stuff I was taking with me to the stadium and that my phone was charged all the way.

All of us made the trek over to the stadium.  Our Airbnb was located on Mapleton and Folsom Field was roughly a mile and a half or so down Folsom St.  Along the way we saw a bunch of Coug fans in town for the game.  Originally, we tried to get tickets to the Alumni Cougar tail gate party but failed to do so.  Every block we heard a new group of Coug fans yell, "GO COUGS!"  It was so cool! We were also heckled by Buffalo fans as well. I was super stoked to have this experience at an away game.  It was just so different from going to a game in Pullman.  We obviously were the favorite to win the game because of how well we were playing and our impressive College Gameday win over Oregon.

We got to the stadium and Fitzy handed us our tickets just in case people wanted to wander around.  We really weren't sure what we wanted to do so we went with Fitzy and Chaise to the tailgating/beer garden area next to the stadium.  We got our ID's out and were given a bracelet.  We followed Chaise to a brewery promotion table.  Upslope were giving out free cans of beer and sunglasses.  Of course we took advantage.

We were instantly invited to a Colorado tent by some Cougar Alumni/fans who were buddies with some of the Colorado Alumni/fans.  We chatted with them for a while and even gave us some more beer, homemade chicken chili and corn bread, which had real corn in it.  They were so generous and the lady who made the chili...was the best chili I have ever had.  I complimented her at least three times before it was time to head into the game.  A lot of the Buffalo fans we talked to expected a blow out by the Cougs, which was true but as a Coug fan you just never know.

We wandered around for about another 20 minutes or so before heading into the stadium.  We got so many "GO COUGS!" as we walked by.  We used the restrooms, purchased some drinks and found our seats.  

The eleven of us took over two of the bleachers and were soon inundated by other Coug fans as it got closer to game time.  I was really impressed by the weather.  It was pretty mild but as they say, one day it could be 75 degrees and sunny and the next day you could get a foot of snow. For the most part the extended forecast said it was going to be a pretty dry mild weekend.

   

The game finally started and our section of fans were out of control.  So many mustaches and aviator glasses riddled the Cougar section of the stadium.  It was awesome and I was super stoked to be here.  The game started off pretty slow and Colorado scored first on blown coverage.  However, that is all the Buffalos scored the entire game.  Our defense was on target today.  We powered our way into their offense, stripped some of the fumbles, monster-trucked tackles for lost yards and forced some incomplete passes just past our finger tips.  We were hoping for more of an offense at the beginning of the game but we all had to be patient.  It's not like we didn't have chances to score, because we had plenty of them, we just didn't execute immediately.

We were scoreless at the end of the first quarter and that worried me.  I didn't want our winning streak to end at a game I went to.  It was really weird not having our band there.  Fitzy and I couldn't remember if our band traveled or not.  We knew they went to Seattle and wherever our bowl games were for that season.

The second quarter brought us a lot of  defense back and forth.  We managed to get down the field but had to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.  Our wide receiver was clearly being held by the defender but they didn't call it.  Our kicker put us on the board with 3.  Our defense stopped them again from scoring and this time about midway through the second quarter we finally got our Minshew to Borghi touchdown.  The Coug section erupted!  It took us a while to get going but once we did we went into halftime up 10-7.

When we came out of the locker room at halftime, a lot of defense on both sides had either opponent on edge.  If they scored it would make it close and if we scored we would build on our lead.  We extended our lead further before midway through the third quarter.  We marched down the field and Minshew threw a one yard pass to Bell for the touchdown!  Our section gave out tons of high fives and hugs.  The game was finally coming alive!

At the start of the fourth quarter, we took nearly three minutes of time off the clock with seven plays, a gain of 88 yards and a ten yard rushing touchdown from Minshew himself!  At that point most of the fans on the Colorado side started to thin out.  Unless they started to play like professional athletes, and every single thing went their way, they were not going to come back into this game.  The Buffaloes struggled all day with their offense.  With a little less than four minutes of the game to go and a drive of 68 yards, the Cougs topped off the game with another Minshew touchdown pass to Williams.

Cougs came into Boulder and won 31-7!

The whole team came over to our sideline and we all sang the Cougar fight song.  Coach Leach was given an honorary stick on moustache as ESPN was interviewing him.  It was one of the many iconic moments of this years season.

We walked back up the stairs and met up as a group to walk back to the Airbnb.  Somehow we all got separated and ended up walking the opposite way we came in down to the main street.  Along the way I noticed the stadium's statues and wanted a victory picture in front of it.

We continued back to the Airbnb and there were a lot of Cougar fans honking their horns, yelling "GO COUGS!" and singing the fight song.  It was awesome.  When we got back, we all decided on pizza and salad for dinner.  Fitzy and Regan went and got the pizza with a few stops along the way.  We all watched some of the highlights and other football games on ESPN while we waited for dinner.  I did some internetting.

It was also Chaise's brother's birthday so we had a small birthday party for him after pizza and salad.  They had gotten him a cheesecake birthday cake for dessert afterwards.  Both the pizza and the cake really hit the spot.

I decided to get cleaned up and get ready for bed.  I had Ben sleep on the couch because he was very congested and I didn't want him waking me up every five minutes.  Fitzy had given him some cold medicine to help with the congestion.  Before we all went to bed for the evening someone had looked on their phone app and it said it was lightly snowing.  No one believed her so I opened the door and yes, it was lightly snowing.  Unexpected.

We will see in the morning what mother nature has decided for us.  Could be a light dusting...could be a foot of snow...could be another nice sunny day?

Next Adventure:  Snow Storm, Leaving Boulder and Heading to Colorado Springs