More moving

Emptying out the kitchen. Someone has too many pint glasses! I'm going to miss my kitchen. 

Oh the dishes! They have been with us for a long time. Funny thing is, I have never used one of these cups but I can feed 20 at a time!

Something even better

As I arrived to Gate 15 in Denver around 1:30, I noticed there sure were a lot of people waiting on a 4 pm flight. I had a seat and plugged in my iPhone for an afternoon of texting and Candy Crush. Come to find out the people on the 11:55 flight were still sitting in the terminal. As they began to board I thought I would see if it was full. If I get on this flight I will be home two hours earlier. Much to my surprise the agent said "yes just one, but you have to give up your good close aisle seat for a middle seat in the back" to which I said "that's fine, a little sacrifice that gets me home earlier."  To the plane I headed, always preferring the back of the pack so I don't have to sit and wait on everyone to load around me. As I got on the plane I started singing Gary Allen "there's an empty first class seat . . ." For obvious reasons.

As I write this, I am being tossed around in FIRST class!  I have not been in first class since my Pepsi days on Northwest Airlines, where we were always upgraded since we were very frequent travelers. Now by the time I post this for you all, the flight will be over, but the story is a good one. So how'd I get here?  Well, as I approached my seat in the back middle I see that there is someone in it. Not a big deal, I will just sit in his seat. Well, thanks to Bryan S wanting to sit with his beautiful travel companion, Shawna got upgraded. Last girl on the plane got to walk back up to first class to the aisle seat I was still singing about. How awesome did my "sacrifice" pay off!  It's the little things that excite me.  And to think, Bryan was probably planning this switch long before I even go to the airport in Colorado Springs.  Funny how things work out. 

My flight was full of nice people. I boarded behind a lady and her three children. Each had a middle seat stacked in 16, 17, 18 and 26. You should have seen the men scrambling to offer their seats so they could sit together. I question whether they were being nice or did they not want to sit beside the children?  We will assume they were being nice!

A side note, the elderly gentleman beside me drank 3 vodka cranberries then shifted to coffee with bailey's and read a book about Ben Franklin. 

In summary, a delayed flight and my last minute change turned into Bryan's first class seat became Shawna's.  I thank him for allowing me to hang out in first class for 3 hours with lots of elbow room, a pillow and blanket plus drink his wine and eat his lunch (maybe I should have offered him my PB crackers). 

Oh and I have to say this flight was doomed from the beginning. It was 3 hours late, we had to go in a holding pattern and then when going in for a landing with gear down, the engines sped up and gear tucked away for a circle around Charlotte. Well, I am here. 

Again . . .

This should be my last trek from B79 to B15 for a while!

Yogurt for lunch?  Sure!

Family Friendly

Today proves I work for a family friendly company. My organization had a picnic  complete with bucket trucks, bulldozers, back holes, sand pit, water guns, and adult games along with food and fellowship. Everyday I am out here confirms this was a good decision.  I hate my boys missed it but they will be here soon. 

Dozer full of sodas turned into water gun filling station. 

Salt Lake City and Pallet

I spent two days in Salt Lake City. Seems like a nice city. Spent most of the day in a workshop, but since the sun sets so late, I took to the street. 

My workshop

And my ride

And my walk, they say there are two seasons: winter and construction

Then the scenery 

And dinner

And leaving

What a plane

I haven't been on a plane like this in years!  UPDATE: that was the worst 20 minute plane ride of my life. It was like riding a wooden roller coaster, complete with headache and sudden drops!

What moving looks like

Countdown = 72 days

Time to pay down that vacation balance, 72 days and counting. By using our Target Debit Card we save 5%. 5% adds up! There should never be any question of what to buy this family . . .

W loves . . .

This is Will

And he loves

Mommy and Hunter

And Daddy

And sissy and bubby

And This is the dinosaur chasing him 

With a few too many "L's"

Not sure where he found the sharpie or the receipt. 

Cooking

Another thing about moving across the country is cleaning out the food.  So today I came home and had salmon for lunch then made cookies!

Butterflies

There are 31 awesomely painted butterflies all throughout downtown CS. It's a project through the Rotary Club. Here are a few as well as the website. I will eventually get them all with the good camera. 

http://www.butterfliesandfriends.org/

The View

After work I drove up the Cheyenne Mountain to the Zoo, which was only 6 miles away. While I did not go in the Zoo, I got to see some amazing sites and hear some interesting sounds. There are some pretty awesome houses on the way up as well as deer everywhere. The deer still freak me out a little since they are just hanging out having a snack. At the Zoo parking lot I was able to watch a rainbow appear. Way down there somewhere is where I now live and work. You should come visit (after July). 

CLT

Nice view of Uptown yesterday from the D concourse at CLT. 

Fires

So my second day here I found myself in the ops room watching a wildfire develop in Black Forest. The smoke clouds are now stretching out 80+ miles. 1200 homes are already under evacuation. Two others at Royal Gorge and LaVeta. Photos from today's progression over 3 hours. I was out looking at homes for my boys not chasing wildfires. 

My new view

Literally

Guides

What's the first thing you do when you move to a new city, besides find a house, get a visitor's guide and full size map. 

And well I was orientated by HR today

My view

Photos do not do the view justice but here goes. 

I'm here!

Well I made. Thank you for all the conversations the last two days. Pikes peak is peering at me in the distance but its dark. I promise to get a shot in the morning. I made a couple of detours but made good driving time, despite the construction in KY. If you come this way, FLY. 

Sunset

I am not close enough to the mountains for a good pic, but here's a sunset with the wind farm. Yes I pulled over to watch sunset. 

Colorado

Colorado met me with the smell of cows. You can't read the sign for the sun, but it reads "Welcome to colorful Colorado". 156 miles left, 86 miles until I turn off the Interstate.