Snow Long, Farewell...

Hooray! Hooray! I got my wish! The morning we left it was SNOWING!

Here we are at the vantage point from the day before. Snow much for the view, eh?

Wilder snuggled up with his blankie and souvenir bunny rabbit (r.i.p.) jazzed to be in his first snow flurry and headed home.

We drove through Fort Carson, but the pictures turned out crappy. The snow had stopped falling and was nearly melted until we got just south of Pueblo. Tada! More snow!

Here in lovely Trinidad light flakes fell gloriously as we drove the town's main street listening to Christmas tunes and looking for a place that was the most likely to serve chicken noodle soup.

Seeing a few cafes and promising restaurants, we parked the car and walked. Brrrrr! It was cold!

Ain't this town fancy?! They pave their streets with personalized bricks!

Alas, after trying 5 restaurants and cafes -even after a store owner called two places to see if they had soup- we appeared to be chicken-noodless. You see, the nurse at the pediatrician's office recommended that Wilder have clear broth and heavy starches. I was dead set on him having some minestrone or chicken noodle, but everyone was on cream based soup kick. Since milk was the last thing he should be eating with a raucous tummy, I had to do some quick thinking. Actually, it was all I could do to keep myself from crying at the last place we tried. They said they had chicken and wild rice soup. Sounded like it would work, right? Wrong. We paid for it and the gal brought it out: cream based.

Ah-hah! I remember passing a Safeway and they always have a soup bar! Perhaps, JUST perhaps....

15 minutes later we are sipping a hearty chicken noodle soup and I felt proud of my ability to both nuture and provide. Go mom!


Goodbye Colorado, hello New Mexico! (and, subsequently, Texas, in the end.) We overnighted at the same trusty Motel 6 in Amarillo and had a safe and uneventful journey home. Texas welcomed us with brisk weather of its own. Last night I even had to turn the heat on!

What a fabulous trip. It's hard to believe that adventuring unassisted with a one year old (particularly when it's a two day drive out and back) who was vomiting the majority of the time (my poor sweetheart!) could be envigorating, restful and downright awesome, but it was and I am so glad we went. I now know I can do it, so now NOTHING is impossible. Watch out, world, here we come! And Colorado Springs, thanks for the memories. We'll be back....