Manatee's

Today was our last day here with Heidi and Shain.They took us to Blue Springs where every year in November many Manatee's come. We saw Manatee's and an Alligator. The photograph of the Manatee's is of a Mother and two babies. The water was beautiful and Manatee's were so incredible! We will wake up tomorrow, get things packed up and we will hit the road to see our friend Rachel and onto other destinations. We want to say THANNK YOU to HEIDI AND SHAIN! You guys were great letting us take over your house, feeding us, etc... We love you both so much!!!Hate that you two have to get back to work and we will continue to just goof off traveling the US = ) But work hard cuz we may need you to support us in a bit = ) To all our loved ones...we miss you and hope all is wel!!! Write again soon! Namaste!

Thanksgiving!!!!

We made it to Florida and to Heidi and Shain's house!On Thanksgiving Day Heidi made us all an amazing turkey, pumpking pie, candied yams, buckeyes, vegetable and fruit dip...Sandy made her famous mashed potatos and Shain and I did our part to eat it all up!!! It was Heidi and Shain's first Thanksgiving together and they shared it with us! It was an amazing dinner! Later that day they hung up some of their Christmas Decorations.
The following night Shain and Heidi convinced Sandy and I to try Sushi. Now we have tried Sushi before and not enjoyed it but we were willing to try it out. To our surprise it was fantastic! We are now sold on it!!!! Earlier that day Heidi and I went for a run...she blew me away! She made me feel out of shape = ). I am so proud of her!!!It is so great to be here with my sister! Sandy and I will be home soon and are so excited to with family for christmas!

Braylee, Jaime and Craig , Marce and Elijah Ashville

We drove the miles and miles from Colorado to Chattanooga, TN. We were there only long enough to pick up Braylee and we hit the road to Ashville, NC. There we all stayed with our good friends Jaime and Craig. Jaime had put chocolates on our bed, a basket of Burt’S Bee’s lotions and chapsticks, and well Jaime is simply an incredible hostess!!! When we arrived Jaime was making all kinds of things for a Monday Night Football party that was to take place in their home. She let me cook with her and learn how to make some amazing food! The picture of the table is only part of the spread she put out. She let Craig finish up and took Sandy, Braylee, and I out to dinner. We stopped by her parents place and I was able to visit with Jaime’s father and her sister. Their family has been so good to me for years!!! It was great to see them! We then went back to the house and her mom stopped by and had put amazingly soft robes on the bed for Sandy and I for Christmas gifts. She told us the stories of her broken ribs from wrestling and gave us so much love!!!! We then decided to eat some of the food from the party = ) Sandy and Braylee went to bed and Jaime and I stayed up late reminiscing.
The next day Jaime laid out so much food for us to eat for breakfast and we went skiing. It was a small place, but had a good hill for learning. They were blowing snow all day so we were wet and cold, but we kept going and had a blast! We came back to the house and got showers and then went to visit our friends Marci and Elijah and their two boys, Ethan and Braden. It was our first time seeing Braden and Ethan had grown so much since we last saw him. We all sat around telling stories of our high school glory days and all the silly things we used to do. Ethan was so impressed with Braylee and kept asking Marci to ask Braylee if she would play with him = ) We went back to Jaime’s and we all sat and talked for a while. Sandy and Bray went to bed and Jaime and I once again stayed up very late talking! It was so good to be with friends! JAIME AND CRAIG THANK YOU so much for having us into your home. We felt so welcome, comfortable, and actually a little like we were staying in a five start hotel = )
Braylee is getting so big! She is growing up so fast! It was so good to have her with us. We dropped her off with her mom today and we already miss her!!! BRAYLEE we LOVE AND MISS YOU! NEVER FORGET THAT!!!
Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving and we just wanted to say we are thankful for all of our loved ones and for this journey we have had the opportunity to take! Sending so much love! Namaste!

Skiing - Thank you Drew and Andrea!!!!

Our friend Lisa that also lives in Breckenridge had gotten us free passes on Friday to ski, but we did not get back in time from the hot springs. But on Saturday she met up with us to help teach us to ski and to show us the slopes. She was an amazing teacher and we want to say THANK YOU LISA for being so great! Sandy and I had bought our own ski equipment and were excited to try it out. Andrea let Joey borrow her equipment and we all had a blast!!! Later that night we took Joey to get her very first Tattoo. She had a Buddhist Mantra tattooed on her wrist and it was absolutely beautiful!!! Congrats Joey!! Then we all went out to dinner at a very nice Mexican place in Breckenridge. When we got back to the house, Drew and I put a new battery in the van and got it started. We got loaded up and said our goodbye’s because the three of us had to leave round three thirty in the morning to get Joey to the Denver airport on time. We just want to say a special thanks to DREW AND ANDREA for putting up with us for an entire week!!! You guys made us feel so welcome and helped us so much!!! We send you tons and tons of love! Also we thank Nick and Mike(Drew’s Roomates) for letting us take over there house for a week! You will all be blessed for your many kindnesses! Take care of yourselves and we hope to visit with you again soon!!! To everyone back home…we will miss you all over thanksgiving but want you to know we have made it back to the EAST COAST. We picked up Braylee in Tennessee and are taking her to Ashville, NC with us for a couple of days. We will then head to Florida for a bit and then will stop in Chattanooga on our way back home. We send our love to you all and hope that you know that it is our loved ones that we are most THANKFUL for!!!! Namaste!!!

Strawberry Park Hot springs

Drew, Joey, Sandy and I spent the day getting ready for our trip to the hot springs. When Andrea got off work, we got all loaded up and took the two hour drive to the town of Steamboat and to Strawberry Park Hot springs. We had two cabins reserved. We unloaded our things into adorable little wood cabins that had gas burning stoves and a gas lantern. They were very primitive, but warm! Joey, Sandy, and my cabin was actually two stories = ) It was dark…and I mean very dark when we got there! The hot springs are located in the middle of no where, and on a mountain. They try very hard to keep the light pollution down. Not only was it dark, but around 25 degrees. It was a cold walk to the hot springs but so very worth it!!!! After dark clothing is optional, so we of course took that option = ) It was so dark you could hardly see your hand in front of your face though. The springs poured into large pools that were very warm! It was so relaxing and so nice to be able to spend the time making this memory with friends!
Now I know that in many Blogs I have spoke about dark places in the middle of no where, and how beautiful the stars were there. However, it was in this place that the sky opened herself up, bared to us her soul, and showed us every intimate detail of her essence!!!! It was breathtaking!!! We saw so many shooting stars that we lost count!!! This was defiantly one of our favorite places on this trip! We later went to Drew and Andrea’s cabin and ate some good food!
The next morning we all got into the hot springs again before leaving. But not before I locked the keys to the car in the trunk of the car = ) I had a slight freak out, and Andrea and Drew got a hold of AAA and it was all taken care of! So amazing, and such a spiritual place!!!! Such a great energy there! We all said we should go there at least once a year!

Loveland Pass - Sapphire Point

These Pictures are of a short walk we took to see the view from Sapphire Point and Loveland Pass. Drew took Joey, Sandy, and I to visit these places and we all planned to hike at Loveland Pass but it was so very cold that it turned into a short walk = ) On the way down from Loveland Pass, Drew pulled over and we filled up some containers with what he referred to as “hippie water”. This was a natural spring coming out the side of the mountain, right off the road. The water is filtered and many locals come to the spring to get the water. Some even say the water can cure cancer = )

Breckenridge with beloved friends

Hello to all,
We are still in Breckenridge and loving it. Samantha and I bought skis for $25 bucks yesterday. We will hopefully be going skiing tomorrow but the weather has been really bizarre here. It has been in the 60s during the day which is unlike this region of the country. Snow should be on the ground and all slopes open but the snow is melting. There are still slopes open and our friends are trying to get us free skiing so we will see what happens. Our friend Joey flew out and our friend Drew has been gracious enough to let us take over his house for the week. We are just spending time catching up, relaxing and loving one another in an amazingly beautiful place. I recommend anyone who reads this if they have not been to Breckenridge to go!!!!I could actually live here!!!We will be heading home soon and to all our family and friends....we love and miss you dearly!!!Namaste!!!

Into Breckenridge

Hello Everyone,
Well, we took Sandy's mom back to where she has been staying in Durant, OK. There she bought us each an hour massage and we were so thankful! Our muscles needed it! We helped her get situated and then hit the road towards Colorado. It was going to be about a 14 hour drive. We drove into Kansas and kept driving in Kansas for what seemed like a lifetime = ). We stopped and got a cheap motel about halfway and got up early yesterday morning and made it here to Breckenridge, Colorado. We met up with our friend good friend Drew and his lovely girlfriend Andrea. They took us on a short walk up on one of the mountains were were saw gorgeous views and were blessed with one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen on this trip. The clouds soaked in sun and in places the sky was pink, in others it was purple, and yet it others it was on fire! We all went back to Andrea's house where Drew and Andrea cooked us a five star meal for dinner. We played games, chatted, and just enjoyed one anothers company. This place is very beautiful. The beauty and energy here is just so moving. I text people a picture of the view from our short hike and said that it is a place with an energy that demands personal evolution and rebirth. We are so thankful to be here and to be spending time with Drew. We will write again and post more pictures soon. We miss you all and love you so very much! Namaste!
p.s.the Picture of Sandy is on of Angela's shirts.

Texas, Angela, Elisa, Doyle - and WHAM = )

As we left New Mexico and headed towards Arlington, Texas we called our friend Angela and asked her if we could meet up while we were in her area. She and her parents quickly offered us a place to stay, and we graciously accepted! We arrived around 8:00pm and Angela, Sandy, and I went to Chili's to eat and catch up! I had missed Angela more than I even realized. She allowed us to sleep in her bed that night, and it was one of the softest, most comfortable beds we have ever slept in! Their home is absolutely beautiful! We almost felt bad parking our "hippie" van in their driveway = )The next day I got up early with Angela and her parents (Doyle and Elisa) to go on an 8 mile walk with their delightful friends the Bechners (sp?). Sandy was tired so she slept in and continued doing the laundry.(Yes, they were even nice enough to allow us to do laundry...and we needed it!)After the walk we all ate breakfast together and the even had WHAM!!!For those of you that did not grow up in the SDA system, the veggie meat WHAM will mean most likely mean nothing to you. Just know that I have not had it in a long time and I was so exicted!!! Elisa even put it in the skillet to warm it up for me...amazing!!! = )They made us feel so welcome and like we were all old friends! They even sent me away with a box of WHAM all of my own = )! We give them a thousand thanks and hope that our paths cross again while we are here in town. I must spend some time talking about ANGELA! Not only does she have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met, is one of the most beautiful-gentle women I have ever known, but she is so VERY TALLENTED. The art you see displayed in the picture on this blog is only one of her pieces! She gave us a tee-shirt she had designed and as we wore them so many people looked! If anyone would like more information about her custom t-shirt screen printing business (melloflumatic)you can go to her website www.myspace.com/mellowflumatic; email her at mellowflumatic@gmail.com; or call her at 423-504-0152. = ) THANK YOU CARVER FAMILY!!!! SUCH A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU! To all our family back home and blog readers. We are now safe in Arlington, Texas with Sandy's mom. We will be here for the duration of this week. We got a week's pass to the local YMCA so we can work out, and I have decided that it is time to shave my legs = ) The picture of the leg hair my be a bit much for some, but it had to be documented = )Most likely will not blog much during this time. You all have our numbers if you want to chat or spy on us before our next blog posting = ) We send so much love!!!!!! NAMASTE!
P.S. The shirt Sandy is wearing in the group photo is one of Angela's shrits!!!!

Santa Fe, New Mexico

We spent today touring Santa Fe, New Mexico. We looked around a well known plaza area. There are many stores that sold Native American Art, there were local street vendors, a cathedral that had a little park area in front where we sat, talked, and watched the leaves fall. We spent quite a bit of time in a hemp shop where we bought some postcards. I bought a green wallet made out of hemp, and we purchased some soap and a candle that have patchouli and other oils in it. The soap and candle are sitting on the dashboard of the van right now as we drive and are making the van smell amazing!!!! We have not showered since this past Sunday, so by now the van needed a little cleansing = ) We then ate a at restaurant and had some very tasty food. Oh I forgot to mention that at one street vendor Sandy stopped to look at some jewelry, rocks, and crystals. The man that owned the stand tried to get her to buy some, but when she went to leave he picked up the first piece she had looked at and gave it to her as a gift. It meant a lot to her! We have now found a KOA where were are just relaxing. Will start our journey towards Dallas tomorrow! We send our love and miss you all! Namaste!
P.S. GRANDPA!!! The John Wayne photo was for you = ) I love you!!!!

Carlsbad Caverns and The Aliens = )

We made it to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. At this National Park is the worlds deepest limestone cave and six-story speleothems. We took an elevator down 750 feet (or a 75 story sky scraper) into what is called “The Big Room”. Once in the Cavern we walked around for over a mile looking at rock formations that are formed over many years as water droplets trickle down the limestone and calcify in the cave’s cool, moist environment. The inside of this cave is a 14-acre chamber. Just spectacular!!!!! After we toured the cave we sent out towards Santa Fe, but stopped in Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell is a small town known only for it’s dairy industry until in 1947 an “alien spacecraft” reportedly crashed on a ranch. The ranch owner took so me debris to Forth Worth and US Army Intelligence. He was told to step out of the room, and claims that, when he returned, the original debris had been replaced with pieces of weather balloon wreckage. Later Rowell undertaker Glenn Davis received a strange call from the Army air field, asking how many child-sized caskets he had in stock and how to preserve bodies that had been exposed to weather. A nurse was brought in to examine several bodies. She was transferred to England the next day, but before leaving, gave Davis hand-drawn picture of the alien forms she had examined. Ok, in fear of sounding like a big geek, we will stop talking about aliens = ) So MUCH LOVE to you all!!!! Namaste!