Denver and KC

South Dakota was obviously a lot of fun - as you could tell from the pictures, I'm sure. We REALLY enjoyed the different natural landscapes that we drove through in the Badlands, up to Mount Rushmore, and down through Custer State Park and Wind Cave Park. The cave was a bit treachorous for me (since I forgot to duck a couple times), but the entire family loved going 20 stories under ground! And seeing the buffalo and donkeys up close in Custer State Park certainly brightened the faces of my two kids.

We spent Sunday in Fort Collins and are so thankful to have family there that were so hospitable. It was also a blessing to be able to go to Denver on Monday to enjoy more time with more family and go with EVERYONE to a Rockies game. (Of course, my daughter will tell you that SHE told Giambi to hit the walk-off home run ... and THEN HE DID!) Loved the time there. Bought some tires at The Tire Store (Highly recommend Greg Lopez's store for quality/friendliness!), and drove through some foot hills.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a change to the trip on Tuesday. Early in the morning, my Grandma had a stroke. No, she wasn't traveling with us. She was with my aunts in Estes Park. Thankfully, the medical teams got her to Swedish Hospital in Englewood very quickly and gave her a drug that helped get her basically back to baseline (or 'normal') pretty quickly. Blessed. Blessed that she was with someone. Blessed that she could get to Swedish so quickly. Blessed that we were in town to be with her as well. Thank God! ... and God bless YOU Grandma! Hope to have you home in Wisconsin soon.

We actually stayed with some friends in Englewood on Tuesday night and got up to drive to KC on Wednesday. Kansas is boring. But we got to KC, and our hotel has a bunch of water to enjoy. So we're doing that on Thursday. We'll try to hit a few KC highlights - Negro League Baseball Museum, Arthur Bryant's, Arabia Steamboat Museum, JC Nichols Fountain, Mill Creek Park, and Union Station, to mention a few.

... and pictures WILL hopefully follow. We were MUCH too busy having fun in Denver to take many ... so you'll have to live with what I put on later for Kansas City and beyond :)