Monday March 15

This part of the journey is ended and just a little time before we start our next 6 week adventure. Yesterday was very uneventful left Kierney, NE at 8:30 after spending the night in the Microtel, a great hotel that serves hot breakfast including waffles, eggs and sausage.

This trip has taken us 4842.2 miles, 45 days and driving in the car approximately 80 hours, across the United States . All this does not include the side trip to Mexico for the great wedding celebration. I am convinced this new full time job is really fun, don't get me wrong I liked my other years of employment but this takes the cake. Today Tuesday March 16 we are back to reality, mail piled high, laundry to do and the weather is raining and cold. I will no longer be blogging until we leave for Europe on March 29. I only hope I am able to find locations that will give me the chance to share my travel experiences and a tools for me to remember the fun I had. And so I say goodbye to return at a later date.

Sunday March 14

Once again we say goodbye to our friends Kathy and Jerry. We have known these friends for about 34 years or maybe longer. It is so fun hooking up with them after a few years of not staying connected. We can't thank them enough for putting up with us on the last leg of this trip and helping celebrate my birthday. We are so sorry Kathy missed the event because she would have had a great time. We will see them again in May after their travels take them to Maui and our travels take us to Europe.

On our way through Denver we stopped to see Kenna , Boomie and Jill's granddaughter. This is the first time we have seen her since she was born. She was just adorable but a girl of little words with strangers. We look forward to seeing her and her parents Randy and Lee up in Aspen sometime in the next year.

This will be our last hotel stay and we needed some information of hotels in Kearney, Nebraska. Bob called his lifeline Craig who recommended the Microtel a new hotel right off the freeway. Mind you we have stayed in many hotels across the US in the last 6 weeks and this was the first one with no hidden smells and things growing in the carpet. Microtel is a very nice place and we would stay here again in a New York minute. Monday we start the final miles of this adventure then the chapters on this log will close and reopen on March 29 when we take off to Europe.

Sat March 13
Who would ever think you could have such a great birthday party miles away from home with friends that were there to ski and celebrate in style and class. Bob, Jerry, Mark and I departed for the mountain with our driver Kathy before she finally had to take the sick day and go to bed for the entire day and night missing all the fun. We did miss her and felt so bad the demon would not let her go. Bob was coordinating a rendezvous with Barb, John, Nancy and Brad for a surprise champagne party at the top of the mountain. I was informed that we were hooking up but I had no idea where it was going to be. Imagine the bright blue sky and looking at the mountains on a deck far above the ground it was truly breathtaking. Lindsey is the girl I am standing next to and she was turning 30 on March 14, her friends also came up to celebrate. The "sisters" and me celebrated longtime friendships and good friends.

While were up there celebrating an elderly man came walking by and his name was Pepi Gramshammer he is the owner of Pepi's restaurant and lodge in Vail village since 1964. He is still skiing at 83 and the ambassador for Vail. This is a picture of him when he was young but at 83 is still a very handsome man.

A great time was had by everyone and the day was still young. We manged to ski some more runs and then headed to Pepi's once again for apre ski and more celebration. The decision was to go to the George for dinner. Jerry and Mark hitched a ride home as Kathy was really sick and just couldn't come out to play. Bob, Kath, Mike, Frank and myself headed to the George. The place was packed but my obnoxious announcing of my birthday and the ti era on my head did get us a table very fast. The dinner was great as always. Only one challenge left was how we were going to get back to the Sorensen's B&B. Frank offered to drive us up there so we piled in the car with 4 pairs of skis, boots and 5 bodies it was really cozy but the trip was a success. We can't thank Frank, Kath and Mike enough. This is a picture of them in front of Mark's van it will brings tears of laughter everytime we saw it.