Happy Fathers Day

Happy Father’s Day.  My two girls are blessed with the most amazing father.  He plays with them.  He laughs at the silly shows they watch.  He teaches them about bugs and paddleboading. He gives them extra big scoops of ice cream.  Most importantly, he prays with them and teaches them the love of Jesus Christ.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Again, we did not get the early start we had planned on.  Our late evening and these dark hotel rooms just beg for sleeping in.  Surprisingly, the past few days, I have been the first one awake.  I am thankful to see everyone catch up on their sleep.

We enjoyed another Hampton Inn breakfast. 

Since we were to close to Cadillac Ranch we made a quick stop to see what the heck it is.  It's a bunch of Cadillacs sticking out of the ground that people spray paint.  We weren’t prepared with paint, but apparently there are plenty of cans for grabs once you are there. 

Lily is holding her nose because pretty much all of Amarillo smelled like cow poo.

 

Charleston Strong!!

The rest of the day was spent driving to Colorado.  Words can’t even begin to describe the beauty we saw.  Once we crossed into New Mexico, we made a stop at the Capulin Volcano National Monument.  For those of you that know Lily well, you can imagine how well this sat with her.  She is not a fan of natural disasters.  We made a quick stop at the visitor center at the base, and then drove the two miles up the mountain.  Lily wasn’t the only one nervous – it was two very steep, winding, and narrow miles.  The view from the top was indescribable.  Lily wanted nothing to do with the ranger talk about volcanoes, so she and I walked up the path to the top.  Breathtaking!

 

The rim of Mount Capulin 

Once back at the bottom, the girls (and James and I) completed their Junior Ranger booklets.  They took the Junior Ranger pledge and earned their badges.

Taking their Junior Ranger pledge

The girls enjoying their custom travel books that Doncie and Poppy gave them.

After leaving the monument, we immediately saw snowcapped mountains in the distance.  This girl from South Carolina was in awe of seeing snow in June.  Words just won't do the amazing scenery we saw justice.  I sat the last two hours with the camera in my lap and snapped away.  

  

Yes that would be a horse-drawn carriage crossing sign.

We didn't get the sign for entering New Mexico but we did catching one leaving. 

Welcome to Colorado

Arkansas River

 

We arrived at camp late and joined everyone at dinner time.   We sat down to pork roast, sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower, salad, bread, and dessert.  Such a yummy home cooked meal.  After dinner a director made one call and there were about 15 teenagers lined up at our car to help us unload.  Throughout dinner Sarah Ellen complained of a headache.  She is usually pretty legitimate with her complaints.  We had read that altitude sickness can cause headaches and nausea.  Well guess what happened as soon as we got to our room.  She threw up.  Poor baby didn't feel well at all.  James and Lily headed on to Club while I got settled and let SE rest.

These rooms are amazing.  I was expecting a basic, plain room with double beds and the bare minimum.  Oh no - I got cubbies and drawers and hooks and storage everywhere.   The girls' beds are bunk beds that are actually murphy beds and fold up into the wall.  These folks thought of everything.  We have a balcony that overlooks snow-covered mountains.  

Sarah Ellen started perking up, so she and I joined everyone at Club.  The children broke out into their age-related clubs.  The girls were separated and SE had a hard time with this at first.  I walked with her to her room.  One of the high-school aged staffers, David, immediately started talking to her and joking with her.  He turned her completely around.  The adults remained and sang worship music then listened to the leader's brief message and his charge to us this week.

After the children joined us, we took a tour of the property.  We ended up in the barn where a huge carnival was set up.  James even took a pie in the face for his sweet girls - I told you he was an awesome daddy.  

This one is for you Aunt Kami!

 

Messing around in the gift shop

So excited to see what we have in store for this week!