With A Capital V

Vacation! Good times indeed :-)

This road trip we went all out! First a trip back home for my high school reunion, then some time with my father that included a day of shooting at a firing range, a day in Glacier Park, followed by a day fishing. It got better though! We spent an evening lighting off fireworks in the rain with my Dad, a day at a sapphire mine (brought back lots of facetable gems), some time at a quartz digging site, four-wheel driving to find garnets (some facetable stones there too), and a few stops at historic sites. The trip ended with a full day in Yellowstone Park - where we had the chance to see a rare eruption of a geyser. Our drive home was even nice - coming through the Tetons and into the painted high desert of Wyoming.

The price of gas is the only thing that really stinks about road trips right now... and it showed. We were in Yellowstone on what historically is the busiest day of the year (Independence Day), and we encountered no traffic problems - very few people on the trails - and no lines for gas or waiting at the restaurants. It was almost eerie. We had budgeted for an average of $4/gallon - but once into Montana our average price went up to $4.35/gallon by the time we left town... and I think it's getting to the point that people are just refusing to travel. My rant on gas prices is for another day, however.

Coming home is always nice (especially now that I don't dread going back to an office). Our 3 kitties have been following us everywhere - behaving as cute as possible for some attention. I haven't been able to sit down without having at least one cat in my lap...