Day 17, May 24, 2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

We woke around 6:00 but had our first time change so really it was 7:00.  Bob took Buck outside and let him run wild chasing birds in the field next to our parking lot.  He retuned to fuel up while I cleaned up around here.  He decided he wasn’t hungry yet so we would get on the road.  I poured him a big glass of orange juice and I decided (is it really ever a question) that I was hungry and had my usual cereal.

We had called Suzie last night to give her an update on our travel time.  Suzie was off for the day and had a hair appointment at 11:00 so we thought we would arrive before she left for that.  We had to call her when we were circling the area but couldn’t find the street.  She said we were close – the street we were trying to locate was 27.  We were following the numbers 26, 26 ½ , 26 ¾, 1 !  apparently 27 was renamed to 1.  So with that information we found Suzie and Marshall,s house quite quickly.  Suzie looks well – like a fast runner.  And with some questioning, confessed yes she is training with guys and doing track workouts to help her speed in ½ marathons and 10k races.  She’s fast! 

Suzie’s sister, Linda, was visiting from Chicago and they had planned a day of shopping.   Linda is recovering from major surgery so was moving a bit slower than usual, so she was staying home and resting.   Suzie asked if I wanted to come with to her hair appointment and Bob was more than happy to hang-out in the RV, eat his breakfast and catch-up on facebook etc.  Buck was pretty, well really, really content to run around playing with their Brittany Spaniel, Jax in the big fenced in backyard.

We got home from the hair appointment and Suzie made lunch – grilled cheese and ham, watermelon and one of my favorites, wafer cookies.  Mary, Suzie’s youngest daughter was home from her freshman year of college so she joined us. 

Bob suggested I go shopping, so since he thought that was ok not to get back on the road right away I decided that would be fun to see the downtown area of Grand Junction.  Construction in the street area – a really nice upgrade of bricks and landscaping was well underway and it was beautiful what was already complete.  Linda said usually they have many more sculptures.  I was sorry I forgot the camera, because the ones that didn’t have to get moved during the construction were really fun.  One bronze stature was a young girl riding a bike.

When Linda comes to town Suzie and Linda go shopping for clothes and home décor.  Linda owned her own business making draperies.  She helped design Suzie’s remodel of the kitchen and entry area.  She reminds me of Nanc, they are just good at knowing what would really look nice and they know how to figure it out. 

Shopping was fun!  Small, upscale shops, not too overwhelming.  We found everything from fun shoes, purses, jewelry and clothes.  They even tried on dresses.  We didn’t have much luck in the home décor area but we were ready to get back to the house.  I knew shopping would be fun with those two, they remind me of my sisters!  And with Linda slowed down I knew it wouldn’t be an all day affair – lucky for me!

Back at the house we visited in their beautiful back yard.  Linda designed the landscaping and Suzie did the block retaining wall building and planting.  Her Iris, roses, and lilac bushes were all blooming and the air smelt wonderful!  

We decided we should probably get on the road so said our goodbyes and started up the RV for it’s usual engine warm-up.  Once I learned early on I had at least 10 minutes once the engine was started I was much more in tune with our pull-out schedule.  While we were warming the rig, Suzie came running out to ask if we could stay for dinner.  Marshall had been working all day and only come home around lunch-time long enough to change for a run, check out Bob’s foot, confirm it was broken, and go back to work.  He was going to come home for a little while around dinner time, but then had to leave for a work dinner.  He and his partners were meeting with a prospective new doctor-partner and his wife.   We would be able to have a cocktail before he had to leave.  So as usual Bob asked me what I thought – excuse me, did I mention Suzie was making Shrimp Scampi for dinner?  We stayed. I said I’d make dessert if Mary could drive me to a grocery store to get the ingredients for the easy cheese cake.  Mary said sure since her spinach artichoke dip would be just about ready to come out of the oven when we got back. 

Marshall came home, beverages and ice in hand, as the cheese cake was coming out of the oven so he made the drinks, Marguerites for Suzie and I.  We had great conversations and laughter learning about the time they rented an RV and tried to find a spot to park in San Francisco.  Marshall had to leave so Suzie and I got started on dinner.  Dinner was fabulous – Bob enjoyed the noodles and dessert.  We said our goodbyes for the second time, more hugs and well wishes for our safe travel, Linda’s complete recovery and Marshall and Suzie’s fun time in the Memorial 10k they were running with 40,000 other runners.

We left in the dark and rain.  Eric had called Bob earlier in the night and said we have to drive in daylight to see the spectacular sights, and said we had missed magnificent scenery driving in dark last night.  So I suggested we pull into a truck stop, and I found one on the trucking map that was only about 15 miles from Suzie’s.  The road running along the Colorado River was very windy, and I was glad we pulled over to sleep for the night – not driving in the rain was a good idea.