Impromptu Vacation: Rifle Gap, CO

Daniel and I had been toying with the idea for quite some time of sending me off to a hotel somewhere for a few days as a scrapbook getaway. Daniel was planning it for an anniversary gift to me. The girls and I decided to surprise Daniel by changing the plans a bit.

Instead, I stayed home and we found an area of Colorado that would not be raining for a few days and sent him and the kids (and Digger, too!) on their first camping trip. They went tent camping at Rifle Gap in western Colorado. It's a beautiful reservoir area within a couple minutes' drive of Rifle Falls which has hiking trails, water falls, and caves to explore. While they were there they went hiking, enjoyed a guided nature tour about the local beavers, climbed through caves, swam in the reservoir, and generally had a blast. The weather was perfect for them and Digger learned to sleep in his crate and to use the bathroom outside, two things that we'd been working to get him to do at home.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... I invited Sarah over for a sleepover and to help me get the house in good shape for our annual foster parent recertification inspection. My friend Dawn also joined us the first night for a girls' scrapbooking mini-party. I went to a crop at my local scrapbook store on Friday night and just barely got all the housework done before Daniel and the kids arrived back home on Saturday. They rushed in just in time for us to give our newest babysitter Amy instructions for the kids' dinner and Daniel and I to rush out the door. We had a training meeting in Commerce City for the Republican party so we could learn how to legally register people to vote.

The next day, Sunday, we went to the Colorado Rockies' "Faith Day at the Rockies" game and walked around the entire stadium trying to find the voter registration booth. There was some sort of mixup and the people in charge from the McCain campaign never showed up. We went home frustrated and exhausted. The following Saturday we walked neighborhoods knocking on doors of unregistered voters. We ended up getting rained out, but it was still fun.