2011 Cruz Family Vacation

My lanta, it's been forever since my last blog.

So much has happened in these past couple of months. But for now, I'm going to fill you in on the 2011 Cruz Family Vacation. Let me first tell you.. it's rare for us to take family vacations. Growing up, our vacations were staying at the Holiday Inn in Lubbock for a night. Simple get-aways, but wouldn't trade the memories for the world.

March 17th came.. when Ben Cox was in his ski accident. Lord knew we all wanted to be there so bad. We decided we'd plan a trip to go see him once he got home. We planned for early June, mid June, and finally the end of June. Changing each time for delayed discharge dates.

When we found out the final discharge date would be the 28th of June, we planned to go see him the 1st of July and leave on the 2nd. We wanted to give them time to somewhat adjust. As we looked at the route, Mom noticed we'd be semi-close to a few places she'd visited years ago. There were places she'd visited when she was married. Her, my dad, and I. Of course, I was far too young to remember any of it. Mom loved the thought of making new memories! Here is how our little trip turned into a vacation:

Wednesday (June 29th):

We woke up around 5:00 a.m. and hit the road around 5:30 a.m. I started off in the driver's seat with Mom in the passenger's seat and Sara and Tigo in the back. We picked up breakfast at McDonald's and headed north. We had a long drive ahead of us.. but jamming to some good tunes helped it to not be such a drag! We passed through New Mexico and finally made it to COLORADO! On our way to our KOA cabin in Canon City, we stopped at the Bishop's Castle! One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. There were places in the castle that were flimsy... kind of scary. Mom and I only climbed to the 3rd floor.. Tigo made it to the very top. I'm not quite sure how far Sara made it, but I'm pretty sure she made it further than mom and I did! If I ever go back, which I hope I do, I will wear the right shoes and hopefully make it to the very top. It was full of stained glass. Different windows, different designs. The railing was like phenomenal.. beautiful castle. Made of bricks. It most definitely brought out the princess in me. After we spent a couple of hours soaking in as much beauty as possible, we hopped in the car and drove about 40 minutes to our KOA.

We checked in at the KOA then unpacked. We'd stayed in KOA Cabin's before.. but it'd been so long ago that I had forgotten the set up of things. Our cabin had one full size bed, a set of bunk beds, a table, a mirror, an a/c window unit, a bench, a coat hanger, and a bench on the porch. Did you notice I didn't say anything about a bathroom?? It's because we didn't have one in our cabin. Instead, they have the showers and bathrooms in a different building. From the back window, you could see the swimming pool, pet playground, and a HUGE slide. The campsite even had a go cart racing area. Our view from the front window and door were breathtaking... endless mountains.

That afternoon, we ate and swam.

Thursday (June 30th):

That morning, we met the shuttle (which was really just a KOA van). They transported us to the Royal Gorge, which stood about 10-15 miles from the campsite. I should mention that God blessed us with $5.50 coupons off each one of ours admission. We spotted the bridge. We realized how high it stood. Mom and I grabbed each other's hand and began walking. Mom and I walked hand in hand, across the bridge, as we felt it sway. Car's drove passed us, making the walk that much more bumpy. I could see the river and rocks beneath us, through the cracks of the bridge's wood planks. But, WE DID IT! We crossed the bridge. Both Mom's and my hands were sweating like crazy, but we did it! We enjoyed the zoo, a magic show, gift shops, a performance at the gazebo, funnel cakes, and a shoot out in Old Town, and some good ole ice cream! We met back with the shuttle at 1 and he took us back to the cabin.

We jumped in our bathing suits and swam to our hearts happiness. It rained while we were in the pool. Mmmmm.. the smell was amazing. The clouds and rain over the mountains were beautiful. The sounds of thunder made my heart smile. Oh how I had missed thunderstorms.

Friday (July 1st):

We loaded up the car and checked out of the cabin. Our next destination was Pikes Peak.. 14,110 ft high! The drive up to the top of the mountain was one of the L...O...N...G...E...S...T drives ever. The reason not being because we were going no faster than 20 mph.. but because for most of the time, we were driving only feet away from drop offs. AND, they were doing road construction! At that elevation, road construction is the last thing i want to see! It took us 1 - 2 hours to make it to the top. Because of the curves, there were times it looked like you were driving straight into heaven.. or straight off the mountain. The view up there was unbelievable. It was almost as if we were in an airplane.. but we weren't. We were on flat land at the top of a mountain that stood over 14,000 ft high. We were eye level with the clouds. What a beauty. When you fly over West Texas, you see circles or half circles everywhere... we saw something much different. I don't even know how to explain it.. you could see little mountains and towns.. bodies of water.. it was too much for my eyes to even absorb.. if you can even understand that.

The drive down wasn't half as bad as the drive up. At least when we were coming down, we could see where we were headed (most of the time). We were so glad to make it down.

Our next destination was HAXTUN! :D Of course... we had to drive through the hell of Denver to get there. Yes, it was really THAT bad. We arrived to the sweet little town of Haxtun and quickly found the Cox Home. (: Haxtun reminded me so much of Plainview.. but yet not. It was a quite smaller.. but it felt so welcoming. Mel greeted us inside. We walked in to the beautiful house and she led us to Ben - sleepy ol' grandpa laying in bed. We let Ben and Ken sleep while we cooked dinner. Mexican was on the menu! I chatted with Mel and helped her around the house while the rest of the gang cooked. When supper was done, we woke the boys and sat down to eat. Come to find out, this was their first home-cooked meal since the accident... I hope it was good. It was cool to see Ben handle his fork and hold his drink. He's pretty amazing. We hung out that night, simply spent some good quality time together. We were all able to get to know each other better. We headed to Sterling where we spent the night in a sweet cottage-type hotel.

Saturday (July 2nd):

Once again, we loaded up the car. Saturday's final destination was in Kansas. We went to Haxtun to hang out for a little bit and say our "see-you-laters". For lunch, Mom, Sara, and Tigo made arroz con pollo and salad! YUMM. I was busy keeping Ben, Ken, and Mel company. (: That afternoon we met one of their sweet family friends.. whom now is our friend too! Ben told me where their kid photo album's were.. we looked at pictures for a great deal of time.. Ben explained who was who. Afterwards, Krista gave us a small tour of the little Haxtun. Ben wheeled himself around with us. Mom and Mel stayed home to organized Benjamin's closet. The time for us to leave came too soon. I didn't want to go. Bad weather looked as if it were headed for us. We debated whether to stay and spend the night or to go ahead and get to Kansas. Mom and I preferred to stay and Sara and Tigo were ready to get to Kansas. Mom went ahead with Sara and Tigo's choice.. considering we already stayed longer than planned. Departure sucked. I hated leaving. Still wish I didn't have to. Mel and Krista looked for ways to get me to stay.. but it just didn't work. I just have to believe God knows best. We enjoyed pizza together and then were on our way.

I can't wait to go back. (:

Our plan was to spend the night in Garden City and then drive to Mema and Papa's Ranch in Follett, on Sunday.

We left and headed for Garden City, Kansas.. where we made reservations at a nice hotel. As we kept driving.. the weather seemed to only get worse. The sky was dark and cloudy. Lightning was striking like crazy. I was beginning to get extremely worried. SEVERE thunderstorms at night, when it's DARK, in the middle of NOWHERE = not cool.. at all. We did get to experience lightning bugs! THOUSANDS of them.. it was amazing! ..We drove about 2 and a half hours from Haxtun.. finally hitting McCook, Nebraska. We decided it'd be best to stop instead of driving 2 and a half more hours, straight into the middle of the storm. We called and cancelled our reservations in Garden City. We stopped at 2 or 3 hotels.. all full. We agreed that we'd sleep in the car if we couldn't find a room somewhere. I already had knots in my shoulders.. sleeping in the car and staying put sounded just fine to me. Our last hope was at an Economy 8 Inn. They had room for us. THE. ONLY. PLACE. in town with a room. The receptionist informed us that just South of McCook, tornadoes were being spotted. THANK GOD WE STOPPED.

Sunday (July 3rd):

We woke up Sunday morning, enjoyed some continental breakfast, and left for FOLLETT, TX. As we drove through the small towns we were going to drive through the night before, we noticed trees broken, tree limbs everywhere. It was evident we made a wise choice by staying in McCook. The drive was beautiful. It was gorgeous, seeing the rollings hills... lavished with color. The grass was green and the crops looked healthy and full. It didn't take long for us to make it to Kansas. Right before crossing into Oklahoma, we stopped in Liberal. We visited Dorothy's house from the Wizard of Oz. It wasn't all I hoped it would be.. but that's okay. It was still something to see. (: We made it to the Hoover Ranch that afternoon! Let me inform you that the Rocking H Farm is one of my homes away from home. Mema always sets our beds up just for us! It was so nice being out in the country... I love stepping out on the porch and watching the deer graze... right there on the horizon. (: We ate dinner and then played marbles (Harvest style)! Papa Kerry and Tigo were a team. Mema Janet and Sara were a team. And Mom and I were a team. Kerry and Bub won the first round. Mom and I won the 2nd round!

Monday (July 4th):

This was the last day of vacation. Tigo and Papa tended to the cattle early that morning. Us "girly girls" (as Papa calls us) relaxed. Made it back to the big world of Plainview, around 8. Before heading home, we stopped at Harvest's 4th of July PARTY!

And that was the 2011 Cruz Family Vacation.


I am sure I didn't mention all details, information, and memories.. but this is plenty to read.
I must say, this vacation was the BEST one we've EVER had. I made memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.