Colorado Rocky Mountain High

     I am certainly no stranger to arriving in a new place and feeling a bit of culture shock... or just shock in general. When I was 20 years old I spent a semester studying abroad in London, England. I will never forget how eager I was on that long flight from Los Angeles to London! We arrived at the airport and took a chartered bus from London Heathrow straight to our flat in South Kensington (London's equivalent of Beverly Hills). The drive from the airport to our flat made that place feel huge! Upon arrival, I was told I would be sharing this small two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with four other girls. Umm, what?!? Five girls and ONE bathroom??? It was dinnertime so our coordinator whipped out a map, pointed to where we were and pointed to where we needed to walk to get food. We were tired, we were hungy, it was dark and we had no idea where we were in this big city. It was overwhelming.

     Arriving in Colorado Springs felt oddly similar. When we drove into our new city it was at the peak of rush hour traffic (Thursday afternoon at 4:45pm) and even though Eric and I are both from Orange County California, this place felt daunting. I should add, Colorado drivers are INSANE and that made the roads feel like an unsafe place to be when you're not familiar with them (imagine speeds upwards of 90mph, crazy tailgating, and motorcyclists without helmets!). The first thing we did was drive by the house that we decided to rent sight unseen from California. I did extensive amounts of research and worked with a realtor to find exactly what we were looking for. Even though the neighborhood looked very nice the houses were SO close together that it just... well, it didn't feel perfect. Since we would be living in temporary lodging at Peterson Air Force Base for two weeks until the house was ready for us, we went there next. It was yet another discouraging feeling to find out that the temporary lodging facilities we would be staying in were the "pet facilities" and not the brand new facilities we had heard so much about.

     Just like London, things here in Colorado got better. Much better. For the record, the bathroom situation in London was NEVER an issue. And, like London, we quickly got acquainted and FELL IN LOVE with this city.

    The ten days that we spent living in temporary lodging facilities at Peterson Air Force Base were mostly full of getting the mundane, not-so-fun things done. You know, dealing with car registration, change of address, Eric's in-processing at work, and of course dealing with an in-processing snafu. It wouldn't be the Air Force if it all went smoothly, right? Of course, we also fit in lots of FUN things too! For instance, we made the first homemade meal we'd eaten in a week. What can I say? It's the little things!

We also:
- Walked through our local malls and got acquainted with The Shops at Briargate- love that place!

- Did TONS of hiking, including Garden of the Gods, Garden of Eden trail and Raspberry Mountain.

- Got together with friends who are also stationed here! Yay for friends!

- Drove up to Denver for the day and started to plan out in my mind all the fun things we would do up there!

- Ate at plenty of amazing new restaurants- such as Edelweiss, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., The Rabbit Hole, Jack Quinn's, and Shuga's.

-Drove around the Air Force Academy- such a beautiful campus!

- Checked out the beautiful Broadmoor Hotel and drove through the surrounding neighborhoods picking out our future dream home.

Then, we FINALLY got the keys to our house! We spent five nights sleeping on an air mattress in our empty place before receiving our goods. It made the day the mover's pulled up to our house with our precious stuff all that more exciting! After we received our belongings we were determined to get our house in normal working order, and fast! This was because my parents were driving my car out to us from California and would be at our front door in just three days! We worked our rear ends off renovating furniture, diving into multiple DIY projects, getting organized, and making a house a HOME!

That Sunday my parents arrived and we had lots of fun with them in the short time they were here. The day they got here we showed them all around the local bases (Peterson and Schriever AFB), drove around Colorado Springs taking them to some of the places we had just become acquainted with ourselves, and then went to Crystal Park Cantina in Green Mountain Falls for dinner. They have the BEST raspberry margaritas! Yummy!

On Monday we stopped in Monument for breakfast on our way to Golden, Colorado to go to the Coor's Factory!

That night we went to Edelweiss for dinner. It is a unique family owned restaurant that serves German food and beer. Yum, right?! The following day we walked through the shops in Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City, admired the red rocks and natural beauty of Garden of the Gods, and had an amazing dinner on the back patio of Shuga's. The weather was perfect and the cocktails had us all feelin happy!



The next day I had to drive my folks to the airport and as hard as that was I was very much looking forward to getting into my routine and figuring out my new normal. Real life has now taken over but, no worries because we still have had time to fit in some fun!

Such as:

-Visiting Eric's brother's family in Denver! They just had a baby girl and it was so great to see them!

-Hanging out with friends from my hometown in California who just moved to Denver and going hiking with them in our local mountains

-Going to a Sky Sox games! They are the local AAA team for the Colorado Rockies and the stadium is just a mile from our house. Score!

-Going to a Rockies Game in Denver with friends

-Heading to Glenwood Springs, CO for Labor Day Weekend! (It was soooo amazing that this will get it's own post!)

-Buying our snowboarding passes!!! Can't wait!

-Attending various spouse funtions, squadron funtions, promotion parties, and just parties in general. We have met and continue to meet so many great people!

-Hosting friends at our house for dinner and drinks! Making it feel like HOME!

As for me, I recently celebrated my first day of navigating around town without my GPS!!! I have found my local grocery store (which is the Commissary on Peterson AFB- it is amazing!), have found a class at my local gym that I like, and may have even found my new hairstylist!! You know, the big things :) Next week I will be getting my eyebrows waxed by someone new which is always nerve-wracking, and soon I will be starting the training and licensing for my new job!!!

Lastly, I should probably mention that I love our new house! Especially the layout and the location! I'm even starting not to mind the houses being so close together. I mean, at least people will be able to hear me scream when Eric is TDY... and I'm sleeping all alone... in the dark.

Yes, Colorado Springs has made its way into our hearts <3



A Gift

Today would have been my grandmother's 85th Birthday.

She was a very special person and her untimely death in 2008 was devastating to family and friends.

Towards the end of her life, my grandmother pieced together a memoir that she titled My September Song. Although I have read this memoir from cover to cover, I still pick it up from time to time to read a chapter to my husband or simply to hear her voice again. To bring her back to life, if you will. Since today was her birthday (and yesterday, what would have been my grandparents 61st wedding anniversary!) I wanted so badly to hear her voice again! I opened the book, admired a picture of my young grandma Val on the left, then looked to the page on the right- The Preface- and read it again for what must be the thirtieth time.

It reads:

     I have had a wonderful life! Mine was a very happy childhood in unusually pleasant places, thanks to my amazing parents. Now I want to write some stories for you, cherished children Brad, Ron, Laura, amazing grandchildren Matthew, Sarah, Nathan, Jessica, Kristina, Carolyn; dear greatgrands Chase and Colby. Maybe even next generations will be reading this. I hope you will enjoy knowing and imagining more about your family and part of what makes you YOU!
     Grandson Matthew made a computer for me, as his dad Brad gave his grandfather a recorder. Soon afterward I started to write short stories about events in my childhood.
     Needing encouragement, over several years I've joined in two different Life Story groups with others to share writings and make suggestions. Somehow a busy life keeps getting in the way of writing, just as it did for my parents. At the beginning of this year 2008 I have time to edit and organize my stories. Focusing is hard because reading, gardening, walking and swimming are really my favorite activities! But here goes.
     Daddy and Mother often told me about their childhoods. Daddy tucked us into bed with stories of growing up on a huge wheat farm, and Mother described how her mother and father met, and often added incidents about her life in high school. They both frequently told stories of their college life. After I left home, and even more since they are both gone, I have often wished that I had those stories to read.
     My dad was a storyteller more than a writer. He delighted in telling stories to us children about his life on the farm, embellished with lots of interesting details of adventures with his favorite horse. When our oldest son Brad asked his grandfather to record them for baby Matthew, Daddy enthusiastically completed the "Dewey Stories." Thos tapes are precious!
     Mother was an excellent writer. I encouraged her to write about her parents and grandparents. What she told me about them was fascinating. She could trace basic facts about generations back to a cousin of Bonnie Prince Charlie of Scotland. Only when she was over eighty years old and her handwriting too shaky to write much did she try to tell me details. That was usually while I was fixing dinner and getting ready to go to work.
     My second-hand memory is not vivid, and I did not know my grandparents very well. We lived two thousand miles away from them when I was growing up and only saw them every four years. Mother did chart family records of birth and death dates, dating back five generations to 1752. That is a treasure to build on. Daddy's family records from Germany are not extensive.
     I am more interested in knowing what was important to my ancestors, why they came to the United States, moved to other states, what work they did, and glimpses of personality. Those glimpses can only be inferred from most genealogy sources.
     I've written from my perspective, hoping that one of you will be curious to read and sometime write your own stories.

Val Hafner
Buena Park, California
March, 2008


And then it dawned on me, with this blog, I am doing just that.

Hello, Is There Anybody In There?

Please excuse the LONG hiatus. We've been a weeeeee bit busy!

Since celebrating many big life events at the river last May (refer to previous post) Eric and I have been on "the go" to say the least. After that river trip he took me on a vacation through wine country and up the California coast to Monterey. It's a trip that we have both done before (we are California kids afterall) but had been wanting to experience together for quite a while. Our impending move pushed these plans into high gear and with my birthday coming up Eric saw it as the perfect opportunity to surprise me with an amazing road trip. It truly deserves a post all to itself and therefore, I will fill you in on our life from that point until now! Ready?!

After my birthday, Eric pinned on CAPTAIN!

We invited both of our immediate families up to our house at Edwards to attend the promotion ceremony. And of course to celebrate afterwards at Domingo's- a local Mexican joint in beautiful Boron, CA!

Our first big purchase with Eric's Captain pay? Additional life insurance policies for both of us! We are big spenders ;) In all seriousness, this was very exciting for us! We love planning and preparing for our future!

The day before Eric promoted we got official orders! And we were ecstatic that they indeed said we would still be moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado in July! With the time we still had left in California we:

-Went on a tour of the flight line at Edwards AFB! Its not everyday you get to see an F-22!

-Celebrated our first wedding anniversary by purchasing a new car! A Subaru Outback! (Our other big purchase with Captain pay!)

-And celebrated with a date at The Melting Pot (even though we were both exhausted)! We like fondue :)



-Fit in as many nights with good friends as possible!

-Spent many weekends by the beach soaking up the California sun and ocean breeze.

-Enjoyed dates driving down PCH (in our new car!) and stopping at all of our favorite places including Fashion Island and our favorite restaurants.

-Celebrated 4th of July on the boat in Long Beach!

-Opened gifts at a family Going Away BBQ! Thanks everyone!

-And finally, packed up our house at Edwards AFB and prepared for our move to Colorado Springs!

Our last night in California we stayed at The Dossett's house (since we were homeless). In fact, the week leading up to the move I stayed with my family in Orange County and Eric slept on a friends couch. Thanks for taking us in, friends! Our last night at Edwards was so much fun with Becky and Jimmy! We ate an amazing homemade meal- the last we would have for a while (thanks, Becky!) and drank tasty adult beverages (as Kenley would say) around the campfire under the desert stars. It was perfect.

The next day our road trip to Colorado began! Here is a quick recap:

A squadron Going Away Party in the morning. They roasted Eric. It was awesome.

He's pretty loved around there!

Saying goodbye to Edwards AFB in our rear view mirrors as we drove away for good.

Stopping in Las Vegas for the last In-N-Out fix we would have for a LONG time.

Spending our first night on the road in St. George. Then driving through Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef National Park. Longest drive ever! But, beautiful!

Zion NP

Checkerboard Mesa, Zion NP

Bryce Canyon

We stopped for lunch outside of Zion and Brody met a baby pony!...

Amongst other wildlife...





 That evening we were exhausted and spent the night in Moab, Utah outside of Arches National Park. We kicked our third day on the road off there the next morning.

On our final day we checked out gorgeous Aspen, Colorado and the Maroon Bells, drove through the Continental Divide, dropped down into Manitou Springs, and finally arrived in Colorado Springs- our new home!

The spectacular Maroon Bells

Surreal!

Continental Divide

Colorado has welcomed us with open arms and we have done so much already since arriving here on July 19th! I can't wait to fill you in on our adventures! But, this post is long enough and I need to get ready for a wine and cheese party this evening. Life is good in Colorful Colorado, my friends!

Miss you all!