Going Home

A week or so ago I had an email from my brother saying my Dad wanted all of us kids to come home for a special family meeting on Saturday. There are 6 of us - except for Jerry, who lives in Oklahoma, we all made it!

Ireland Siblings with Dad

It was short notice and 500 miles from me so (due to the price of fuel right now) I had decided that I would not go. Then on Friday I went to lunch with my friend Linda...as we were sitting chatting over our sandwiches she asked me how quick could I be ready to go. She helped me see that I should follow my heart...that at 85 my dad is not going to be with us that much longer...and the cost of the trip should not be the biggest consideration. Then she said, "You need to go, and I need an adventure so let's just do it!" I love her spontaneity!

We were on the road in about an hour! Since her vehicle gets much better gas mileage than mine, she drove. We went most of the way on Friday and spent the night with son Dan's family in Sundance WY, then went on to South Dakota in the morning. It was a wonderful day spent with my brothers and Dad. We accomplished most of the things Dad needed, and truly enjoyed being together. We were at my brother's Bed and Breakfast where we were treated like honored guests. Such fun and great hospitality...my sister-in-law is the most awesome, gracious hostess...and the most wonderful cook...our meals were so delicious! In the evening my niece Nicki and her hubby came and stayed the night too, so we had a lovely visit with them too.

It was a crazy wild trip but so much fun! Both coming and going we drove over the Bighorn Mountains on the Lovell route where we saw so many wildflowers, tons of snow up high, and lots of wildlife - deer and pronghorn antelope with their new babies (oh, so cute), four moose - one had a wonderful rack still in velvet...such a beautiful drive. Sunday morning before we headed home we went to my Dad's and spent an hour or so with him; then on the way back we made a quick side-trip over to Deadwood as Linda had never been there. We are thinking we want to plan a trip when we can stay longer and do the walking tours, go to boot hill and take tons of pictures of all the historic things there....I'm game!