Denver 2018 day 16 Rocky Mountain Plans Get Sty (mied)

August 11, 2018

This day we needed to rapidly disassemble our basement base, and assemble the final bits of our luggage. Breakfast was conducted in a large pile of worry and checking, as warning texts were sent that free flight changes were allowed.  The weather predicted thunderstorms back home somewhere between perpetually and “freakin’ forever.”  This was the same forecast we flew out in, and they were due to stop back east several hours before we landed,  so we decided to risk it.

In hindsight we should have given up and gone back to the zoo…or at least El Rancho.

(I may be obsessed.)

Anabelle found some Kahoot quizzes we could play, between reading, watching television, and finally succeeding in camera timer shenanigans.

For lunch she attempted to teach me the art of better sandwich presentation using a small garnish of a spinach leaf to lend some classiness.

My pretzel and spinach happy to see you sandwich, did not meet her classiness requirements.

While we loaded the car, Anabelle played Uno against the couch and lost.  Then she played me and won handily.  I really need to up my game.

The timer photos finally went off without a hitch right before we herded into Silvermist the Fabulous Monkey and Uncle Roy’s pick up.

We dropped Rosa at our terminal off first with the luggage. They went to short term parking and Anabelle came with me to return our car.  Easy as pie!

Until the pie smacked us in the face with gravel hidden in it.

Half way to the rental place, Rosa called to tell us the flight switched directly from "on time" to "cancelled." Nice way to plan ahead airline people.  She checked other options and conveyed them through Anabelle and a large amount of phone static, stress and confusion on all our parts.

When I heard she needed us to get back fast, it sounded like it was because she got us another flight that day and we needed to adjust tickets, ID’s and other travely type stuff.

I returned the car; we ran to the tram and tried to force it to drive faster with our minds.

Under the circumstances, it’s lucky we all ended up in the right airport together.  We were not on any flights that day; rather Rosa wanted me to confirm which flight we should take the next day. Eliminating anything with near infinite layovers in other sections of the country receiving biblical level thunderstorms, the only option was the same flight time the next night.

The big problem at this point was getting six of us and an impressive sized luggage mound back to Titi Luzma’s in a single pick-up truck.

Uncle Roy earned more gratitude beyond his excellent barbecue skills by taking all the bags, plus Titi, Rosa and Abuelita back home, and then coming back to get us.

Anabelle and I read in the arrival pick up location and found another Idaho license plate (woo.)  On the way home we finally found our first Rhode Island.  (Slightly larger Woo.)

We all kind of had the same idea about food.

(The idea was: we needed it desperately.)

They dropped us off and Rosa and Anabelle went with Titi Luzma to grab some Pizza Hut flatbread and KFC…um…everything I think. 

If either of us had any idea where that thirty-two ounce beer was, I wouldn’t have had to worry about if it could survive the luggage compartment pressurization.

Anabelle tried to avenge herself against the couch in Uno while Rosa and I walked to Walmart to get the supplies we didn’t actually need the last time we went to it, and print that morning’s pictures.

Considering the local herbs, my Dog Food For Chairs hat didn’t have that many effects on people.  This night it scored a direct hit in Walmart on a guy with a Nirvana shirt.  He may still be standing there staring in puzzlement.

Due to the late news of the extra day, Rosa felt a little funny going to Walmart in her pajamas.  However:

1) Her pajamas consisted of an oversized leopard shirt and Guardians of the Galaxy lounge pants.

And

2) There was a woman in the store wearing a flannel shirt and no pants.

Rosa didn’t feel funny anymore.

We came home to find Anabelle introduced Titi to the rather amazing re-imagining of Snow White, Mirror Mirror.  She’d been planning to watch it since reading Lily Collins’s autobiography on last year’s vacation.  Since it was an edited version, and we missed the beginning. We watched it again as soon as we got home. Yet another film in our collection that should have done better financially.

Like almost every movie we own now that I think about it.

She crushed me at Uno once again. Those couch practice sessions must have helped.

We’d come full circle, sleeping on the sofas and floor again like the first night.

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