Happy 50th birthday to Me!

Wow, as my husband asked me this morning as we snuggled in bed, “Did you ever think you would turn 50?” That would be a hard no for an answer. But it is starting out so good, I hope and pray the next 10 years go even better!

We’re up early, because of the time change. Ron made me breakfast in bed, my favorite WW friendly morning meal, Breakfast Tacos. Lowfat Eggos, scrambled eggs, a dash of fake syrup and cheese. Delicious! Now I’m going to snuggle up in bed a little longer and have some quiet time while Ron watches his morning news.

Still in bed, getting ready to do some writing. Perfect birthday so far. Ron keeps refilling the coffee cup and I get to keep working. Couldn’t ask for more!

Ron is spoiling me badly, he’s even doing the laundry, and trust me THIS is not normal for him. On top of that, he’s making sure I don’t have to get out of bed, which isn’t easy. The bed on the RV lifts up for storage, we use it for our dirty laundry. I’m sitting at the top of the bed working. When he said he’d do the laundry I said, “I guess I’ll have to move.”. He was adamant I didn’t have to, he could work around me. And he did. That is one good man right there, I know I’m blessed . I did eventually get out of bed around 9:15 a.m. MST.

Weather today is perfect. We’re off to Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond, this is life at 50. We’re heading to Garden of the Gods this afternoon for a festival. Since it’s my birthday and I get to do whatever I want, I talked to Jill on the way to Walmart. How could my 50th birthday go by without hearing her voice? I wouldn’t be where I am today without her love and support.

My birthday means a hat shower, just throw on clothes and go. I’m wearing my shirt from Pete’s event last Feb. I’m praying for him today.

Ron said no on bringing home ice melt:-(. I thought it would be good to have on hand for the one snow a year we get, apparently, he does not agree. The view when we walked out of Walmart once again surprised me. Then again while sitting at a light on our way to Bed Bath and Beyond, I look right and am once again surprised. I’m still not used to seeing the beautiful mountains everywhere I turn.

Ron grilled us delicious burgers for lunch. I wrote out some postcards, and chilled with the pups. A lovely first morning of this new decade for me. I was serenaded by Leslie, and after her chemo treatment none the less. She is an amazing woman.

Thought this fella was cute we saw in the campground when dumping trash. I loved the flowers. And we are in Colorado, not surprised to see these chairs.

The weather is perfect for a visit to Garden of the Gods. Colorado Springs is 6035 ft. above sea level. I had to google what the PPM and PPA stickers on the car in front of use meant. PPM is Pike Peak’s Marathon, PPA is Pike Peak’s Ascent. I’m thinking the guy driving the truck is in pretty good shape. The traffic is very slow around here, no one is in a hurry, which is good. An opportunity for me to practice patience like I don’t have at home.

When I checked in yesterday, they had a flier for a Folk Arts Festival to benefit the Historical Rock Ledge Ranch. The event started today at noon and runs thru Sunday. I thought it would be a fun way to spend my fiftieth. Bless Ron’s heart, all he wanted to do was go check out Garden of the Gods, but he was a trooper and let me go to the festival first. I would have never known I wasn’t in Virginia, or Pennsylvania, or anywhere I’ve attended this type of thing. The merchandise is similar, the food is similar, there’s usually some kind of unique local food you can’t get anywhere else, other than that, similar. On my 50th birthday, I thought a funnel cake was acceptable:-). Of course, there is one thing that is like nowhere else, the view. Turning around and seeing the Garden of the Gods is amazing!

I’m wearing my “A Mile for Pete” shirt; when we were handing our tickets over to the lady at the entrance, she asked who Pete was. I was surprised when she asked, I’d forgotten what shirt I was wearing. I must of had a look on my face that told her more than my words, because she had such a loving reaction. I told her he’s a friend battling cancer. The instant understanding that came across her face made me want to cry. I don’t know whether she had fought the battle personally or someone close to her had, but she knew it’s not an easy battle. I could see the knowledge in her eyes. When we were leaving, she caught my eye and gave me a very special smile. I have a feeling Pete has another prayer warrior praying for him.

Rock ledge Ranch was not at all what I expected, but then I’d never heard of it before yesterday so how could I have any expectations? On the path on the way in we had the rattlesnake beware sign, my first time ever seeing one. I loved the wagon the best, all I could think about was Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family crossing the prairie in one of those. She is truly my hero. My favorite part in the series of books is the one and only time she ever talked about Almanzo, her husband kissing her when they were courting. We didn’t get to hear the presentation the sweet lady below was doing, but she was making something that looked interesting. I loved the authenticity of the museum. I could still feel the people from the past in the rooms as we walked through them. Life then was so different from what we know now.

Finally we set out on the bike ride Ron so desperately wanted to take, only to find out because of the festival it was closed. Plus, we were both afraid of seeing a rattlesnake. There were other trails we could have ridden, but they were narrow; narrow means snakes to me. I did not want to meet a rattlesnake on my 50th birthday. We also thought they might be more mountain bike trails than Townie bike trails.

And I had an amazing moment, truly for me. I haven’t even told Ron yet, he’ll find out when he reads this. We had gone as far as we could on this particular path, Ron road ahead of me while I was taking pictures. I was trying to get a good picture of the windmill, I didn’t even notice this big boy in the corner. He didn’t notice me. I heard him snort and I turned to see him. My instant reaction was fear, but then his magnificent beauty over came my fear. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful beast before. I was mesmerized with him, when I realized he had just noticed I was there. Before I could say stop, he ran off. I realized then this huge beast was more afraid of me than I was of him. People have told me this before about horses, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in there eyes. My heartstrings were touched by the moment.

I’m sorry I keep repeating myself, but breathtaking is the only way to describe Garden of the Gods. I’ve had so many breathtaking moments on this trip, I’m sure it sounds old. The good Lord just amazes me, so many breathtaking things He has done in this world. We were too tired to walk the trail through the garden today. The temperature had risen as well. We’re going to try and walk the trail one morning before we leave. The look on Ron’s face as we drove by the big red rocks for the first time was priceless. He was completely captivated with them. As a post script, I learned the next morning there was a climbing accident with 3 climbers on my birthday, thankfully none life threatening.

We arrived back to the campground just as our new neighbors were backing into their sight. Their camper is an Imagine, the same type my brother has. I loved my texting conversation with him on my birthday. As a disclaimer, no one thinks Imagine’s are “Shitboxes,” it’s an inside joke because of how easily things break on an RV in general. My little brother’s text below Matt’s made me cry. My brothers made me feel very loved today.

We stayed in after our very physical day. Ron grilled pork chops. I worked on my blog for awhile, then we had a double feature movie night: ” Little Big Farm” and the”The Hustle.” The first movie was an excellent documentary I highly recommend. The second one, neither of us made it through, we both fell asleep. The time change is messing with us a little bit, we’re up at 5:00 a.m. and tired by 7:00 p.m. The air is extremely dry, definitely need to bring a humidifier on the next trip.

Thanks to my sister-in-law Bonnie, I learned there was a nationwide full moon tonight. A nationwide rare full moon on Fri 13th won’t happen again until August 13, 2049. The last time one of these occurred was on Oct. 13th, 2000. Another fun fact, if we were at home, I wouldn’t be able to see it technically until Sept. 14h at 12:33 a.m. Because we’re in Colorado, I get to see it on my actual birthday! I started praying a new prayer; may Ron and I live to see the next one together. I’ll be 70, he’ll be 71 and 3/4, may it be so!

And that is a wrap for an extremely blessed 50th birthday. My brother’s prayer for me came true. I had the best birthday ever, so fantastic, it will live in my heart forever. Ending the day with a heart full of gratitude.