French Hotel Premium Jigsaw Puzzle

Hi, Pixi! How long was your vacation?? You must move awfully fast! Hubby and I took a 2 week vacation last month, and I'm still not rested up yet! Our summary: 9 states, 5 national parks, 2 state parks, 12 hotels, 2 days at my sister's beautiful house in Washington state, at least 10 wild fires, about 50 potty stops, and a face plant in a Safeway store that left me with a stubbed toe, a twisted ankle, a swollen, bruised knee, a goose egg above my eyebrow, and a beaut of a black eye! What a trip! Even with a banged up body, we had a wonderful time. It was beautiful weather, and we saw a lot of beautiful parks that we had never seen before. God made such a wonderful world for our enjoyment! But my own bed has never felt better!

Dear Joyce, what a wonderful way to describe a fall, if it is OK with you I will use it next time I greet the concrete lol. Hugs.

Joyce that sounds like what happens to me on trips except the last one I was instead it seemed like every place we ate tried to food poison me. Ha ha but it didn't work I survived. If we didn't have odd things happen I guess the trip could be boring. It sure does make it memorable. I hope you feel better and i'm glad you weren't seriously hurt. Welcome home.

Hi Joyce: Your vacation sounds a lot like the driving marathons my mom and dad took us on when we were teens. We drove across country from NY to Oregon.
My husband also did a lot of driving--2000 miles--but most of it in Utah. My only terrible stomach day came when we visited Bryce. I could not finish the Queen's Garden trail.
I had planned 3 days each in 6 towns and a day near the airport for homebound flight. As things went, I didn't realize I booked our second flight as a pm (only 12 hours off when I tried to sign in for the plane and couldn't) and had to make a mad scramble to adjust bookings for the night. Luckily the places I had booked were flexible.
These days you have to set this sort of thing up so far in advance that I had to keep referring to a schedule I printed up as I couldn't remember what I booked--only generally where we were going. My husband would ask questions like how far to the next motel and I had to google it as I hadn't include the info in my schedule. I don't know how much longer a vacation like this will be possible for us but I'm grateful for this one 100%.

I agree...vacation planning is a real ordeal! Gone is the day of driving till you're tired and stopping at the next hotel that had a vacancy sign in their window. I had so many maps and printed hotel confirmations, they didn't all fit in one notebook. I was juggling them the whole way. And we even had 3 different GPSs because we kept losing signals on one or the other!
We hadn't had a real vacation in 20 years...so this one took a lot of preparation. Between the wheelchair, oxygen concentrator, 2 C-PAP machines, and 2 laptops, hauling everything in and out of the car to the hotel every night was quite a circus! My husband deserves a gold medal! Even with all the mishaps, I'm so grateful we were able to do all we did. I doubt that we will have many more trips like that again, but I sure hope we will be able to take more long-weekend vacations in the future. I have lived in Colorado since I was 7 years old and I haven't seen half of it! There's so much more to see!

Joyce, you live in one of the prettiest, most majestic states around. We visited once courtesy of being bumped off an airline and getting courtesy tickets anywhere in the country. I chose Colorado and have never regretted it. WE started in Idah Springs and spent 3 days going in and out of Denver and up the mountain near IS that has the botanical garden extension. From there we went to Manitou Springs, Monarch, visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on the way to Crested Butte, swung through Salida and Leadville to end up in Lake Dillon. Loved everything. Went up Pike's Peak, saw the 7 story waterfall and did several pastels of the area. Lake Dillon still hangs behind my bed, but I have since replaced Gothic Peak with a scene from the Canadian Rockies.
I hope you do get to see more of your state. We didn't go over the Gorge with the high bridge or get to the farther corners of the state. YOu do have the strangest weather tho. ;-)

I'm so glad you got to enjoy our state! I actually have seen all the places you mentioned...some of them when I was a kid and didn't know or care about what I was seeing. I need to return and actually take notice of the grandeur we have in Colorful Colorado.
I would also like to see the wonderful sites in adjoining states that are within a day or two drive of us: Mt Rushmore, southern Utah (! ), Grand Canyon, etc, etc. I wish we had taken these trips when we were younger and able to hike the trails and get out to see the sights. I would have loved to take my kids and grandkids along to show them more of God's beautiful creation. When our kids were young we spent almost all of our vacation time going to Boy Scout camps...wonderful memories in and of themselves!

Dear Joyce, hope you are feeling better. Every time I hear of Mt Rushmore, it brings to mind the Alfred Hitchcock movie where Cary Grant and an actress whose name escapes me at the moment, clambering over the four presidents carved into the mountain. What a feat to do that!!! Take care and God bless. Hugs.

Just hang on to a nose and swing into a mouth...then call for help! lol...:)

Thanks, Aussie! As for feeling better...I've resolved (is that the right word? ) myself to the fact that I'll never feel better, the MS is a progressive disease. I just have to roll with the punches and take each day one at a time. My mantra has become "Adapt! " As long as I keep a positive attitude, I can deal with the pain...

Joyce, I felt the same way. We had no extra money when we were younger. My son wasn't interested in Boyscouts but we did at least get out to see my parents in Arizona twice and they took us to Alamagordo--White Sands and the Space Museum and my brother twice so he got to visit the Exploratorium which is marvelous for anyone.
We all had one big adventure on our 25th when the 3 of us went to Nova Scotia.
I spent months culling through hiking trails books to find anything I thought we could do. There is precious little hiking good for oldies like us BUT the parks are wonderful and there are multiple paved trails and shuttles in Zion and Grand Canyon to keep the best views accessible. Just driving from Moab (Arches, Canyonlands et al) to points across the state until you reach St. George
provides an endless array of magnificence without your ever having to leave your car. I will offer a prayer you get to do that trip soon.

Thanks for all the ideas and prayers, Pixi! I can't wait for my husband to take time for another vacation...a short one this time!

Good luck, Joyce.

May your memories of your "someone" bring you joy as you are comforted in knowing he/she now sees God face-to-face. Trusting is the foundation of our faith - and the Holy Spirit is our reassurance of His Truth. God bless you, A.S.!

Robert Frost had it right.

"Life is all an act of faith. What are we without that?

And for you, aussie, to help you through your trials - "Believing something is possible against all odds is what gives us the strength to persevere." You will prevail, dear friend. I'll miss you this next week when I'm in Seattle, but will catch up on conversations the week after.

May God give you peace and beauty today aussie!!! Hugs!

Thank you Aknan and puzzlelover Hugs.

An PKenagy I appreciate your kind thoughts. It would have been easier if that was the case, but not so. That is if God is a woman who lives in Ohio. LOL - hugs.

Aussie, my thoughts and prayers are with you...I remember how shocked I was when you told us last year, and your shock must have been explosive in comparison. But here it is a year later and see how far you have come on your own! You are an awesome, strong woman who blesses all of us with her words of wisdom every day! You are loved!! May God continue blessing you as you follow Him...

So lovely Joyce, thank you. And I too am blessed by all those wonderful people on here, such as yourself. Hugs.

Lol