Short and sweet.

It didn’t matter that we’d just experienced a particularly difficult month, physically and emotionally. It didn’t matter that we’d just hosted a full house of loved ones for 6 days. It didn’t matter that we had a four-day window available between doctor’s visits and John’s Lasik eye surgery. It didn’t matter that it’s at least a 7-hour drive to Durango, leaving essentially only two days open. It didn’t matter that what I probably needed was downtime at home. When one’s best friend moves to OMAN for two (or three!) years and comes back to the States for a short visit, one makes it happen. And we did.

The whirlwind trip to Colorado was over as soon as it began. My dear friend Sarah and her family were back home for just a few more days, and her own Durango-based family wanted to soak up as much time with them as possible. We had to creatively juggle time with them. In between stolen hours with Sarah, Cordell, and Macy, we spent time with my mom and dad (bonus!). There were delicious family dinners, grilled on my folks’ BBQ. There were walks by the river with Cholula and plenty of time in the yard to count the apples and pears ripening on the trees. There was time to notice the beautiful flowers in full bloom around the house and spur a little family competition over cards. There was a big group breakfast out and a small, lovely dinner party in. There was baby-gawking at the park and bubble-blowing at the hot springs pool. There were my mom’s fabulous breakfast sammies. Best of all, there were quiet hours while Macy napped where Sarah and I could talk- really talk. No matter how well you try keep in touch, nothing compares to time together.

In the end, all the reasons the timing might have been off really didn’t matter at all. The trip was short but sweet, and full of love. Definitely worth it.

More of my travels. 

One year ago: A date night that involved a funicular.