Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Day the Second (and the third)



An event from the night before… C. bet that Alzbe would say some variation of the following phrase at least 250 times during our two day trip: “I’ve got to get a picture of that.”  By day the second, we must be at least at 50.  Because, as you know, that’s how it is on a Voboril family vacation.



We broke our fast by sharing scrambled “farm fresh” eggs from our neighbor south of Purgatory Ranch, bacon, and biscuits (some “baked” over the campfire a la C., others finished on the stove by Mom), and lots and lots of fruit.  Alzbe twisted her ankle running over to check out the biscuits in the campfire, but fortunately I am always over-prepared for disasters, so I had an ace bandage rolling around in the van for her.



One group opted for Church tours in the morning.  M., can you leave a comment to tell us about it?


Alzbe’s crew and mine opted to return to Thresher’s Machine Canyon, as that was her one wish to find and photo it for the entire trip.  (A few “I’ve got to get a picture of that opportunities would present themselves, surely!)  Our first move was to ask the park ranger for advice on finding TMC.  Her first words?  “Don’t go.”  Well, we really like to, so care to tell us why not.  “Snakes are on the move.”  Yeah, so, what?  Snakes are on the move unless it’s cold.  “It’s not mowed.”  Again, so?  Finally, she pulled out a map and showed us, but warned us that their had been vandalism – we promised not to vandalize.  All we wanted was to snap some pictures, ‘cuz that’s how we roll on a Voboril family vacation.


Our first stop, in an attempt to follow her unclear and unreliable directions, let us to a canyon without carvings.  At least it wasn’t so long of a hike, but it certainly wasted our time.  Back to the van, driving on, stopping, running… we found it!  Too bad we were nearly out of time… Alzbe snapped pictures of dates including 1859, 1865, 1892, and 1991.  Guess which one didn’t belong?  Anyway, the kids all came and did well.  We smelled deer (I think part of the canyon was a deer bed), saw no ticks and no snakes.  If Alzbe had had sneakers instead of flip flops, we might have gotten a few more pictures, but maybe someday we’ll go back!  Twice, incidentally, I thought a heard/saw a truck oncoming on our narrow, one-lane road, so we had to scramble to avoid that… but he never came back in the time we were out there.





Minute to Win It could have a series of posts to itself, but I am now more than two weeks behind, so I’ll make is short.  C. II, thanks for hosting and planning the events.  We played last man standing, so each round, someone was eliminated:
  1.     Streamers... (Zana) which led to impromptu birthday decorations and singing to Mom.
  2.     Bobble Head (Betty) I have never laughed so hard…
  3.     Cookie (wiggling your head until you get a cooking from your yelid to your mouth (Grandma)
  4.     Marble and Shot glasses (Dad)
  5.      Apple Stacker (J.)
  6.     Cup Stacker (Daniel)
  7.     CD Dominos (M.) M. is the queen of CD dominos this was a shocker!
  8.     Egg and Light bulb (C II)  Did YOU know that you can stack a raw egg on top of a light bulb propped in a slinky?  I had no idea.
  9.     Tic-tac-toe with ping pong balls and cups of water (C.)
  10. Quarter bounced 15 feet into a small container.  While I lost this, I am the reigning champ!  Craziness!







Lunch was at Guch's in Hays, where Daniel was pleased to watch the Yankees vs. Rockies game.  The pizza was great.  I was delayed with my kids, and they were all asleep when we arrived, so I didn’t actually eat there.

One group went to the water park, where Anni and CII had a blast.

The Church tour was a disappointment.  The one building that, when closed as a parish, had been reopened as a shrine that was ALWAYS open from 8-8 was CLOSED.  Bummer.

We attended Mass at Antonino’s at 4 pm.

Dinner was unbelievably scrumptious pulled beef, Volk’s style.


M., J., and my clan returned to the lake to swim and it was so much fun!  The mud did, especially at first touch, feel like baby poop squishing between my toes, but I got over it.

Daniel, J. and C. played Frisbee.

End Day 2


Day 3?  Anni woke up at 4:30, so her parents and I were in need of more sleep.



We enjoyed granola for breakfast.



Everyone except Alzbe drove to the bluffs.  C and CII made M a little nervous with their exploring in flipflops, and I regaled Daniel with an explanation of in-law politics.





Packing ensued, and then it was lunch at a microbrewery in Hays.  The Volks headed back to Colorado, we headed to the Sternberg Museum to check out some dinosaurs… and I tried not to fall asleep.


Mom drove home for me, and we saw at least 7 dead deer… the wind was pretty wild, and it was hot when we got home.

I apologize for the sparsity, but I am preparing to go to Colorado, and if I don’t finish this now, I probably won’t ever.  ‘Cuz I am a Voboril, and that’s how I work.

I am so blessed to have been given this weekend with my family, even if I did miss DH while we were apart.  It was a blast, and let me tell you, even if we go to the “Middle of Nowhere” we have fun wherever we’re at.  ‘Cuz that’s how it is on a Voboril family vacation.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

2 comments:

Millie said...

We saw an open church in Ellis and Catherine. We never found the Severance church; the Emmeram church had burned down; and Munjor and Pfeifer were closed tight. We drove past Liebenthal and Schoenchen and Victoria on our way (roundabout) to Antonino for Mass. Overall, a disappointing church tour.

Charlie said...

Charlie wants to say, "Thank you for writing about the Minute to Win It Last Man Standing. After all, I was the one who made it up. Also, Mommy is writing this note."

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