"AWKARD"

The quote of the day yesterday went to my son (of course!) when he said, “This is AWKWARD” as we showered in the men’s locker room at the hot spring pool. I almost fell down from laughing so hard because this comment and the way in which my son delivered the comment were so funny. We had to shower after using the hot springs pool and the best way to shower was in the locker room located adjacent to the pool. My son took one look around at the many other men showering and as he was changing out of his bathing suit he made this comment. He did like my reaction because he said this again as he was showering. He went on to say that he was glad that he had a Dad because changing and showering in the women’s locker room would have been really awkward!!

My goodness this little boy has blossomed in the past two years. He has developed quite the personality and this really isn’t news because he had the smattering of a very good personality two years ago but now he is so much more articulate. My daughter has always had a great personality and has been this way for the past few years. When I departed two years ago my daughter was 8 years old and my son was 5 years old. My daughter has matured in those two years but my son has really grown in this same time span. He was just about breaking away from the toddler years and now he is a full fledged little boy. Also it is great to see him read.

We had such a wonderful time with my sister and her family I certainly had a smile on my face as we headed west last night. The goal was to get to central Utah which meant at least four to five hours of driving. This would be the perfect distance because it would be the same amount of driving over the next two days to our final two destinations. Of course, my sister advised that we take this course of action and as always she was correct.

We drove the 300 plus miles in the evening hours which were unfortunate because it was my favorite part of the ride. The eastern section of Utah is absolutely gorgeous and feels like you are on another planet. We arrived at this section in the evening so the scenery just wasn’t the same. I did get some flavor for the beautiful landscape as the sun was setting and Mother Nature even provided a very cool lightening show as we drove.

We did reach our intended goal very late in the evening and this would be our last hotel for the trip. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn, Red Roof Inn, and Comfort Inn and on this last stop a Hampton Inn. We had the “Inns” all covered and with the exception of the Red Roof Inn the hotels were interchangeable with free breakfasts and pools for the children. We didn’t have time for the children to swim on this last stop because it was so late on our arrival but we all had our share of swimming at the hot springs pool.

Morning came and everyone was very tired. We didn’t have to hurry because we would be driving another four hours to Las Vegas where we would spend the evening with a very dear friend. I could see it on my wife’s face that she had had enough of staying in hotels and all she wanted to do was to get into her own bed. It would be one more evening of being away from her own bed and the two year wait would be over.

We made the drive without any issues and hit our very first patch of rain which only lasted for about two minutes. We had driven almost 3,000 miles before seeing any rain and I believe on our trip out east two years ago we didn’t see any rain so we were very fortunate. We arrived in Las Vegas at our dear friends’ house in the afternoon and the children would be able to swim in our dear friends’ pool. Two years ago this was our first stop on the trip and now it is our last stop. I like this being our last stop much better then two years ago.

It is always great to see our dear friend and today was no exception. This particular house has a very special place in my heart because it was one of the reasons I decided to convince my wife to move out to Las Vegas over 14 years ago. I can’t believe it has been that long because it seems like yesterday my wife and I were staying in this very house for the first time. We made this our stopover when we departed Las Vegas 7 years ago and now we are making it yet another stopover as we make our way to California.

We were also able to see another set of very dear friends this evening. I have made a very special friend whom I have know over 13 years. This friend has been very supportive through all of this and it was great seeing him and his family. We did see them two years ago and I have seen this dear friend a few times over the past five months and this dear friend did visit me in prison twice. However; I hadn’t seen his family in the past two years and his children are growing up as well.

My dear friend’s family is a mirror of our family with a girl and a boy that share the same age difference of my daughter and son. My dear friend’s children are older then my children by about 5 years and I always take cues from this dear friend. Our children did get along very well and had a good time playing video games as we the parents just sat and talked for a few hours. It was a great visit and as always it is wonderful to see my very dear friend.