I married this.

At the end of July, Sam and I spent a couple of nights at what has now become our favorite place in Colorado – Grand Lake Lodge. While there, we got acquainted with two young girls from Macedonia who came to the United States for the summer to work.

They told us about their scary beginning when they landed in Ocean City, New Jersey only to discover that the jobs promised to them were filled and they were abandoned in a country they had never visited with nowhere to go. Through fortunate circumstances and other Macedonian friends who found employment in Colorado, they ended up at the lodge and had only been there two weeks when we met them. Over the course of two days, we learned about their lives and their country and took them to the top of the world for their first visit.

In other words, we connected.

When we told them goodbye, we promised we would come back to see them one more time before they flew back home . That happened to be this past weekend.

We are on the road a lot in this season, back and forth from small town USA to Kansas City, five hours each way. But small town USA is also just five hours from Denver. Piece of cake. And besides, if Sam is on the road, he is not tiling, sawing, mowing, fertilizing, building, demo-ing, fixing, watering, hammering, digging, etc.

I look FORWARD to these road trips because it means my workaholic husband actually takes a break and relaxes.

So, off we went on Friday evening; however, on Saturday morning, I did concede to stop at the monster tile store that has become our favorite store before we went on to Grand Lake.

Besides, that’s not work – that’s just dreaming, as we walk up and down the aisles looking at all the beautiful tile. Saturday morning, 8 am, we had a date with Floor & Décor.

Nevertheless, not only did we end up buying the tile for our new kitchen backsplash, we also bought tile to re-do an entire bathroom and shower. No biggy. I’ll give him THAT much space to fit in some work, loading the boxes of tile into the back end of the truck.

Off we headed to our favorite place in Colorado to see our Macedonian “daughters,” tile strategically and securely loaded.

We had a wonderful time with Jana and Valeria. We enjoyed driving Trail Ridge Road again and saw lots of elk. We walked downtown Grand Lake and visited with our artist friend and her husband and had a late lunch.

We sat around the fire at the lodge and visited with the girls and enjoyed a steak dinner during a cold rainy evening.

The next morning, we decided to get up early and head back onto Trail Ridge Road to “truckhunt” wildlife one more time this year, and when we opened the door of our cabin, we discovered SNOW! What fun it was to see the first snow of the season, and then to see one moose before breakfast and goodbyes with the girls.

But what do ya know. That crazy husband of mine…

Why take a road trip without adding in some extra work? What a waste of gas money, right?

We said our bittersweet goodbyes and loaded up the truck for a long 8+ hour drive back home, only to drive five miles. Sam talked to several people the day before who knew a guy. And someone else who knew a guy. And wouldn’t you know it, Sam had to know this guy, too. This guy cuts firewood.

Therefore, before we could leave the lovely town of Grand Lake, we drove five miles to this guy’s place, UNloaded all that tile in the back of the truck and repacked it in the backseat, and then filled the entire truck bed with pine firewood. So relaxing…

I was a little looney tunes, but only in my mind.

We made it as far as Denver before he hadn’t had enough. “Let’s stop at a thrift store and try to find a new door for the pantry!”

No door was found, but a used vanity was, so it had to be loaded on top of the firewood and strapped down. Off we go again.

We made it as far as Hays before he hadn’t had enough. “I need to stop at Home Depot for some wood and supplies.” You gotta be kidding me.

8+ hours to get home. The key symbol here is +. When traveling with Sam, always add a +.  During your adventure, you will always need to + some stops.  Or maybe add a <. When traveling with Sam, your adventure will always be < you anticipated.

I’m learning.

And, I am so grateful for road trip memories made and my looney tunes husband. Life is an adventure with this guy.