So! Post of squee regarding recent solo mini-vacation. :D
Did not go to a B&B, as the ones around here start at 150 dollars a night and this was most unfeasible. Most of the more picturesque non-B&Bs either had no website at all, or were on the sketchy side. So I wound up at a Comfort Inn, midway between Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City. (The latter was once a separate political and economic entity from Colorado Springs, but integrated by their own vote back in the 70's, in a much more amicable manner than the Bridge Wars that Milwaukee's predecessors went through.)
Day one, I headed to Manitou's main drag/historic shopping district. (Most of the town has some sort of historic status or another, but downtown makes more of a point of it.)Wandered around for approx. four hours. :D It was glorious. I was able to enter shops that Mark and Jack would have destroyed within minutes. I was able to eat without worrying about Mark's allergies or both boys' rambunctiousness. (
http://www.hellskitchenmanitou.com/) I was able to walk around without Mark alleging a need for potty that has more to do with not wanting to hold hands and behave himself than with the actual state of his bladder. I was able to walk up and down (very very gentle) hills without Jack deciding to go boneless until someone agrees to carry him.
It was also very exhausting. I wound up checking into my hotel as soon as they allowed, then crashing for three hours. When I revived a bit, I ordered pizza, and spent the rest of the night sprawled in mildly euphoric exhaustion nomming pizza and watching DWTS.
Next morning, instead of going to
the Pioneer Museum or
Miramont Castle, as originally planned, I spent more time in bed, squeeing over D.Greyman 14 and a photo book of local history I'd bought the previous day, and flipping between CNN, MSNBC, and Fox.
The results were interesting. All three networks covered the shuttle flying over DC, the GSA scandal, and the Secret Service scandal, and in a fairly comparable manner. All three covered the budget battles, the Blunt Amendment, and the presidential election, but with biases that I pretty much expected from each. CNN and MSNC covered Ted Nugent; Fox had a resounding lack of acknowledgement of any such thing.
Bottom line: I don't regret cancelling cable, but it was fun to have it back again for a couple days.
Tom and I met for lunch at
the Stagecoach Inn. Excellent food; pricy, but normally our lunches out while the kids are at school involve Chinese buffets. Tom had had the boys all to himself for about a day and a half, and was very very apologetic. "Kim-chan, I swear, I had NO. IDEA. From now on, we are making a point of you going out for half an hour after I get home from work, several times a week. I don't know how you manage to not get fat, because I found myself snacking like crazy to destress." ::amused snort:: I told him that's because I know exactly what happens to women on my mom's side who aren't careful about what they eat, and would rather avoid diabetes or the kind of weight gain that makes movement painful. Admittedly, I have in recent weeks been falling off the caffeine wagon more than somewhat. But that's more a response to fatigue. (Which I am discussing with my doctor Monday.) It amuses me, because this is pretty much the same reaction he had when I was out of commission for a couple days due to dental sedation last year, or when I spend more than an hour out shopping/going to a movie by myself on weekends. I hope this time the memory sinks into deep storage.
After lunch, we walked around a little; we found a place that does henna designs and I'm probably going back to get some done Saturday; and then he had to get home to meet the schoolbus. I went back to my room to change into better walking shoes, and wound up taking another nap. Monday's exploration seriously wiped me out, and a massive lunch wiped me out more.
Got up, and went to Old Colorado City. Smaller than the main drag of Manitou, but there's more free parking, and the clothing stores suited me better. Unfortunately the clothing didn't. ;_; I do not understand why quasi-hippie stores, which tend to cater to people who venerate Mother Earth, tend to not sell clothing for women who are or look like actual mothers. :;face-palm:: I had a very hard time finding things that fit. Finally found some stuff here:
http://www.barracudabazaar.com/index2.php#/home/ :D Also got lured in by the luscious smell wafting from here:
http://www.myabellacupcakes.com/ I got a triple chocolate cupcake to take home to Tom, and an orange dreamcicle cupcake for myself. :D
Then I swung by Subway to pick up dinner, since I was still tired and had a decadent dessert to go with it. Then back to the hotel to watch DWTS' results show and read more. :D
Wednesday morning I woke up in a leisurely manner; nommed leftover mushroom-swiss-burger from Stagecoach; and worked on cross-stitch til nearly time to check out. Had numerous problems with the cross-stitch. I either did the panda's left ear completely wrong, or miscounted when doing the fill-in bits between the panda's jaw and ear, because parts are simply NOT adding up right when compared to the pattern grid. May have to simply rip the ear out and keep going with everything else til I have less of a gap between finished work and where the ear goes, so counts are less likely to go wrong.
The boys were excited to see me before the bus arrived. :D I snuggled them both, and resumed tuck-in responsibilities later that night.
Now Tom's off on his own mini adventure, and the boys will be getting home from school in half an hour. I'm procrastinating doing laundry, and instead catching up on missed Internet. :D
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