So here's the short of it,
Last night I was somewhat off the grid - so no post.

And here's the long.

Yesterday, we drove to Colorado Springs to meet up with the Tom & Rosemary VanSant side of the family.

Our first stop was the Air Force Academy - the visitor's center and then a short, but very steep downhill walk to the Chapel.  It's a very unusual and quite beautiful structure intended to mimic the wing of the aircraft.  The large Protestant Chapel is upstairs - and there are quite a few of those stairs.  I did find that they didn't give me nearly the trouble of most other stairs.  The tread isn't as tall and the depth of the tread is also greater. It was amazing that I felt so much more steady going up and down!  Of course I still held on to the railing.  Downstairs we found a smaller and very beautiful Catholic Chapel.  Then on toward the back of the downstairs, we found the Jewish Chapel, and a Buddhist Chapel.  I found it very interesting that there was a sign upstairs in the Protestant Chapel that said "Shirt and Shoes Required" while downstairs at the entrance to the Buddhist Chapel the sign said, "All are welcome, please remove your shoes before entering".  I've been thinking about that.

Our next stop was the Garden of the Gods. Jon VanSant met us there and gave us a great tour. When we finished there, he took us by to see the old home where Tom and Rosemary lived and where he really grew up - I believe he was only six when Tom's work took them to Colorado Springs. He also gave us a great tour of  - I think he called it the lower gold road - it was mostly dirt. We stopped at Helen Hunt Falls which is right on that road. Those are all things we would never have done left to our own devices!  It was really great to have him able to meet us and give us such special attention.

Last night we spent the night with Jon and Lori at their home in the mountains in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.  It was such a wonderful evening. Cousins, Martha and her husband John, and daughter Rosemary, Cousin Phillip, and Cousin Marcia were all there for a great evening of grilling out and visiting. We stayed up so very late visiting and enjoying all kinds of stories.

I didn't have cell service unless I went out all the way to the end of the deck, and they only have a dial up internet service,  and by the time we all quit talking Alan and I were really drooping - so no blogging last night!