Casper

Back in June, my mom, sister, and I got to go to Casper, WY for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Finals with Grandmama. The entire trip I kept thinking, This trip with Grandmama is a treasure. What an experience!

A Bit of Background Information
Grandmama was involved in the start up of the NIRA. Pretty cool, isn't it?! And, she was the first Publicity Director for the association, which began in 1949. She and my grandfather have been actively involved in the alumni association for years and it was fascinating to learn about their involvement; especially my grandmother's.

The Trip
Since I'm not really sure where to begin, I'll start with Mike.

Mike is my (wonderful, but that goes without saying...I just wanted to say it, anyway :) uncle and a crucial player in this trip/story. (shout) We love you, Mike!

Mike was in town (from AZ) for the Senior Olympics in which he competed in badminton. We enjoyed his (and Aunt Annie's) visit immensely and I learned pretty much all I know about badminton (including how to spell it) while they were here. Very interesting!

Because of the timing of the Olympics and the rodeo, and because they're thoughtful like that, Mike & Aunt Annie generously volunteered to stay with my grandfather so my grandmother could go to the rodeo.

JoJo headed down from Dallas to watch the boys Thurs. & Fri.-Thanks, JoJo!-and Brian volunteered to watch them over the weekend. Ha ha!

We were soooooo excited about traveling with Grandmama! What a special opportunity for us all. :)

Grandmama has traveled A LOT in her lifetime and carefully planned this trip as she had many others before. We were to fly out of College Station simply because that made it easier for the caretakers involved. Less time away from Grandpapa & my boys would be a good thing. Fly in, fly out. Sounded good to me!

Here we are with Mike at the airport. Problem is, this pic was taken in Austin.
That's right, Austin. Let me back up a few hours to the phone call I received from my mom just after midnight. (Keep in mind that I'm a worst-case-scenario/jump-to-the-worst-conclusion type of person; a sort-of realist, I tell myself.)

Me: Hello? (level of concern jump-started and rising)
Mom: Hi, Barb, it's Mom.
Me: Hi. What's going on? (heart rate affected now)
Mom: Well...(wait 4 seconds)...we've had a change of plans.
Me: Okay. (I'm just short of full-fledged panicking; surely someone has died. I decide the best case scenario is hospitalization, but probably involving ICU.)
Mom: Well, Mom just called...(wait another I don't know how many seconds)...and someone from the airport called her a few minutes ago.
Me: So no one's in the hospital and everyone is alive???
Mom: (surprised by my statement) No, no.
Me: Okay, good.
Mom: The lady at the airport told Mom that our flight has been cancelled and there are no others available. She then suggested, (unapologetically & with zero emotion, I later learned), that we drive to another airport.
Me: Mom, you CAN'T do that to me!
Mom: What?
Me: Call me in the middle of the night and take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to tell me what's going on. I almost had a heart attack!
Mom: Oh, ha ha ha, I'm sorry!

So, Grandmama spent I don't know how long on the phone trying to deal with this new issue while keeping most of our connecting flights.

When we arrived at the airport in Austin, we kept getting different information, but ended up at Gate 13, where I basically collapsed into the first seat I saw. Weird, I thought to myself, that this particular row of seats, right next to the gate, were empty. I spread my stuff out, started a game of Words, broke into the Snickers bar I'd bought for later in the trip, and waited there for Mom and Grandmama.

Then an older man limped over with his cane, looked at the seats and me in them, leaned in front of me, and read aloud the large sign right beside me, "Reserved for People with Disabilities," then limped away.

About 2 minutes later it actually clicked and the man was gone. I hurriedly gathered my belongings, put the other half of the Snickers bar in my mouth, and moved to the crowded area outside the rope.

We did eventually get to Casper and had an absolute blast! It was great seeing Grandmama in her element and visiting with her friends. They all had such nice things to say about her-no surprise-and a couple of them even told my sister and me we have a lot to live up to. We are quite aware of that, thank you very much. :)
I like to take candid pictures of people in cars.
It was raining when we got there. First time we'd seen rain in months.

I had to include the following 2 pics b/c two of us (clear throat) weren't in sync with eyes opened for one pic. Plus, both happened to be decent of me for a change. Lol!


One day we took a drive to the mountain. Gorgeous!
Car pics!!!


I even turned the camera on myself...just to be fair.


My Favorite Sister!


My Favorite Pic!

Because We're Weird...

Because She's Weird...
...You get it from me, right, Sister? :)





We found this guy in the Casper airport.
What a wonderful time with my fam! I didn't take pics of the rodeo, but it was so much fun! Great athletes and I especially enjoyed watching the pick up men and the professional bull fighters. Man!

Thank you, Grandmama & Mom for such a fun trip! Sister, I had a blast with you! Love you all. :)