Colorado/S. Dakota Road Trip, Part 1

I'm a bit hog wild over summer travel. I love to go on far flung adventures, skipping around the globe and sampling a smorgasbord of cultures. (I inherited the travel bug from my dad, who worked for the airlines and loved it every bit as much as I do.)

But then I also love to go back to a familiar place and grow roots. The same place every year, so thick with memories that it's ours.

Every summer we return to Vail, Colorado, for our 4-5 days we call Camp Connelly. 

It's become tradition that we always spend our first night near Denver, where I grew up, with neighbors who have become my family - the people who've known me most of my life and still, remarkably, love me and call me their own. 

This year, Sam and Joe pulled out all the stops and took us out for a picnic lunch and shenanigans on their gorgeous new boat at Green Mountain Lake. 

The kids were just eating it up!

Let's have a look at those beaming faces.

Some of us took turns in the boat.

 One of us soaked in a minor sunburn.

And some of us took the plunge and hopped on the tube.

There were some crazy wild rides.

 (With lots of thumbs up to go break-neck speed.)

And a first ride together for Joey and Nate.

The Gryff could not get enough. He begged and begged for more!

 So grateful for Joe.

And for Sam, airline pilot and boat driver extraordinaire.

And for Laura and dear Tom, who I'm sure was with my dad, smiling down on us from heaven.

Thanks so much Covert and Schwartz families! See you again soon. xoxo