Greetings from the Hutchinson's in Eagle, Colorado! Carla asked me (her fave...and only sister, Jen), to be the guest writer for this addition of her blog, and since she's going to be here for 6 more days, I had no choice but to accept. Just kidding, it's my pleasure! Sorry no pictures this time, those will have to follow in the Colorado visit debriefing, as she's not that technologically advanced to transfer pictures away from home. So here are the nitty gritty road trip details: I flew into Dallas last Wednesday, stayed over at Carla's and we hit the road on Thursday afternoon. Prepared with sleeping bags, 14 downloaded episodes of "Good Luck Charlie" on the iPad, lots of gum and a laminated map of our route, we made good time. We waved gaily (because we weren't obligated to stop) at The Big Texan, and stopped hours later for a fine dining experience at Subway. Carla's children have bladders of steel and I couldn't believe they didn't need to stop before then!
Because Carla and I felt so good about how things were going, we adjusted our stopover destination from Trinidad, CO (sex change capitol of the world) to Pueblo, CO (home of the State Mental Institute). Both were great choices! We had recently changed drivers and Carla was piloting the massive Mercedes when we exited a construction zone. It was on the very dark, unlighted freeway with the children finally mercifully asleep that we suddenly came upon a herd of young bucks. One minute the highway was blankly empty in the headlights and the next second there were a number of deer walking across the road in front of us. We now have a firm understanding of the saying "deer in the headlights". While stepping hard on the brakes but not swerving (textbook reaction) Carla said, "I'm going to hit them, I'm going to hit them!" and then proceeded to do just that. Bango! There wasn't any way she could have avoided the accident and decreasing the herd size by two. After pulling over, we were very shaken, but everyone in the car was okay (the deer not so much, but thankfully it was so dark that we couldn't see the carnage behind us). The car had minimal damage, but was completely driveable. The kids were now awake and annoyed to have their sleep disturbed. After calling 911 a deputy was sent to check on us and make a report. I thought the kids would be excited to meet a real live New Mexico law enforcement official, but Lincoln said, "They're sending an officer? How much longer is that going to take?" Ironically, we spotted the deer crossing warning sign only 1/4 of a mile later.
After a night in Raton where Carla and I were both treated to continuous loop replays of the accident in our heads all night long, we hit the road in the morning for 5 1/2 more hours of fun. We finally arrived safely in Eagle, cousins were reunited and the fun hasn't stopped since. We now address all the children as the "Everettson's" because it's easier to say and gets their attention all at once. They don't like being separated and while the sibling rivalry continues, the cousins all get along. It's such a gift to have this time together and we are sharing so much love and laughter.
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