NSJ

Elephant noise, that is. I suppose this probably comes down to how you define “word.” We don’t actually know what the elephant is saying, so who are we to say it isn’t a word?

[flv]http://happyinwater.com/nicholas/videos/elephant.flv[/flv]

Home again, home again…

We had a great weekend in Boulder — the Sladden’s and Richau’s are amazing hosts. In addition to some great hang out time, on Saturday we went into town and had high tea at the Boulder Tea House.

We also managed to stop at my favorite hiking store on the way (Monte Bell). Niko and I had the most fun in the sleeping bag section and climbing bag section.

It was as hot as the center of the sun so we spent some time in the fountain after tea.

Once Nicholas and I were good and soaked, I couldn’t resist the mohawk.

We got some pretty good shots of Elsie and Niko yesterday before we left.

and Jul got her thunderstorm fix.

Day three took us through eastern Utah and then on to Colorado. Highway 70 through Colorado is arguably the most beautiful highway in America. I’ve driven it over ten times and it never gets old. The road cuts through Rocky Mountain gorges in a way that doesn’t seem possible. Lew tracked down an amazing brunch place in Parachute, CO called Sunrise Scramble. When I asked if we could bring Sumo and keep him under the table, the owner apologized and told us they don’t allow dogs. When I begged, and told her he was just a small pug, her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh! We have a pug! Of course he can sit on the deck with you.” Yay for pugs.

They say you can’t feed Nicholas egg whites yet, but he had his first egg yolks. I think most of these baby diet rules are just about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. He eats dirt. You’re telling me he can’t handle egg whites? Come on people.

We finished our road trip in the early afternoon, driving through Vail, and other wonderful ski areas. Sad to travel through them instead of too them to ski, but they are beautiful none the less. We made it to Boulder in time for cocktails at Josh and Amy’s house, completing our Journey to Elsie. The little bean is beautiful and only kinda scared of me (I would be really scared of me). You can see she isn’t scared of Jul (I wouldn’t be scared of Jul either).

Josh made us cucumber Mojitos which were pretty amazing. I highly recommend coming to Boulder and having Josh make you a couple. Chris, Sai, and Roan were in town and we got to celebrate Roan’s first birthday. Best of all Pam and Kevin (Josh & Mandy’s parents) are in town from Montana, so we got to catch up with them. The evening ended with a wonderful dinner out on Mandy and Mark’s deck overlooking the Flat Iron Mountains. Their tile deck heats up in the summer sun making it toasty warm at night. Nothing beats great friends and family, great food, great drink, a beautiful Colorado sunset against the Rocky Mountains, and bare feet on a warm deck in the cool night.

On our second day we left EUREKA! and continued through the Nevada desert. When you are in the desert you have to soak the boy in sun tan lotion.

You also have to eat a lot of ice cream to stay hydrated.

Here you see Sumo showing off how well he can blend into the desert. Lew, not so much.

US 50 continued to be pretty damn lonely.

Once we crossed into Utah, the landscaped turned a beautiful red. Niko and I pretended we had landed on Mars. Lew was a scary alien. We left US 50 and spent most of the day on Highway 24 which took us through breathtaking mountains layered with sediment stripes and worn down by millions of years of erosion.

Today, on to Colorado to see Elsie and Lola!

Part of the fun of staying in a town called Eureka is every time you say it, you can say it as an exclamation (EUREKA!). This never gets old. Especially when on a long road trip.

EUREKA! is a wonderful town with a population of about 600 (although I feel like they might have double counted). Whenever I see little towns like this, I always think this was how it was for Josh and Mandy growing up. One restaurant, a hardware store, a hotel, and everybody knows each other. They will probably try and tell you Billings was bigger, but they are just denying their past.

There actually was only one restaurant, so it wasn’t hard to choose where to eat. After dinner, the town had a pretty amazing firework show to celebrate the 4th. Niko powered through his bedtime and got to see his first fireworks. It was an amazing evening that reminded me how far we have come.

Three years ago I was in radiation treatment. Two years ago we were trying to come to terms with the fact that we might not be able to have children. One year ago, I was in the hospital with my wife, grappling with her breast cancer diagnosis. Yet there I was last night, on the main street of a small town in the middle of the Nevada desert. It was a perfect night and the temperature was neither hot, nor cold. My wife sat next to me on chairs a fireman brought out for us. Niko buried his head into my chest as the first explosions went off. Colors filled the sky above and I watched them reflect off my son’s face. His bright dancing eyes would move from the fireworks, back to mine, and his expression said, “Can you believe this? Are you seeing this? This, is amazing.” Niko fell asleep in Jul’s arms as the show ended, and I carried him back to the room, his head nestled into crook of my neck.

I’m not dumb enough to think we have escaped pain, suffering, or death. But I’m smart enough to know how lucky we are. Last night I watch my son with the same awe he watched the fireworks. My eyes would move from him, back to my wife, and all my heart said, “Can you believe this? Are you seeing this? This, is amazing.“

Our third stop on the first day was at the Hickison Petroglyphs. Sumo didn’t get eaten by a rattlesnake on our hike, which was great news. I made the stop really exciting by locking the keys in the trunk. Nothing like locking the keys in the trunk when you are in the middle of the desert with a baby, with very little water, no cell service, and no sign of other humans. I’m pretty sure the iPhone has a desert survival kit, but Martha saved the day by finding a trunk release before we had to use it.

I’m not sure Niko was all that impressed by the petroglyphs, but he seemed pretty excited about the rocks.

After leaving Tahoe, we hit US 50, which is indeed one of the loneliest roads I’ve been on. It is rare we encounter another car.

We came upon a shoe tree in the middle of the Nevada desert. I was hopeful that shoes in fact might grow on trees, but they were old shoes.

Here is our trusty Buick/Arc.

The first stop on our Journey to Elsie was Lake Tahoe for some ice cream. I still have yet to see a lake that rivals the blueness of Tahoe. I gave Niko a lecture on how it was the deepest lake in the US only to learn later (thank you iPhone + Wikipedia) that Crater Lake in Oregon was deeper. Thus teaching Niko a much more valueable lesson, don’t listen to dad, he doesn’t know what he is talking about.

We haven’t met Elsie Lane Sladden yet which seemed like as good an excuse as any to take a road trip to Colorado. We want Niko to see the west before he gets old enough to ask, “are we there yet?” Lew and Mart decided to join us for the journey because, well, they are completely nuts.

We are taking the loneliest road in America (highway 50) through Nevada and Utah. Best of all, we rented an Impala (so we can fly back), which just seems like the kind of car you should take on a road trip. We don’t have a super defined plan, although we did figure out where we want to stay each night. Here is a map of the basic plan. I just checked the weather, which was a mistake. It appears as if it might be 105 on Thursday in Utah. Luckily both Jul and I have iPhones, which I believe come with built in personal air conditioning units. In other news, I’m going to see if I can run the Impala on apricot jam. I made my 60th jar earlier this week, and dammit, that is just too much jam.

I’ll leave you with some photos of a frighteningly mobile Niko in a pensive, serious mood. (Good thing though, because if it is 105, he is going to have to carry his own pack on our hikes.) Onward…