Birthday Trips Are The Best Trips!

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I don’t know if you remember the post I wrote back in March about my two wonderful girlfriends that I’m so lucky to have?  Well, here’s a little story for you.

 

We all three have birthdays in late September and early October that are within days of each other.  On our birthday last year one of us (not sure which one) said, “Next year we should take a girlfriend trip and celebrate our birthdays together”.  The idea stuck and the planning began.  Not wanting to spend a lot of money on plane tickets, car rental, motel and meals but yet not wanting to meet up at one of our homes, we had to really dig deep to come up with a plan.  (Luanne lives in Nebraska, Michelle lives in Arizona and I live in Tennessee.  So you can imagine the logistics involved.)

 

We began looking for a common denominator to solve the dilemma and this was it:  Luanne lives 6 hours driving distance from Denver, I have a son and daughter in law that live near Denver, Michelle has a cousin in Denver who has a vacation home in Estes Park just an hour from Denver.  Are you following me yet?  Smile!

 

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With my son and daughter in law on Pikes Peak!

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We had it all planned and then it was just the waiting.  I arrived in Denver about 5 days ahead of Michelle and Luanne and spent an absolutely glorious time with my son and daughter in law.  They gave me (not exaggerating) five days of birthday fun!  It was fabulous.  That’s coming up in a future post!

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Then we three girls met up in Denver at Michelle’s cousins home where we got the key to their home in Estes Park.  We piled into Luanne’s vehicle and we were off.  Let the girlfriend trip begin!

(You will have to excuse the fact that the photography in this post is not going to be as good as I like to have it… unfortunately, some of these photos are from our phones.)

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We arrived at the home in Estes Park and were so excited.  This home is not a vacation rental.  It is the original family home where Michelle’s cousins were raised.  Even though the parents are gone, her cousin has kept the home in the family and it is only used by close friends and family.  It is a very special home and we were so lucky to be able to use it.  The inside was decorated with things that were original to the home and so many memories for Michelle visiting there as a child, that we really enjoyed hearing her stories.  It truly was a magical place that pulled us in and made us want to just live there!

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Don’t you just love this bedroom with the antique bed, beautiful walls, and old bead board ceiling?

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We picked our bedrooms right off the bat.  The girls were kind and gave me the bedroom closest to the bathroom as I was (sadly) suffering from a sinus infection and some residual altitude sickness and was still not feeling my best.

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They took the two upstairs bedrooms that were decorated so cute.  Vintage skates hung in both bedrooms.

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And the little lantern lights above the bed in each bedroom was such a cute touch.

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The very first night we were there, we celebrated our birthdays!  Luanne brought a cheesecake and some fun vintage decorations!

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We even had birthday presents!  Michelle brought Luanne and I Starbucks mugs from Arizona with Starbucks gift cards inside.  (She’s not a coffee drinker but she is kind enough to encourage us in our coffee habit!)

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I told you in my post two weeks ago about the vintage pillow cases and home-made potholders that Luanne brought each of us.  Love them so much.

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I brought the girls fabric pumpkins that I made.  (For those of you that are members of MaryJanes Farmgirl Sisterhood you probably read the tutorial I wrote in the October Sister Issue on how to make the fabric pumpkins.  If you’re not a member of the Sisterhood, you need to be!).

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(And yes… I had to bring a separate suitcase just for the pumpkins.  I brought some for my daughter in law too!)..

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My sweet daughter in law, Ciara, with her pumpkins!

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.It was just the beginning of a fun Birthday Celebration for all three of us.

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We spent a few days in Estes Park shopping…

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…laughing…

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…enjoying the scenery from the balcony of our cabin…

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…staying up late eating and talking…

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…lounging around in our pajamas working on projects…

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…walking along the river that runs through the town…

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After numerous times of setting up the camera on a timer and running like crazy to get in place… finally a decent picture!  Me (on the bottom stair), Luanne and Michelle.

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…and trying like crazy to get a good picture of the three of us!

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Most of all we just enjoyed being together.

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And everything I wrote about in my original girlfriend post back in March came to my mind on this trip.  The older I get, the more I recognize how lucky I am to have both of these amazing women in my life.

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And you want to know one more thing I learned about my girlfriends on this trip?  When, on your last day together, one of you gets the most ferocious migraine that you can’t even lift your head off the back seat to look out the window… but those girlfriends keep smiling, cheerful, caring and kind… and never ever make you feel like you are ruining anyone’s last day together… those are the best friends in life to have!  (And yes, that was me with the migraine.)

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And guess what we decided?  Next time… we are going to invite our husbands!

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

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Dori

  1. Diane says:

    I love doing trips like this with my girlfriends. Sounds like you all had a great time. I loved the pumpkins that you made, but I didn’t see the pattern or how to make them. Can you please send this to me? I saw the dishcloths and that looks like another great, quick project for my train commute every day to the Big City of Manhattan! Have a great day!
    Diane

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Diane,

      The tutorial I wrote for the pumpkins is on MaryJanesFarm online magazine sister issue, which you can access if you are a member of the Farmgirl Sisterhood. However, if you are not, there are many tutorials online for fabric pumpkins. If you are a Sisterhood member and having a hard time finding the sister issue online, let me know! (The membership is only $20 a year and is so many, many things that it is totally worth it. The online magazine alone is worth it.)

      The dishcloths would be the perfect thing for your commute!!!! 🙂

      What do you in Manhattan? And how far is your commute on the train? I find it fascinating as I’ve never been there before and can only imagine it.

      – Dori –

  2. Maureen says:

    You were at one of my favorite places in Colorado. I’m blessed to live close to Estes Park. We have a gorgeous view of Long’s Peak outside my upstairs windows and when we have company, we always visit Estes Park. It’s really cool, when they ask where we’re going, to point at Long’s Peak and say “UP There!” I’m so glad you and the ladies had a wonderful time here.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Maureen,

      It really is such a gorgeous place. There were so many things that we experienced that I didn’t even mention in the post. Like the Elk. Oh my word. I have never been that close to them and so to see them up close and personal was quite an experience! We loved our visit. Such a special place.

      – Dori –

  3. Diane says:

    I am an Administrative Assistant for a great Actuarial company here in midtown Manhattan. I work across the street from Madison Square Garden. OK – are you ready – my commute is 2.5 hours in the morning and the same at night (door to door). In the morning I usually sleep on the train and at night we have a group of ladies that either crochet, knit, cross stitch, beading, etc. We are all part of another group called Home Bureau and we love CRAFTS and to make things to give back to our community. If you can provide any more easy projects for the train – any would be welcome! Have a great day! Diane

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Oh my word, Diane. I can hardly imagine! I bet you get very good at sleeping on the train in the morning! I just would love to sit and visit with you about your work in the city and your life there. It is fascinating to me.

      I’m working on a project right now that I’m thinking about doing a post on soon… it is a fantastic “on the go” craft!

  4. CJ Armstrong says:

    What fun! Thanks for sharing . . . sorry you weren’t feeling good part of the time!
    You were in my state, however, 400 miles (one-way) from me on the other side of a lot of Colorado Rocky mountain passes.

    I’m hoping to enjoy more things like this with friends in the future!
    Lucky you!
    CJ

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi CJ,

      Colorado sure does have a lot of those mountain passes! 🙂 But it’s a gorgeous state isn’t it?

      – Dori –

  5. Marilyn Collins says:

    It looks like a good time was had by all. Lovely exchange of gifts.
    HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO LUANN,MICHELLE AND DORI
    Marilyn

  6. Krista says:

    What a fun trip. It looks like you guys had so much fun! Colorado is such a great place to visit. I love going there. I haven’t been there in a while and should make a plan to get there again sometime soon.
    Those pumpkins you made are absolutely adorable! I am sorry you felt ill for some of your trip but it sounds like you have such supportive and wonderful friends by your side. Do you plan on waiting until next years birthday trip to take the husbands? Or will you make plans to go earlier?
    Happy late birthday! Hope it was everything you wanted plus more!

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Krista,

      Well… we didn’t get that far on when our next trip would be! We used to do these yearly but that was before grand-kids!!! Now, trips to visit them must come first! (I’m lucky to live near mine and see them every day but not so for the other girls.)

      It was the very best birthday I think I’ve ever had. Really!

      Thanks, Krista, for reading and commenting!

      – Dori –

  7. Joan says:

    So happy you got to enjoy ‘my’ state – well it is where I live now. Love Estes – and the Peak is beautiful from my ‘ranch’ view – but going up there is not on my agenda – especially now that we have had 10″s of snow – BLOWING drifts to 6′ – so your pic’s are reminders of what was so recently. God Bless.

  8. Susabelle says:

    Altitude Sickness is a real thing and you should not allow yourself to suffer from it! There is a treatment you can take beforehand to make it so much easier to detox when you get to altitude. Talk to your doctor about taking doses of Acetazolamide before you travel and for the first day you are at altitude. I used to visit the Rockies from Missouri, and I was so sick every time…until my dad told me I could be treated, and it made all the difference. Now I live here, so no more altitude sickness for me! I live about 25 miles from Estes Park. 🙂

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Susabelle,

      Thank you so much for this. I actually went to Urgent Care while I was with my daughter-in-saw and son and the NP told me somewhat the same thing. The other thing she told me is next time to drink massive amounts of water before arriving and during my stay. I was completely dehydrated when I went to Urgent Care and because of a sinus infection I had actually been drinking a lot of water (I thought) but not NEAR enough for the altitude difference. It was quite a shock to me how much it affected me! 🙂 So I learned a lot and next time I will do things differently. (It probably didn’t help that the day after I arrived we rode the tram up to Pikes Peak!!!) I’m thankful that I had a really awesome trip regardless and next time I will be way more prepared! Thank you again for your advice.

      – Dori –

      • Susabelle says:

        Dori, I’m glad you did go to urgent care. Too bad they didn’t give you the altitude med, it would have really helped. Yes, drink drink drink…more than you think you need to. I’m a midwestern girl, born and raised, but never drank as much as I’ve had to drink here. But even with extra fluids, the altitude sickness might not have been helped. It is a chemistry thing, and the acetazolamide basically “detoxes” your blood stream. That headache thing – that can turn into something worse if not treated or addressed. I hope you’ll come back some day, as it is gorgeous here, and there is so much to see!

        • Dori Troutman says:

          Don’t you worry – I will be back! Now that my son and daughter-in-law live there nothing is going to keep me away! 🙂 I’ll just be ready and prepared next time!

          – Dori –

          P.S. I have something to say that is quite embarrassing really. Someone actually commented on my FB status when I said I was going to visit my kids in CO and they said something like, “Be prepared for the altitude… altitude sickness is a real thing.” and I kind of chuckled because I’ve been to CO many times in my life and never had a problem. But I was also living out West in a 4000 – 5000 ft elevation already so kind of used to it somewhat. Now, I’ve been in TN for almost 5 years where we are at 400 ft elevation. Anyway…. I learned the hard way. Altitude sickness is real.

  9. Julie Pruett says:

    Looks like you all had a great time! My birthday is October 4th and I was in Estes Park and around Boulder when you three girls were there. It brought back how much I loved it there. Did you see all the Elk around town? It is SO beautiful there….

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Julie!

      Yes… we saw elk everywhere! Even swimming in that little lake right outside of town! I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to Elk before and I didn’t realize they were that massive. It was beautiful and such gorgeous weather while we were there.

      Wish we could’ve met! 🙂

      – Dori –

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