The Adventure Begins... Our Ragtag Crew Limps into Colorado

So we can finally openly talk about the fact that Lance and I just quit our corporate jobs at P&G to start the biggest adventure of our lives! An opportunity came up for us to help Lance's mom manage 100 units at The Inn at SilverCreek in Granby, Colorado. She is in way over her head and desparately needs some help. The management contract is also up in April, 2008 and we are going to put in a bid to run the entire Inn - a 400 room operation with a front desk, restaurant, bar, convention center, etc. So we're terrified but excited at the same time.

So anyway, we were so excited to be on our way. We left on Friday the 13th, but it was Saturday that was our downfall. We made great time on Friday, driving 7 of the 13 hours and even mapquesting an Indian Restaurant in Witchita for a leisurely dinner. We spent the night in Hays, Kansas and left at around 6:30 the next morning. At 7:15 Gwen said she was cold. Lance glanced back at her and BAM!!!!!! Our minivan hit a deer full-on. I have no idea where the thing even went. It was huge, and when we hit it, it just vanished. Smashed in our radiator, but we decided to try and make it to the next town, forgetting we were in Kansas. We finally had to pull over and wait for a tow truck, who drove us up to Grainlfield, Kansas, population 112. Darcy, Gwen and I waited for 6 hours in the back of an auto-repair shop while Lance went back to Hays with the tow truck driver, got us a rental car, etc. The best part was, the only car available for our 4-person/2-dog family was a pickup with an extended cab, so it was quite packed. So our 13 trip took over 20 hours of drive time. Here are a few pics of the journey...


Marley, on my lap in the front seat and trying to nestle into the gas pedal...


Me in the backseat after Marley cut off the circulation to my legs. Piper trying to get comfortable.


The girls, finally resting, after we slipped Dramamine into their fruit snacks. I'm not kidding, we really did that, and you would have done the same, trust me!