Rediscovering my twenty year younger heart again has been slightly embarrassing yet fulfilling at the same time. Who knew I was such a talkative little tyke.
And my, was my heart filled with such love. I wrote down everything and everyone I cared about to ensure I would never forget.
I’m not editing any of the contents or reading the entires beforehand. That way we can share in the wonder together.
Here is May 1997 III.
May 25, 1997
Today I went to Applebee's to visit Dad.
I love my Daddy very much.
Love Shannon
May 21, 1997
Mrs. Sattora is the Best techer in the whole wind world!
Love Shannon
May 23, 1997
I love my family But
I have fun with them very much
They are the Best parents in the whole wind world!
Love Shannon
May 23, 1997
I Love You
May 23, 1997
On May 21, 1997 I told Alissa that I put I Love
Neil. she was being a berat.
But we are Best friends
now.
May 25, 1997
I <3 u
Love Shannon
May 26, 1997
you are fun!
[Dear Diary] Thank goodness Alissa and I made up after she was being a berat! It’s a shame my bounce back rate isn’t as quick these days.Has anyone else caught my consistent capitalization of Best? I actually think it’s pretty hilarious. My younger self put a high emphasis on the word. It must’ve had some type of superiority before the word friend.
I also assume I tattled on myself to Alissa about my crush and she teased me. Luckily, I have no recollection of this spat between my former Best friend and happy to report, it did not stop me from crushing on Neil.
It’s also safe to say I was trying to write brat, but also highly probable I was trying to write it the way I was saying it, i.e. beeeeeerat!
My how time flies. Do you remember your first scuff with a friend? What was it over and where did it happen? Let me know in the comment section!
Sigh-our last full day in Colorado Springs, a bit more than bittersweet, we didn’t want to leave at all. If it were possible to move all our belongings in a blink of an eye, I think we would have.
In the beginning of a trip, that first wake up means the whole adventure is in front of you, so when it ends, it feels like it came and went to quickly. As soon as you book a trip, it takes forever to get there, but when you’re on vacation, it flies by faster than the speed of light.
I’m just grateful I got to spend it with my guy and our two puppies.
After breakfast we headed into Manitou Springs to visit the cliff dwellings. These dwellings were homes to the Anasazi ( The Ancient Ones or The Ancestral Puebloans). The people of this culture lived from 1100 A.D. to 1300 A.D. in the four corners area ( Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico).
These apartment homes were carved into the side of the huge red rocks to protect themselves from invasions by intruders, so their backs were always covered, no sneak attacks from behind.
Cliff Dwellings at Manitou Springs 2015At the entrance of a home inside the Cliffs
The tiny narrow hallways and low ceilings gave you the feel of what it might have been like to live in one of these homes. The stairs were just as narrow and with the sun behind us, it was very dark.
A view from the inside. It was cool on the inside and felt damp.They are so cute, my three ruffs.A better angle of what we were looking at and how each home connects
There was also a museum housed inside a Pueblo. A structure made from clay and hay, because of the cold winters Colorado has, the snow melts the clay and has to be replenished yearly. I hate mowing the grass, how spoiled are we, can you imagine?
We were also in for an unexpected treat that day, there were wolves walking around, real life BIG ones. The Hubs and I got to pet and feed them, totally insane!
I was walking up to the female when the male, Ghost, came galloping up to me, nuzzling me with this long thick snout. I’m not going to lie, for a quick second I thought this was it. “Here lies Shannon, eaten alive by a wolf.”
The handler explained people adopt these animals and try to mix them with dogs, because they think it’s “cool,” and when they become an adult, they’re too much to handle and get left in shelters, or in the present females case, tied up to a tree.
Because they end up in shelters, nobody wants to adopt them and they end up being put down, a sad fate for a wild animal. So, he takes them in and cares for them.
The wolves eat between 6 to 9 lbs of raw meat a day. So the handler brings them out to help raise money to feed and house them. They can’t be domesticated, meaning you can’t house train them. They live in a huge back yard with man-made dens, another female wolf is the pack leader. You Go Girl.
Just giving Ghost a treat, from my bare hand!The hubby got to too!
After the dwellings, we dropped the dogs off and went to downtown Colorado Springs and historic Colorado City. Downtown was nice, a small city with clean streets. The homes were Victorian style, where the floors probably creaked and the banisters were hand crafted wood.
Historic Colorado City is like any historic area, small trinket stores, hand dipped chocolate goodies and a grassy area for guests to sun bathe on. It’s cute, nice for tourists and people who eat lunch outside.
It was built by a few guys who had enough money to spend, pretty much the same song and dance for any town in those days.
We got back to the hotel early in the afternoon and were wiped out. All the hiking and exploring caught up with us and we were done-zo. I crawled under the sheets and dozed off for an hour, woke up to The Hunger Games on HBO and a very hungry husband.
The Hubs found a restaurant that was inside an old Boeing KC-97, him being an avid aviation junkie, especially during the WWII era, so we had to go. It didn’t dissapoint.
The building surrounding the plane offered additional seating and plenty of eye candy hanging on every inch of the walls. The menus were newspapers you could take home as souvenirs and the waiters were dressed in airline attendant fashion.
Matt checking out the cockpitMe reading the local news, I mean looking over the menuThe view from outside
Let the record show, I Shannon, was in a plane willingly without any mild heart palpitations or panic attacks. Plus, the food was pretty good. I got an avocado burger, the Hubs got salmon pasta something or other and we split a brownie sundae.
A great way to end the day and trip, because in the morning, we had an 11 hour trek back home ahead of us.
RamblinRandol 