Vacation: Part I

Before I left for vacation I had a series of mishaps...nothing was going my way and my stress level was going through the roof- from having to rearrange my plant water-er/house-sitter, to making alternate arrangements for a friend to pick me up from the airport when I came home, to missing the garbage pick-up the morning before I left (which meant it wouldn't be picked up for 2 whole weeks-ew), to the dogs eating the banana bread my sister brought!

Plus, for some reason I was feeling nervous for my trip...I even told my friend N (the one I would be staying with in CO) that on Thursday night and told another friend that on Friday and on the way to the airport Saturday morning. Why was I so nervous? Not exactly sure, but I just had this weird feeling.

After a very early morning on Saturday, a long layover in a boring airport, a delayed takeoff, and a very short catnap on the flight to Denver, I finally arrived! I was so happy to see my friends and I'm pretty sure they were excited to see me too. :) The weather in CO was... exactly as I'd left it in WI- chilly, foggy, and rainy. Booo. I couldn't even see the mountains!

From there my trip got...interesting. To make a long story short...we ended up taking N to the ER that night for some nausea, severe pain, and vomiting. After hours in the ER, they finally said they were going to admit her to the hospital and would be removing her gallbladder the next day! Poor thing. She was in so much pain and she just kept apologizing to me because this was supposed to be my big vacation. Instead I took on the role of Nurse Heidi... Is it just me or does anyone else see a pattern here? People end up in the ER when they're around me... Anyway, N wrote a detailed blog post about the whole crazy experience...it's an interesting read, so feel free to check it out!

N was feeling much better after the surgery (she was discharged the morning after) and she and I were able to have lunch with a friend on Tuesday and even managed to do a little shopping. After some rest, we all headed to Okole Maluna for dinner. That's the Hawaiian restaurant I've written about before... I was super-excited to be able to go back there for some awesome food! I even had a Hawaiian beer, which was also very tasty.

 Kalua pork, lomi-lomi salmon, white rice, and Haupia (traditional coconut cream dessert)

 

Blackened seared Ahi tuna.

After dinner we walked around the corner to a little ice cream shop. N and J got a tasty treat, but I was way too full and only had a few bites of N's "mini" banana split (it was HUGE). While they were ordering I drew on the sidewalk and took some pics (apparently N secretly took a pic of me!). I love the downtown Windsor area...it's so darn cute!

On the way home I asked J to stop at the park-n-ride I used to use all the time so I could snap a couple of pics of the mountains (shown in my previous post)... it's funny to think that used to be my view on the drive home!

N took this picture...

and this one....sneaky!!

The following day was a day of a little pampering. N and I both got pedicures and manicures! My toes still look lovely, though the mani didn't last long at all. We went to this beauty school, so the price was right, and hey, those students need practice! After that we grabbed some lunch after which my dear friend wasn't feeling very well...and got a bit sick on the drive into Fort Collins. So we turned around and went home. Poor dear. The rest of the evening was pretty low-key...a movie, some Wii, time on the patio...relaxing, yes.

Stay tuned for Part II...