Lam Luncheon Denver Roadtrip

August - 2011 - My first Regional LAM Luncheon. After flying to Cinci and meeting & spending time with my Colorado LAM ladies, I had been looking forward to keeping in touch. From where I live near Utah, that meant driving over 200 miles over the Rocky Mountains to get to visit. So I invited my mom to drive like we used to for a little road trip along I-70 to see the girls.

 

I loved this sign, I had to take a photo with LAMmie waiting outside. These were from the rest area in Glenwood Canyon. It's pretty much where the Mountain Terrain starts on the way to Denver. As you can See from the Photo below.

 Once through Glenwood Canyon, it's Mountain Pass after Mountain Pass. It's the best highway view of the Rocky Mountains in my opinion. It tops out around 11,200 feet just before the Eisenhour/Johnson Tunnel. I checked my O2 and I was creeping down into the low 90's but doing well. The way home sat's fell into the 80's when trying to run around and take pictures. But we made it back down in one piece.

 Once we arrived, it was like we were home again, among friends. I found out so much about my Colorado and Wyoming LAM sisters. They are nothing short of amazing. Runners and Skiers, some of these ladies wore me out just hearing what they are accomplishing in the face of their diagnosis. Quite motivational and so worth the drive.

 

After Lunch we were treated like royalty. First a hike up on Davidson Mesa, a much smaller Mesa compared to ours, yet a breathtakingly beautiful view. 

 

Just a short hike down the trail led us to a magnificent view of the Rocky Mountain Range and the Town of Boulder Colorado. 

After our hike, we were introduced to the beautiful town of Louiseville, Colorado. Recently voted one of the safest towns to live, in the U.S. It was a great small town atmosphere, we were treated to some great town culture and view of the downtown area. Karyn was an excellent host. Here's hoping to get to visit again soon.

 On our way back we stopped near the Summit, near Dillon Lake, We had to wait in line for our photo opportunity here, as there were two garden gnomes in our spot, then after we were done, and alien and a rubber ducky were waiting for their shot in front of this scenic vista. They however didn't have time for a group photo.

 Then it was back to Glenwood for a dip in the Hot Springs Pool, I didn't tackle the waterslide this time, but did take a jump off the diving board. Then of course, the highlight of any trip to Glenwood, the Slurpee Stop at 7-11.

  

 

Then it was back Home Sweet Home, well rested after a short vacation weekend. 

Thanks to all the Ladies who made this trip so much fun. Thanks to Mom for Spending the weekend with me, and to Mrs Karyn and her family for making us feel so welcome. As well as Mrs. Ann for hosting the luncheon at her place. Can't wait to get another opportunity to visit again.

LAM Miche Fundraser

August 2011 - Having a rare disease is expensive, researching one is even more expensive. Some diseases that are more widely known or when stars suffer from them get more media attention than others. These are a couple reasons why fundraising for LAM is quite difficult, only 2 women in a million are impacted by the disease, and to date, no one breathtakingly popular has got it. So LAMmie and I in our superstardom are doing what we can by spreading the word through our travels to raise money. You can always go to My First giving page to send money to The Lam Foundation.

LAMmie and I, with the help of Miche Consultant, Glenda Hamer (Glenda's Miche Page) decided to do a fundraiser. I love having Miche parties, to help me stock up on what's new in the form of new shells to fit my purse. If you haven't heard of Miche, go check out her site. Needless to say, Glenda met with me, and shared a way I could have my party and raise money at the same time. Instead of getting the free stuff that is the standard perk to having a party, We decided to donate 20% of all the retail sales to the LAM foundation. This was one way to give back to a group who has helped me out a great deal, you see they are the hosts of Lamposium, as well as funders of primary research for treatments & cures for my disease. So I set out to have the biggest Miche bag party I could. I had orders from far and wide for my idea, which made me very happy, I had a few folks attend the party at mom's as well to show their support. My retail sales lifted our donation to about $120.

 Well, I finished up sales, and went on about my week, and found out that Miss Glenda was having an open house to spread the word about her September releases. (there's a new midsize 'demi' bag you know). I went and ordered a shell, and found that part of her proceeds from her open house were also going to our fundraiser to make it a higher donation. She's left the party open until Sept.6th just in case you are reading this before hand. We are hoping to bring that donation total to $200.00. We will see what comes of it, but many thanks to Glenda for taking care of others! You rock!

LAMmie photoshoot

August -2011

Corbie with Corbie Lyn Photography helped me out by doing a photoshoot for my blog and bio's for LAM pages. I hadn't had my photo taken intentionally in a long time, but I have so many photography friends who have offered and hadn't taken them up on it. I like Corbie, she's always giving of herself, and she was available, and she took to Main St. Grand Junction, CO to take some pics of us.






We had a great time posing for a few shots. But I wanted something that is Iconic to Grand Junction, so we decided to go visit Chrome on the Range for a photo op. 



Thanks so much Corbie, take a look at her work at Corbie's Facebook page.

Arches National Park

July 2011 - Doug, Nicolas and I decide to head out on a day trip across the state line into Utah. I have been to Moab and Canyonlands before, but still hadn't made it to see the arches. I heard that some of them were a trek to get to, but that some of them were close enough to see without having to hike too far. I was very excited to go, and try out my camera with some new landscape. I brought my lammie along for a pic with an arch. As it turned out, it was a bright sunny day in Utah. At near 100 degrees we are hiking around in desert terrain, not the brightest thing to do on a summer day, but it was later in the evening, if you haven't ever experienced a sunset in the Arches, It's a must do in your lifetime. It's simply breathtaking, (pun intended). While there are several Arches near the road, the best ones are a bit of a hike away. I decided when we neared the end of the park where the ones are that you've seen in national geographic are, that I would simply try to hike up to Delicate Arch. We didn't take the main trail, I knew better than to try that, so we went to the "view area" trail. There was a short 100 feet tail down to view it from near the parking lot, and a high road, was quite a bit farther, I forget how far, needless to say, I didn't make it that far, but I did try. There were these rock stairs that were Breathtaking for me, They did me in, but I insisted upon climbing them, just to see if the view was better at the top.
I decided once up the stairs that this was something of a milestone. I hadn't really made it too far, I couldn't see the arch from where we stood, but in 100 degree heat, these stairs were momentous, so I left LAMmie at the top and snapped a pic between tourists. We then started our decent to the lower viewing trail, it was a bit more "handicap" accessible than the high road, but I would like to think I tried.

Here's a shot of LAMmie from the lower trail, still beautiful from below, and made for a rewarding finish to my hike. I appreciate my husband & son on adventures like this, if they feel they missed out on something by hanging out with me, they sure wouldn't say. Besides a sunset is much better when shared.