Last Trip from Colorado to Flagstaff

I am moving back to Colorado!

It is a bit bittersweet to know that this was the last trip between Colorado and Flagstaff.  The last time that I will make this trip other than an occasional trip to visit my sister and her husband.  Part of me wanted to soak it all in, to stop and see all the sights along the way that I've always wanted to stop and see.  But with not quite three weeks to get packed up and move, while still working during that time, I knew I couldn't stop much.  I did take a handful of photos along the way.

The orchards in Palisade, Colorado are just beginning to bloom!  Love the deep peachy pink blossoms just coming out!


I brought a lovely bouquet of lilacs from my mother's yard to enjoy, knowing that they will be done by the time I get back around the first of May.  Lovely fragrance.  They delighted me on the journey.


Had to take one last iconic shot of Monument Valley.


I always drive past these old tree stumps painted with their ghost mask faces and think I should stop and take a photo, so this time I did.  Someone recently repainted them, so they look all fresh right now.  I wonder what the meaning is behind them.  I love that someone took the time to do this and regularly repaints them.  Just a bit of the mystery surrounding the area of  "the Res" as they call it around here.

I've enjoyed my time in Flagstaff and there are things I will miss so much.  The quiet, relaxed and mostly down-to-earth pace of life here.  How you can look up and see the stars and milky way from within the city.  Living in the same state as my sister and going to scrap-booking with her.  The wonderfully cool comfortable summers. The diversity of the population here (roughly 1/2 native american, 1/4 white, 1/4 hispanic by my estimate). How I live just a 10 minute walk from work.  My wonderful co-workers.  My job at Flagstaff Medical Center (though I hope to find one in Colorado that I'll love just as much!)

There are also a few things I WON'T miss: 5 feet of snow at a time and the sheets of ice that come when it melts.  Spring that never seems to come.  Being so far from my own kids, especially at holidays (how I will love being near them again!) The alone-ness that I've sometimes felt here and how difficult it was to find a close circle of friends outside of my co-workers.  Having to drive 2 1/2 hours to Phoenix for some "real" shopping (Flagstaff has gotten much better in the time I've been here, but the shopping is still fairly limited).  The desert and the lack of green landscape.  Having an apartment that receives so little sun during the day, especially in winter.

I'm a little anxious about moving back to the hectic fast-paced world along Colorado's Front Range and trying to carve out my quiet peaceful place within it.  I'm also anxious about finding a job as a postpartum (Mother/Baby) RN in the area I want to live and finding a house in that same area that I'll love.  There will be some family adjustments as well.  I'll have to get used to hot summers again and allergy season!  But the timing feels right and I can't wait to be back with my kids on a regular basis again and back into the circle of friends I have in Colorado.

Now I am "home", trying to tackle the big job of packing, deciding what I'll need while living in my Mom's house while it sells, what I'll need in a temporary apartment,  and what I can put into long storage until I at last get moved into my own home again.  My daughter will be moving along with me through all of this, so I have to also think about how to consolidate both of our households!