Parent's Weekend III

*I have put off this post because I was waiting on pictures, and although I still haven't gotten all of them, I just can't wait any longer!*

This Labor Day weekend was spent similarly to my Labor Day weekends for the past two years - in Colorado with Dillon for USAFA's Parent's Weekend.

It is kind of hard to explain how absolutely incredible this weekend and those past weekends are, so I'll just map out the weekend for you instead.

Friday - The journey to Colorado is always a little painful. The best way for me to get out there is to fly from Tucson to Colorado Springs. That means four airports, three flights, and 4+ hours of travel time. All completely worth it, but very long and exhausting. So to be completely honest, I wasn't in the best mood when I got there. I have no idea why but the final days leading up to when we see each other again can sometimes be the hardest. Anyways, Dillon picked me up from the airport with his mom and brother, and then we went to Texas Roadhouse to eat, and then went back to the hotel room. But it wasn't until Dillon and I went on a walk, just the two of us, that we were finally able to get into our lovey-dovey selves. This may sound selfish, but I like our reunions to be just us. So when we finally got some time to ourselves, that's when I became truly happy and it finally hit me that I was in Colorado to spend the entire weekend with my man.

Saturday - Woke up bright and early so we could go to the football game! Even though the game didn't start until 1, we got there around 10:30 to hang out at the tailgates! We first went to the baseball tailgate and had some burgers and hot dogs, which I'm surprised I could do with it being so early.

Then we headed over to his squadron's tailgate and I got to meet all of his friends that he talks so much about. It's a really small thing to get excited about, but I love being able to put a face to the names. It makes me feel more connected to him and his life here at the Academy even though we are so far away. Then back to the baseball tailgate we went to hang out for a few more hours.

 Since Dillon was helping out with the tailgate, we actually didn't go to the game. Once the tailgate was over we had to load up his truck, bring it to the baseball field, and then unload it all. But trust me, we were looking at the score on our ESPN app the entire time!
Afterwards we went and saw The Butler, which is an extremely touching movie that I would definitely recommend!! *Quick sidenote: It's really interesting to see things about the Civil Rights Movement now that I'm old enough to fully understand what it all meant and the atrocities that the black population had to endure. Learning about it in school could never make me understand in my heart what this all meant.
Then we went shopping! Of course this was not my kind of shopping because it was all for Dillon. ;) When mom comes out, so does her credit card, and Dillon is in heaven, haha!

Sunday - White water rafting day! When Dillon's mom first recommended we go white water rafting this parent's weekend I was all for it! I had never been and it sounded like so much fun! But once we got there and once they gave us all the talk about what it would entail, I was scared shitless. That's right, I said it. I can do things like roller coasters (something Dillon hates because he doesn't trust them), but for some reason this made me so nervous. I was certain we would be the one boat to flip and I would go floating down the Arkansas river down a waterfall and to my death. This may have been slightly overly irrational, but that was my thinking. But after all is said and done, I can say that it was easily one of the best days of my life. True, I didn't fully enjoy it because while Dillon and his family were happy-go-lucky chatting up a storm, I was sitting there gripping my paddle and listening intently for our guide's instructions on what to do next. But really, despite that small fact, it was amazing. The views were gorgeous, it was a nice sunny day, and we never flipped our boat!

A smile! Proof that I enjoyed myself! :)

High five for staying alive!

Luckily, Dillon's mom paid for the picture package! Since we (obviously) were going to get wet I didn't bring my camera or phone so I couldn't snap any photos of the amazing scenery or our amazing lunch. When they said we would be getting lunch, I was like okay cool, I can dig a sandwich and a bag of chips. No. They grilled us steak and loaded us up on salads, fruits, and a large M&M cookie. That steak was probably the most delicious steak I've ever had, probably due to the fact that I figured it was my last meal since we took on the Gorge (the hardest part of the trip) after lunch. And I'm only slightly joking about that.
Sunday night was spent lying in bed eating delivered Papa Johns pizza, and me complaining about how sore I already was. It was a good 5+ hours on the water, under the sun, gripping that paddle, and getting bumped all over the place! I still can't understand why Dillon wouldn't agree to give me a full body massage. ;)

Monday - The dreaded last day of the glorious weekend. After checking out of our hotel we headed over to Cracker Barrel for brunch. If you have never been, you are seriously missing out. The food is absolutely amazing, and all at a very decent price.

Playing checkers while waiting for a table. I totally kicked his butt, naturally.

After eating we went to the mall for more shopping, and then his mom and brother had to leave. As much as I do love spending time with them, it was really nice to have some time with just the two of us before I had to catch my flight. We ended up going to see We're The Millers, another movie I would recommend because it was hilarious! Then we went and ate Panda Express and afterwards we headed to the airport. One of the perks of flying out of a small airport is that there are no lines. Once we got there and I checked in we realized I had plenty of time to get through security and to my gate, so we decided to hang out for a while. He brought in his playing cards and we played 21 together. We didn't play for money, but I'm 99.9% sure I kicked his butt once again. ;)
We talked about our future and how we are now halfway done with USAFA. As much as the last two years have dragged, and as much as I hate thinking that we still have two more years of this long distance crap, I definitely find some happiness in knowing that we are already halfway through it. We also talked about the next time we'll see each other, which we are hoping is Columbus Day weekend in October. I asked him if it would be for sure and if I could put it on my countdown, and then I broke down. There's always something that triggers my tears, and this time it was the word "countdown" in which it just really really really sucks to have to even have a countdown until the next time I see the man I love. But he always knows just what to say and after kissing my tears away, we could smile and be happy with the time we did have.

Although that's the end of my weekend with Dillon, I just have to add that the travel back is way worse than the travel there. With every airport, every plane ride, and every hour, I became that much farther from him. Also, my last flight got delayed and I didn't land in Tucson until after midnight. Luckily for me I have an amazing roommate who stayed up, despite her 8am the following morning, to pick me up and bring me home to my comfy but lonely bed.
End sob story.

Take away all that sadness crap, and I had one of the best weekends with my man yet! :)
Stay tuned to my next couple That Time I posts to see what we did on our first two Parent's Weekends!