The Powells Go to Maui

On July 24th, my family and I made our way to MAUI!  We had been planning the trip for over a year... and the anticipation had been building... and building... so I couldn't believe when it was finally time to go!

After 8 hours in the air and a pit stop in Los Angeles, I had made it to Maui.  When we arrived at the house, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! 

When we asked my brother, Adam, what kind of beer he wanted, he requested primo beer... I didn't realize he meant LITERALLY Primo beer until I saw it sitting there in the store!

On my first full day in Maui, I enjoyed a cup of coffee by the pool...

... and then we all headed to Whalers Village where Charlie made a friend.

After doing some shopping, we went to the beach there in Kaanapali.  It was gorgeous!

Charlie had an awesome time.

I tried to get a family photo of Adam, Leane, and Charlie, when Charlie came running at me.  It turned out to be an unexpectedly great picture!

Someone worked up an appetite.

After a morning at the beach, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the house.

  

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This picture reminds me so much of one I took exactly one year ago!

July 2013

July 2012

I can't believe the views from the backyard! 

That night, I capped off an already awesome first day in Maui with a visit from Diana and Eric!  They were coincidentally vacationing in Kaanapali the same week as me, and we met up that night for dinner.  I'm flying straight to San Antonio after this trip, so I was especially happy to see Diana since it will be the last time I see her before moving.  (**insert sad face here**)

Please excuse my mumu.  

Thus far, Maui had been good to the Powells.  I couldn't wait for the next six days of fun ahead!

Red Rocks

On July 16th, I went to Red Rocks to see Phillip Phillips and John Mayer.  I was so happy to go to Red Rocks again before I moved - and I was especially happy to see Diana, Nicole, and Caity!

Here's Nicole on the far left, her friend Marcy, Diana, me, and Nicole's friends Christine and Ang. 

When you roll with Nicole, you know you'll be doing it in classy style.  Not only did she have a special tailgating table from Crate & Barrel, but she also brought chairs and a TABLECLOTH!!!  We snacked on french bread, brie (fancy fancy!), salami, pasta salad, chips & salsa, gummi bears, and a multitude of other deliciousness!

Such pretty views from the parking lot...

We watched the sunset behind the mountain as we tailgated...

We didn't want to miss Phillip Phillips, so we headed into the amphitheater.

We sat in the general admission area, and from up that high, you can see all the way to downtown Denver.

 Me and Diana (who I will miss SO much!!!):

Our friend Caity is a super-cool-die-hard-concert-goer and was sitting in the FRONT ROW (!) with her sister.  We went down to say hi right before Phillip Phillips started... look how close she was!

 

 We went back up to our seats when he came on, but I snapped a quick shot before leaving.

I was texting with Caity while we waited for John Mayer to come on, and she said Diana and I should come back down to hang out....

... so we did!  Here is Diana, Megan (Caity's sister), Caity, and me:

Before we knew it, John Mayer was coming on, and we were still in the front row!  We stayed down there for a few songs and danced it out with Caity and Megan...

          

                                                                  

It was such a great night at Red Rocks.  I can't think of a better way to spend one of my last nights in Colorado!

Trippin' Across Texas {Road Trip to Texas Part 5}

Within a couple hours of leaving Roswell, Jen and I had finally made it...

... to the Texas state line!

We stayed in Pecos for the night, and upon our arrival, we were disappointed to find that every restaurant in town was already closed!! 

SO, we got Subway at the gas station, and Jen whipped up a couple lemon drop martinis for us.

Classy.

The next morning, we were ready to see all that Pecos had to offer...

... like this cool sign...

... and a replica of the Judge Roy Bean courthouse...

and this random, standalone train car...

... and that pretty much exhausted Pecos's tourist attractions.

Jen and I knew we were on the home stretch of our trip, and we were excited to get to our final destination - Devine.

It was going to take something pretty extraordinary to distract us and delay our arrival.

Something extraordinary like an abandoned zombie bus.

That's right.

About twenty minutes outside Pecos, we were driving, minding our own business on US-285.  That's when we saw - in the middle of NOWHERE - an old, abandoned school bus off in the distance.

"WHAT is that bus doing there?!" I asked.

Jen looked at me and said, "I don't know.... but do you want to go check it out?"

Of course I did!  I turned myself around and headed back for the bus.

I guess we'll never know why it was sitting there in the middle of a field, but it definitely looked like something out of The Walking Dead.

About an hour into our drive, the terrain started to drastically change.  We went from hot, dry, treeless desert to hilly, slightly more vegetated land.  We were so excited to see green land that we stopped at this rest area for a few pictures.

Our next stop (after a bathroom break in what's sure to be the most populated Dairy Queen in West Texas), was lunch at Cooper's in Junction.

Jen's husband, James, recommended Cooper's, and knowing how much James appreciates Texas BBQ, I knew he wouldn't steer us wrong.

We made it to Texas!

Shortly after leaving Junction, we found ourselves in the Texas hill country!

We passed through Bandera... where apparently it's normal to park your horse outside the local bar.

After leaving Bandera, we knew we were getting SO CLOSE to Devine....

... and before we knew it...

... we had arrived!

One thousand one hundred and fourteen miles after leaving Denver, we had reached our final destination.

We were greeted by James, Jameson, Kenzie, and Hudson - who were VERY excited to see their mom! We then walked next door to Jen's parents' house, and spent the rest of the evening eating Scotty's famous nachos, drinking Shiner (or martinis for Jen), and relaxing!

The next day, I caught a flight back to Denver to spend the rest of my time off from work with my family.  (And let me tell you, it blew my mind that I was able to fly home in 2 HOURS, considering it had taken three days to drive there!)  As we pulled out of Jen's driveway, I waved good-bye to my car...

... and thought about how surreal it is that the next time I come to Texas, I will be LIVING there.  It's seems a little crazy, but it's definitely exciting!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Thank you, Jen, for making the drive with me!  It was a blast!!!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*