I've been in Grand Junction since Wednesday, visiting my grandparents. I love being out here; it's so quiet and calming. The people that live across the road have lots of animals so I get to watch them. I'm a city girl so seeing horses and chickens and roosters fascinate me. There's also a real pretty Siamese cat that wanders around as well. AND I saw a woodpecker this morning. I don't think I've ever seen one up close before. He was cute.

I enjoy the drive over here as well. We go through some great scenery and it's always fun to ride with Mom. Last year we were coming over here and we played the Alphabet Game. For those that aren't familiar with that game...you go through the alphabet using signs that you see while you're traveling. Some letters, like J, Q & Z are harder than the rest unless you're going through a little town. So last year we were playing and I was kicking butt. I was on Z when Mom was stuck on Q. We were going through DeBeque Canyon and on the right hand side of the road is the Colorado River. Suddenly Mom says "Hey! Is the river running the wrong way?" Of course I look to check out this odd claim. "No, I don't think so," I answer. "No, I really think it is. Keep looking."

Now, I trust my mother. Apparently I never learned from the egg in Derek's face incident that I shouldn't but I do. I thought she was really concerned that the river was not following nature's course. After a while I told her that the river was fine. I start to look towards the road, ready to resume my search for a Z to win the game and she whips her arm in front of my face and points towards the river again. "WHAT WAS THAT?" "What was what," I cry, my eyes flying out the window again. "I don't see anything!"

"I don't know, I thought I saw something." She shrugs and goes about her business. All this time, however, she's caught up to me in the game and is also on Z. She ended up winning. Afterwards she admits that there was never anything wrong with the river and that she made up seeing something. She wanted to take my eyes off the road where there were signs with the letter Z on them. **SIGH**

I see where my brother gets his evilness.

This time, we didn't play the Alphabet Game. We were too busy trying to figure out who should play Robert Langdon in the DaVinci Code movie that Ron Howard is slated to film. We discussed this for quite a while and went through a ton of actors before deciding that Johnny Depp would do. She wanted me to go to "RonHoward.com" (if there is such a thing) and write him to tell him our idea. She's sure he'll listen to us.

There was quite a bit of road construction in the mountains this time. Lanes were closed off by utilizing the orange cones. Except the cones were all laying on their sides, some in the middle of our lane. We passed a Falling Rock sign and then a sign warning to watch for deer. Mom suggested that we were in a dangerous area and they should add a road sign to the mix: "Beware of Rebellious Cones."

I'm looking forward to the return trip. You never know what could happen.

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