Susie and Stephanie's Big Adventure

Archives for October 2014

We Are Family

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After our trip out to see the mountains and the aspen fall colours, we were invited round to Linda’s apartment for coffee.

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Stephanie and Linda

We made a side trip to our new favourite supermarket, King Sooper’s to see what they had in the line of cakes or buns to take with us.  Susie sought the opinion of a member of staff who recommended the cheesecake.  They did, indeed, look rather yummy.  The only downside was that they were all in the freezer cabinet and I didn’t think that we should pitch up with frozen cake!

They certainly seem to be big cinnamon fans here.  There were cinnamon buns of every description and I’ve noticed that there have been cinnamon bagels as part of the breakfast offering each day.  In the end we found a chiller cabinet containing portions of different cakes so we bought a selection of three (including some cheesecake!) to take with us.

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Linda and Bugsy

We made our way to Linda’s and were warmly greeted by both her and Bugsy. Susie opted to try some iced tea for the first time and I chose my usual hot, black tea. While we were there, Linda received a text from one of her sons who was going to call by with some bread for her. She didn’t let him know we were there, saying that he’d have a surprise when he arrived.

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Stephanie, Linda and Chris

And so this is how I got to meet one of my four American nephews. Chris seemed a little taken aback when he opened the door to find Susie and I there but he soon settled down and chatted with us. We then had a photo session as you can see.

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Rocky Mountain High

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Yesterday (Wednesday) we decided to go for a drive up the mountains. My medicine was working and so I felt generally better although quite weak and headachy from lack of food (breakfast half a bagel for example). Walking up 1 flight of stairs made me all dizzy!

I spoke with Linda on the phone and arranged to meet at her apartment for coffee in the afternoon. I asked her advice about where best to head to see the aspens changing colour and she pointed us in the direction of Interstate 24.

Essentially, this took us due west of Colorado Springs in the first instance and then we started to climb. I took quite a few photos through the car window and although they are not David Bailey quality, they will at least remind us of our jaunt.

There were several signs warning of risk of flooding – which really seems weird when you are halfway up a mountain – but talking to Chris, Linda’s son later on, we found out that there had been horrendous floods and mudslides last year.

We travelled for quite a few miles up through the mountain pass until we reached a placed called “Divide” (elevation 9,165 ft above sea level) where we decided to turn back. On the way we passed several areas of habitation and saw our first “Guns ‘n Ammo” shop. If we get a chance later, I’d kind of like to have a look in the western outfitters there.

It looks to me like the trees have only just started turning and I bet they will be spectacular in a week or so. We’ve put some of the pictures in the slideshow above to give a flavour of the views.

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Golf Girl

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This post is slightly out of sync.  I started it a few days ago and it’s sat in “draft” until now due to events somewhat overtaking it.  It refers to events on Sunday.

Well, we managed a trip out to the golf shop as I was feeling a little better. Unlike the shops in the vicinity of Reading, this one actually has a section for women’s clothes – and they go up to “cuddly” sizes.

Susie was in her element and pretty much every part of the store was investigated. There was a huge range of just about everything. We spotted some very funky women’s clubs and had a go with them on the computerised range.

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Susie in her new finery

There was a (for Susie) marathon trying on session and she ended up with a pair of trousers (in the sale: only about £15), 3 tops, 2 belts and a pair of golf shoes. I managed to find a pair of shoes which seemed comfy and I also bought a reversible belt which has a magnetic ball marker as part of the belt buckle.

Luckily for us, there was a special deal on and we saved quite a lot on our little haul. Although, there is always the sales tax on top. Unlike the UK, the prices shown are net of tax and you need to remember they’ll end up 15% higher than you first think you’re going to be paying.

By the time we left Golfsmith, the sky had really clouded over and we both thought we’d like something to eat.  I didn’t want too much and after some deliberation decided to go to AppleBee’s which was next door to the golf shop.  We both had the lunch combo: Susie the “mac ‘n cheese” plus a club sandwich and I had a turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich with a small portion of French Onion soup.  It was lovely but I couldn’t manage it all.

While we were having lunch, the heavens opened.  Honestly, I expected to see some felines and canines all over the road.  There was thunder and lightening and a jet black sky.  In the distance, on the horizon we could see a rainbow.  Weirdly, it was the top arc of the rainbow, almost as if we were level with it!

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The Road To Hell…

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The final must-do of the day after the night before was to try and finish dealing with Direct Line. What a palaver. The previous evening, they were insistent that they would only pay if a) I took Stephanie to hospital and b) I phoned them from the hospital, with the hospital’s fax number and complete contact details for their insurance department so that they could fax release forms over to the hospital us to sign before we left.

Unsurprisingly, no-one in the ER at 3am knew the fax number, and there’s no way the skeleton night staff would have time or capacity to deal with it. You would think that someone at Direct Line might possibly have the half a brain cell required to work that out. But no, they had to be told.

As a compromise, after a lot of too-ing and fro-ing, they agreed that they would email me the documents and I could get them signed and faxed back to them. They were also dubious that they would be able to get a medical report as she was treated as an outpatient – in which case, of course, they would not guarantee to pay.

We couldn’t fax from the hotel, Amy, star customer services manager, invited me into the back office to see if we could work out how to make the fax machine dial internationally. But after about half an hour of pressing all the buttons and resorting to reading the various manuals(!) we had to give up. So we scanned it in and I’ve emailed it. I can only hope it gets there. I specifically asked them to acknowledge receipt but of course there’s been a deafening silence.

I’m grateful my insurance is with someone else, but before I renew I’ll be asking much more detailed questions as I think the ability to call a doctor in what is clearly an emergency is a key requirement.

Note: I know I’m from Yorkshire and therefore tight, but I would have willingly paid myself for a doctor for Stephanie regardless of the cost – if I could have found one! However I misguidedly thought the purpose of travel insurance was to make life slightly easier, not to turn a bad situation into an even more difficult, stressful experience.

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