Rocky Mountain High

Golda has been in a post-mission depression since she got home and discovered that life is meaningless when you're not spreading the joy of the gospel in Hong Kong. Really, re-entry is rough. It's hard. Looking back, my advice to families who have a missionary come home, is MAKE TIME FOR THEM! Just put thing son hold. They're disoriented and sad. They just need your presence. Golda got home December 1, and we were BUSY! It was Christmastime, which involves an amped-up schedule already, but we also had Golda's homecoming, Ptolemy's baptism, Ruby's mission call, dozens of Nutcracker performances, a busy music store and countless parties and events to host and attend. I pictured Golda just jumping into the fray, but she was unable. She felt lost and superfluous. From the outside looking in, she felt like we didn't need her. I was constantly asking her to do things like drive kids to ballet, which I thought was helpful to "keep her busy" and help her integrate into life again. And, I'm sad to admit it, I was a bit impatient with her sincere sorrow. I told her it was normal, and she needed time to get over it, which was true, but what I didn't do was take the time to just BE with her. None of us did. We were all so happy to have her back, we didn't want to notice that she was drowning in the life that we had so eagerly anticipated her being a part of again.

It wasn't all bad. There was a lot of fun to be had, and slowly Golda oriented herself, but she needed to do something big, to get her heart pumping again. She booked a trip to Europe. She used every penny she had, which is the Dopp way, to arrange this trip. She worked for me on weekends at the store, and took any odd job she could find. She starved and saved food money. She took public transportation instead of driving. She needed this.

The flight she booked was out of Denver, because it was a steal of a deal. Nonstop to Paris for like $450 over spring break. Scott and I were more than happy to drive her to Denver so we could spend time with her. It was a super fun trip. We woke up early and drove without incident to Fort Collins, where we had lunch at a trendy little burger place. We dropped off Golda at the airport where she commented, "I hope this trip fixes me." If anything can fix a person, it's a couple weeks in Paris and London with old friends.

We interrupt this blog post to imform you that Araceli got her drivers license. Is that how you spell it, really? Blogger is being weird with pictures, and it's hard to upload them, so I'm leaving these here. Celi having her license has been great. It saves me SO much driving! She's working hard to be responsible and not do anything spontaneous like driving to San Francisco instead of going to seminary. She probably would if she could afford the gas.

Anyway, these pictures are in random order, but after dropping excited little Golda off, Scott and I drove back to Fort Collins. We used our free Marriott night to book the best, most darling hotel. It's called The Elizabeth, and you have to stay there. I haven't been to Fort Collins for 25 years. Long ago, I spent a week there, staying with a violin varnish guru, Geary Baese, learning his varnish secrets and riding in his Model T Ford over to Estes Park for a party. Eccentric guy, and now I see why he chose Fort Collins as his home. It's full of characters who would drive a Model T over the Rockies for a party. As a weekend getaway, Fort Collins is incredible. Scott and I discovered far too many cool places to enjoy in just one night. We had an amazing time. We'll definitely go back to try some of the restaurants we didn't get to sample and stroll the downtown area further. It was so vibrant on a Thursday afternoon, so full of people, most of them older like us, just enjoying life. We loved it.

The next day, we set out early so we could be home to work. Unfortunately, I-80 was closed due to wind and snow. What could have been a 6-hour drive turned into a 12-hour journey over the Rocky Mountains. As soon as we got everything at home squared away, we enjoyed the drive. It was touch and go over the pass outside Vail, because it was snowing and we were afraid we would be turned back without four wheel drive. Everything was fine, though, and the weather wasn't too bad. We stopped in Vail for some ramen and made a new friend, the chef. He was from California. We had a nice chat. 

In just two days, we experienced a super fun getaway in a place that's close by, yet a world away. Travel doesn't have to be exotic of expensive to feed your soul.

Lisbon and Sintra

As our wonderful spring break trip came to a close, we said good-bye to Sonia's house and Badajoz and caravanned to Sintra, just outside of Lisbon. Scott was a good co-pilot for Juan. With google maps, the language barrier was no big deal. :) Sintra is absolutely breathtaking. It's charming. Again, I wanted to stay forever. The traffic was insane, and I was grateful that Juan was so good at navigating it. Sonia had the kids in the car behind us, so it was pretty tricky getting around. Juan was an expert. The roads were so narrow, cars were driving with their outside wheels hanging half off the pavement. Americans would never be able to drive like this! It takes courage. Nobody seems to mind, either, even though the traffic is ridiculous. At one point, we had to get the car through an alley that was like one millimeter wider than the car. Throw in speed bumps on the walls, manual transmission, a hill and oncoming traffic at the end of the alley, and it seems impossible. It's not, and we proved it with a millimeter to spare between us and the tucked-in side mirrors. Crazy!

The beach was chilly but rejuvenating. So beautiful. We had dinner right on the beach. It was fresh, fresh fish.

It was swimming an hour ago. Our view from the restaurant was the ocean and the company was perfect. We are so grateful to Juan and Sonia for giving us an unforgettable and perfect trip.

Earlier in the day, we had toured the gardens and this mansion. The girl in front os Sofia's friend and neighbor.

We had plans to hike up to the castle the next morning, but we ran short on time and droe part of the way...thank heavens! Juan was an excellent tour guide, and I know the hike would have been amazing in its entirety, but I'm lazy! The amount of hiking we did was perfect.

The pictures are all out of order. This was desert in the gardens for lunch the first day.

Rolling down the hill.

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Taking the time. One of my goals.

Choosing dinner.

The food makes me cry, it's so good. You cna't even get fresh food here in the states unless you go to some pompous Whole Foods store. Or grow it yourself, as Sonia suggested we do. Again, we're lazy. And we live in the midst of very hungry deer.

I had never tried this delicacy: barnacles. Very good!

The Matt Freeman of Sintra, which you'll understand if you graduated from Kaysville Jr. High in 1986.

Our airbnb was to die for. So charming, perfect location, spacious, clean, beautiful, comfortable. I wish we had a week there!

Little touches

The view out our window!!

Can I please just stay here?

Good-byes are the worst. And even worse is that these kids are growing up and have no more teenage summers to spend together tooling around Europe or America's national parks. It's over. I could cry. Actually, I am crying.

This was Ruby not crying, but laughing hysterically because the woman's hair next to her was tickling her arm.

A brief overnight in Amsterdam at a nice Hyatt by the airport with chocolate sprinkles for breakfast, and we were homeward bound.

I think this is the most beautiful picture of Ruby. Travel is her thing, Europe is her home, Victor is her favorite person. I asked, "Is there anything we can do to make you feel better?" She looked gloomily out the airplane window and said, "Leave me here."

And I would have.