Parents Weekend USAFA 2024
Planning began months before Parents Weekend 2024. We knew that Lydia would be joining Chelsea at USAFA for a semester, and so it would be a double daughter deal Labor Day weekend in Colorado Springs. So the parents, grandparents, Abigail plus the Gallahers booked flights and AirBNBs for this marvelous trip.
The Gallahers, being the overachievers, arrived Wednesday and then Tom, Lynne, Grandma, Grandpa, and Meme arrived on Thursday. After dropping off the rif raf at the house, Lynne, Dad, and I went stirrrr-raight to our traditional super Walmart for groceries while Lydia and Meme explored the Red Rock Canyon.
Chelsea showed up for laughter and homemade chicken and vegetables. Lydia and the Chelsea had to be back for the parade in the morning, so they headed home and the rest of us went to bed.
Friday
Friday kicked off the big parents weekend events. It began with the wings of blue doing amazing jumps from the sky, followed by death defying glider demonstrations. Next came the parade of the entire, 4000 strong, cadet wing. They did a great job and were a great representation of USAFA.
After the parade, it was a Where's Waldo challenge, but eventually, we found Chelsea in the crowd, and we all headed off to see Chelsea's and Lydia's rooms. Grandma was amazing making her way the long route. After the rooms we went to both girl's squad cookouts.
Because of parents weekend, we could all access the T-zo as long as we were accompanied by the girls. It is a very pretty part of USAFA and we indulged with photos. Suddenly Katie Jo jumped on Abigail from behind starting all of us. The Gallahers had found us! And the photo shoot started all over again. You might notice that Chelsea's cover is large for her head. She lost hers and borrowed someone else's.
We headed to A Hall and Starbucks and the Gallahers went their own way. The Starbucks line was crazy long but the girls and grandpa jumped right in while a few of us went downstairs to see the information tables. There was so much! Wow. After looking around for a while, I went upstairs and found our group was almost at the front of the line, and I jumped on in. After over absorbing information and drinking caffeine we were ready to find the car and head back to the house. That night we were blessed to have Claire (of mountain biking cliff jumping fame) and Dylan (of snowboarding fame) plus all three of our girls spending the night with us. The large dinner table was pleasantly overflowing with people.
To finish off the dinner we went for ice cream at the renowned Josh and John's in downtown. There was a huge line! But we would not be abandon our goal, and the yum was worth the wait.
Saturday
Tom got to visit a mule deer first thing and then we were off early on Saturday for the big football game and tailgates galore. We started at the gymnastics tailgate before each girl had to go to their squadron tailgate to punch their ticket there. Fortunately, it was not as hot as 2023, but it was still hot and we were gracious for the good soul that brought a canopy which Lynne's parents and Meme were able to hang out under.
Eventually, it was time to head to the game. Unfortunately, we could not find a golf cart to provide transportation for Grandma, and she, Lynne, and Grandpa began the long walk to the stadium. To make the problem worse, there were problems with the tickets and Meme, Grandma, and Grandpa did not know where their seats were. Compounding that, cell phone use was nearly impossible with the thousands of people on network at once. The four of them got separated in the crowd and there was a very stressful 30 minutes trying to find everyone and their seats. The height of irony, the Gallahers showed up soon after Lynne and the parents began their trek... and gave us a ride to the stadium. However, once we all arrived at our seats, we had a good time together.
After some resting and napping, we headed to the south side of Denver to Abby's parents house. They had a beautiful, home on an arid mid-west lot. There was loads of good food, good drink, and new friends to meet. The kids had all been together in their baby squad, the trolls, from basic summer training through their first year. When we finally arrived back home in Colorado Springs, we all collapsed in bed.
(Evan, Abbie, Reid, Eri, Chelsea, Corbin)
Sunday
Sunday morning we went to Trace church to see God then headed over to the Garden of the God's to see how He farmed. There were no monster broccolis, but it was beautiful as usual. We started in the visitor center, learning about the ancient forces that created the landscape. Then we borrowed a wheelchair and headed out onto the trails where we took more amazing pictures.
We headed back home where we met up with the Gallahers for steak dinner which Shawn cooked on the grill for everyone. All 14 of us crowded around the large farmhouse table sharing what we all made.
After dinner we needed a short hike through the Red Rock Canyon where half of us climbed about forty foot up a rock formation, the one with the keep off sign that missed our attention. It was actually amazing and terrifying all at once. As the sun was setting we descended and went further into the dark until we finally got too nervous and turned back, and walked home.
We ended the evening sitting around the fire, just enjoying each other and reminiscing some of the silliest stories from the kids growing up together. To be honest, it was a uniquely enjoyable time together, realizing that great friends can connect anywhere. We debated for a while the merits of taking on the Manitou incline very early the next morning. Though tempting, we decided against such a trial and went to see the hot air balloons instead.
The balloons spread out across the park colors and characters that energized the hundreds of gawkers. We saw the Chiquita Banana, Navy Federal, Piggy, Monsters Inc balloons, and so many more. We noticed that many would take off and then momentarily touch down in the pond on the property, before zooming up into the sky, so we camped by the lake awhile watching.
To be frank, no trip to Colorado Springs would be complete without a trip to Frankly Coffee. We couldn't all fit in the waiting area, but we made ourselves very comfortable outside on the picnic tables.
And finally it was time to disperse to air ports and dorm rooms, drawing an end to a great vacation. The memories we traded for the time we spent with all our kids and parents and almost all the Gallahers were priceless for sure.
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