Colorado, Fortunately....Unfortunately

Fortunately, we took a trip to Colorado, unfortunately, the train through Iowa was flooded out and couldn't run. Fortunately, we could drive to Omaha and catch a bus to Denver to start our trip, unfortunately, our tickets were incorrect. Fortunately, the agent in Omaha was very helpful and quickly changed the tickets and issued us a refund, unfortunatley, the bus was crowded and two ladies sat behind me and Sylvie (and talked very loudly from 2 to 3am!) and sleep was next to impossible. Fortunately, our rental car was a van that held all of us and our luggage easily, unfortunately, Jeff decided to add two more activities to the first driving day and it became very long! Fortunately, Colorado National Monument was beautiful and well worth the detour, unfortunately, Grand Mesa was something of a disappointment, but we did find a small gallery and winery shop at the end of it and bought a bottle of wine. Fortunately, our cabin and campground were just great! Fortunately, Mesa Verde was really awe-inspiring and very interesting to visit, unfortunately, Kenny wasn't able to make the climbs up and down with us. Fortunately, we booked the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge railroad trip way in advance and got to make that trip, unfortunately, Silverton wasn't all it was cracked up to be and Sylvie cried at lunch because the restaurant was, "ugly and tacky! sob sob sob!" Fortunately, even the "tacky" souvenir shops were fun an we found some good stuff. Fortunately, Sylvie and I got to go on a two hour horse-back ride up in the mountains and saw divine scenery, unfortunatley, 2 hours on a horse??? I had pains in areas of my body that I didn't even know could hurt(my kidneys hurt for two days)!! Fortunately, we drove to Four Corners and got to stand at the junction of four states, unfortunately it was a big concrete slab in the middle of nowhere that took 2 hours to get to! Fortunately, the car made the trek through the mountains without issues and we got back to Grand Junction in one piece, unfortunately, the train was still not running through Iowa, waaaah! Fortunately, the ticket agent was able to correct things and give us a refund, unfortunately, it wasn't as much as we expected and we still had to ride the bus back to Omaha. Fortunately, the train to Denver arrived in Grand Junction right on time, unfortunately, we had to wait for a couple of repair crews to clear the tracks and it made us an hour late! Fortunately, we got lunch in the dining car with our first class accomodation, unfortunately, they didn't serve dinner due to the lack of time, so despite not getting into Denver until 8:30pm, we had no dinner!:( Fortunately, we were off the train fast and arrived first at the bus, unfortunately, the bus driver tried to close the door on us and told us we couldn't get on yet as they didn't have the "express vs. local" situation figured out yet. Fortunately, there was to be an Amtrak person there to help figure things out, unfortunately, there wasn't one and noone showed up until I went into the station 45 minutes later and talked to the agent in the ticket window! Fortunately, she came out and sorted it out, unfortunately, there wasn't anyone that needed to get off the bus before Omaha and so they could have just let us on the busses and driven all of us there in the first place! DUUHHHH...... Fortunatley, the bus was a bit more comfortable than the one we rode last week, unfortunately, the driver never introduced himself or made any announcements for bathroom breaks or anything! Fortunately, there were more empty seats on this bus, unfortunately, I was on the opposite side of the bus from my family and I had a panic attack (from fatigue and lack of food) and feared that their side of the bus would be sheared off in a wreck and I would lose them all and the kids also cried due to hunger and I felt like the worst mom ever. Fortunately, we got out of Denver quickly and were soon on the highway, unfortunately, we got diverted off the highway by a police car surrounded by flares and the bus driver had no clue what to do! Fortunately, he was able to call the other driver and get back on the highway after about 20 minutes. Fortunately, the kids were able to get some sleep and the bus arrived on time to Omaha, unfortunately, this time there was an old couple behind us and the man was nearly deaf and he shouted a lot all night. Fortunately, our car was still in the parking lot with all of its tires and gas, unfortunately, there had been a wind storm in Omaha that night and half of the town was without power. Fortunately, Jeff felt ok to drive, unfortunately, we couldn't find a good restaurant, the one we stopped at said it was an Embers, but it was a dump and smelled like pee, so we left. Fortunately, we found a McDonald's a few miles down the highway. Fortunately, I fell asleep in the van and Jeff made awesome time to Des Moines, unfortunately, when I took over the driving there was a huge rain shower! Fortunately, we were able to drive out of it and make it home around 3:15pm! Home never felt so good! Back to regular life. Anne