A Trip to see the Folks

I left this morning to visit my mom and dad in Hurricane. After forgetting my phone and having to turn back, and then spilling a drink down my "fresh from the cleaners" jacket, I was on the road!
I love solo road trips.
With the temperature set just as I like it and the radio tuned to Saturday morning NPR, I drove as fast as I wanted with Peter Sagal and Carl Kassel, Tom and Ray and Ira Glass as my traveling companions. They kept me quite entertained, never telling me to "watch my speed", "turn up the air" or "watch out for that truck".
All of the rain that we have had lately has provided a verdant, green, beautiful landscape! Black cattle and white sheep dotted the fields, while low hanging clouds skimmed the foothills. It was such a treat to watch the landscape, looking even more lovely than usual, roll by as I drove.
The red rocks came into view as I traveled further south. Fluffy, white clouds floated on flat bottoms, like meringues in a bright blue soup. It was such a pretty sight! The mesas were bright apricot and plum and the temperature, which had been in the fifties, rose to the seventies. I opened the sun roof, just reveling in the moment.
After visiting with my folks for a while, they had visitors come over and I excused myself and decided to blog about my lovely drive. Thunder boomed, lightening flashed and it began hailing, big penny sized hail!
Wow, it was really coming down in a deluge! I love a crazy storm and I watched out the window as it came down, noticing my car parked out front...
the Sun Roof!!!
The next day, I took my mom into St. George for her chemo. It was nice to be with her as she got her blood work and picc line readied. I dropped her off for the actual hour and a half of chemo and ran some errands, including a trip to one of my favorite stores Urban Renewal where I bought some wonderful old linens...now to get the stains out!
Mom comes out of her treatments feeling pretty good, the effects of the poison coursing through her veins isn't felt for a couple of days, then it kicks in and she feels a "little" sick and a "lot" tired. Her white hair is still hanging on and is as beautiful as ever. After her treatment, we went to Olive Garden for soup and salad. It tasted so good to her as she had not been able to eat fresh fruits or veggies since last treatment because of her low white cell count. Poor mom, she loves fresh food and was really tiring of canned goods, so it was a real treat to have some salad at last! The treat for me was just being at lunch with my mom!
On my way home, I thought how grateful I am to be able to make these visits. I often think of all the circumstances that allow me to do so and I am thankful: Thankful for my car, my job that provides money and the summer off to visit more often, my health, our proximity to each other, still having my wonderful parents and a hundred other things!
I'm very lucky or blessed, however you prefer to think of it, I am grateful!