The Jolt of the Bolt

Hiking in Vail

That's corny. The jolt of the bolt, I’m a poet and I didn’t know it. Ha! One week to go! I knew I’d wake up and we’d be almost there. One week from now we will be in Korea. Honestly I’m more worried about jet lag than I am about meeting Avi for the first time. Seoul is +14 hours from Colorado. I’d like to pass out for the flight over there, but I think I’d be better served by staying awake the whole time. (ugh!) and sleeping when it’s bedtime there.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. Between lockets and artesian crafts and blankets, we have some excellent and very loving ideas! We’ll get her squared away by the second visit. This visit we’ll just take the stuff we have.

Ann and I took the weekend and went to Vail. Life has been stressful these last couple of weeks, and we decided to get away for a quick escape.  We went up there, ate great food, hiked up to Mid-Vail, and just had a wonderful time. I kept saying “this is our last vacation as just you and I”. Perhaps I did it to the point of annoyance. But from now on, even if Avi may stay behind for some trips, we will be traveling as parents. Ann and I make such a great team. We’ve been that way for years and now it’s about to change forever. I think that’s beginning to hit me.  

As we were walking along, we found the former site of Minnie’s lift. We used to take Born Free up, cut over to Minnie’s and ride that little rickety two seater to the top. All that’s left of Minnie’s lift is a bare patch, a liftline through the trees, and possibly a bolt. Now they have the beautiful Gondola to get you up there, and the even newer “One” lift (a bigger gondola) out of Vail Village. These new lifts are faster, prettier, and more scenic than that little slow lift. But both Ann and I agreed we missed Minnie’s. There’s nothing wrong with the new stuff, it’s better in many ways. But that old lift we’d known for years was something we’d gotten used to and it’s gone forever. I kind of feel a parallel between that and Avi coming home. It’s not going to be just the two of us anymore.

The view from the new and improved "One"

Along the route, I found this big heavy bolt in the mud about 50 feet from where the lift used to stand. Now I’d say I’m about 20% sure that bolt came from the old lift. Vail took the lift out about 5 years ago, and I wasn’t exactly in the right spot, but that mud caked bolt was just too perfectly placed and buried to be there by accident. I picked up that muddy thing and stuck it in my pocket. Ann and I have a collection of things we’ve kept from hikes, bike rides and runs over the years. It’s proudly displayed in our living room. And we can tell you the significance of pretty much everything in there. I’ve decided to add this bolt to the collection. With all the changes going on in our lives right now, this was our last trip together as just the two of us. And immediately after finding the bolt, I saw a connection between the little two seater ride Ann and I have been on all this time, and the new faster future to come. That’s a lot of importance to attach to a bolt or maybe I’m just feeling poetic.

I couldn’t be happier to meet Avi and bring her home. I think there will be wonderful new experiences that I can’t now imagine. Everyone says it changes your life “but in a good way!” and I believe that. But there is a touch of sadness for what we’ll be losing in the process. Fortunately, I also think that will be far outweighed by the joy that is just around the corner.  

Ann practicing her Korean

And by the way...

So far we haven’t been allowed to put any pictures of Avi on public forums like this. All our pictures belong to the adoption agency and aren’t allowed to be shared publicly. That's about to change. For the first time, we’ll have pictures that are ours and we can do with them as we please. So keep an eye on us next Monday or Tuesday. I’ll post as many as I can when I have wifi over there. 

See you in Seoul!

--Chris

Old Minnie's lift back in the day.