What can you do…It’s about Family

Family Gatherings Done Right

Honoring family obligations is as Americana as it gets. It’s all about the classic obligations….weddings, funerals, new babies, graduations, etc. Usually, these events involve blowing a couple thousand dollars for airline tickets, hotel stays, rental car, and plenty of unending incidental costs. But, for your money, you get to wear uncomfortable clothes for several hours and sit through a tired ceremony that you have seen hundreds of times. At best, you may encounter an open bar to lessen your suffering. But, what can you do…it’s about family. However, on very rare occasions, you can catch a break. Yep, you have that one special relative with the consideration and forethought to have his family obligations at somewhere special. On this subject, I give you the Nephew of PugsleyTonks. A brilliant young man that cared enough about my happiness to graduate from Colorado College.

Sure beats Springfield, Ohio

When I graduated from college, it was in Springfield, Ohio. Trust me, there is no good reason to be in Springfield, Ohio. There is nothing to show your visiting relatives other than pointing out all the bars where you got drunk far too regularly. But, this issue did not apply to the Nephew of PT…absolutely NOT. The Nephew knew how to pick a school. For those not familiar with Colorado College, this institute of higher learning sits about 30 minutes away from all the coolest attractions in Colorado. Case in point, we had to kill a day prior to graduation festivities. So, what do you do?…Oh, Pikes Peak is right next door. Why don’t we take a train ride to the top.

For those readers with acute memories, you may recall my post on the Cog Railroad at Mountain Washington in Vermont. Well, there are two cog railroads in the USA, Mount Washington and Pikes Peak. So, to complete my set, we took the Cog Railroad to the top of Pikes Peak. However, the bad news is that the train conductor burst my bubble. Apparently, there is a third cog railroad…so my cog railroad set is incomplete. Oh well, looks like I start making plans to visit Quincy and Torch Cog Railroad in Hancock, Michigan.

Fortunately, we caught a very good day on Pikes Peak. It was a beautiful and clear day with a temperature around 40. You could see everything.

The Obligatory Graduation Party

But, the fun had to end. It was time for family obligations. Furthermore, what graduation would be complete without the obligatory pre-graduation party. Normally, this is nothing to get too excited about. However, Nephew of PT does not have your run of the mill graduation parties. How about dinner and drinks in the shadow of Pike’s Peak under the Garden of the Gods…

Well, whether you want to see or not….I said this post is about family. So, I had to get everyone in the post…

Enough Family Crap Already

OK, this post may be questionably not within acceptable parameters for this blog site. Sure, Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods are not exactly unknown, obscure tourist attractions. Further, there may be a few too many family oriented photos not suitable for the general readership. But hey, what can you do…it’s about family. By writing this post in honor of the Nephew of PT, it saves me to $200 on a graduation gift. How can the kid want money when I have taken my precious personal time and dedicated a blog to his graduation. Frankly, I think that I am too good to that kid.

To the Nephew of PugsleyTonks…Congratulations on your graduation. Thanks for inviting me to your event. Keep drinking PBR. And, good luck in the future. To everyone else…have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have tolerated “What can you do…It’s about Family” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

This is not the first time I wrote a blog post to avoid buying a gift for family… https://travelingwithpt.com/psychic-reading-as-a-wedding-gift/