Wrap It Up Already......

Sheeesh!! I gotta wrap up this trip already! Good grief it's already September and it looks like we are still on vacation in Colorado! I gotta catch up!

So.....the vacation was great....we headed back home to 110 degree weather...blah blah blah...

The End!

There...now on to the here and now!



Happy September to everyone!

Estes Park & Ghost Hunting!

Today we traveled up to Estes Park. Estes Park is home of The Stanley Hotel.......

The Stanley Hotel is over 100 years old and is host to many "spirits" that have checked in over the years. The hotel is also famous for being the setting of one of the most chilling horror movies ever written..."The Shining" by Stephen King. While The Kings were visiting Estes Park, the idea for the film came to him as he was roaming the halls of The Stanley Hotel.

We didn't catch any glimpses of any ghosts...until...I developed the pictures!! (take a closer looooook....) BOO!

We spent the rest of the day playing cards and feeding chipmunks by a gorgeous lake and caught these two beauties having a snack on the side of the road. It was an absolutely wonderful day!!

Bigger Hiking!!

Today Tori took us on a REAL hike!! and I officially crowned myself the SLOWEST HIKER ever!It was tough, but so much fun looking at the gorgeous scenery!! Seriously, you have to believe in God when you see such a magnificent portrait that He has painted in those mountains!! (and you have to BELIEVE when you're praying hard that you'll survive this hike!)



It was fun, we saw beautiful flowers, an amazing waterfall, took tons of pictures, and were blessed on our way down from the hike by the most beautiful rainbow you have ever seen! I took it as God's way of saying, "Thanks for coming!"
Tomorrow we go GHOST HUNTING!

Hiking & Rafting!

We started the morning out at Echo Lake. It was so beautiful!! We did a mini little hike to get us warmed up for some fun white water rafting!

Before hopping into our 7 seater raft, we stopped for some lunch at a cute little deli called "Two Brothers" that displayed a sign that said, "Since the 1900's"..so you know we had to ask the THREE LADIES running the place when they opened and where the TWO BROTHERS were? One of the ladies peering over her bi-focals with her eyebrow arched upward replied very curtly, "We opened in 1999, one brother had quit and moved to Wisconsin and the other brother was out for surgery?" hmmm? OK. I think she knew she had just been busted for some "false advertising". But we enjoyed our lovely deli sandwiches anyway.

White water rafting was exciting, cold, and wayyyy out of Hallie's comfort zone, but we survived long enough to get our soggy sneakers to the nearest Laundromat so we could have some dry feet for our big day of hiking tomorrow!

A Night in Boulder!

Today we spent most of the day at the pool, playing cards, and getting ready for a night in Boulder!

Tori was taking us out to dinner and for a stroll through downtown Boulder. Which offered some more great people watching! It appears not much is off limits in this town! It was a great night with some old friends!

Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs!

Today we were on TOP OF THE WORLD....well, 14,110 feet on top of the world! We traveled the winding road up to Pikes Peak to meet yet more COLD temps, rain and hail falling! What is up with these black clouds following us around town?

We were dizzy, literally, with excitement from reaching the top of this very tall mountain! At the top we ate fudge, danced in the rain, and took MORE pictures, and then hustled to the car zooming back down so we could BREATHE again!

On our way down we were introduced to our very own Sasquatch....more of "his" adventures later.......but let's just say...this crazy creature left us in stitches the WHOLE trip!!

We had pizza at the bottom of the mountain, Lane & Glen had a race around a beautiful lake, Hallie & Larry had a "bear" sighting, and we fed some geese, that weren't all that friendly.

Then we were back on the road to Manitou Springs for some shopping and some fabulous people watching....it's been said this is the town where "the witches live"!!

"Pack Your Rain Coat"....

was one of the last things out of Trail Boss's mouth before we hit the road....did we do it? We did not!

It was 107 and dry as the desert in Texas, so I could not even imagine needing a coat let alone a RAIN coat after days of baking in the Texas heat. I figured I'd welcome the thought of cooler temps and dance in the rain if I ever really got the chance to see any!!


Fast forward to LeVeta, Colorado....heading up to Cordova Pass in the Spanish Peaks. As we climb, climb, and climb even further I watch this giant black cloud steadily follow us and Trail Boss's temp gauge steadily FALL! When we reach the top...40 degrees, rain, and small hail! "Did you pack your rain gear?".........silence......"Please tell me you packed your coats?"....silence...and then a bust out of laughter as he immediately springs into action, customizing three sturdy HEFTY trash bag raincoats!







They did the trick and we enjoyed a couple of minutes out of the truck to snap a few pictures and dodge some lightening strikes!



Then it was down the mountain to meet our friends as we continue on with our ROAD TRIP 2010!!

"Shootin' From The Hip"

One thing is for certain....we counted 11 Dairy Queens from Texas to Colorado and got a picture of each one!!

We enjoyed our car trip....eating a breakfast of Zingers, washed down with a game of ABC and Travel Bingo...all which we finished by the time we got to the freeway!






A few hours into the trip we decided to stop for a road side picnic, and it was very clear that we had not made it out of Texas just yet..........









My Dairy Queen photographing continued as we pounded the pavement and we soon came across some....









we didn't stop to get any though, we just took their word for it!


We finally made it into Colorado, it was getting dark and all we seemed to find was "NO VACANCY" signs everywhere!! Word in the mountains was...every hotel is booked from Raton to Pueblo! (this includes all of the pink shaded Norman Bates look alike motels!!...which I sincerely gave a big Hallelujah!! Praise the Lord for that!)









We finally found a cafe to eat at that had some wild hummingbird entertainment and a Days Inn that would put us up for the night!









Our 10 hour drive soon became a 13.5 hour trip...but Hey! It's all good when you have a "Trail Boss" that likes to "shoot from the hip", leaving earlier than planned without any reservations!

One thing is for sure we are having fun on our ROAD TRIP 2010!!!