Because He is God: Where you can talk to God and listen to the casual reply...

...Rocky Mountain high, Coloardo

That's right. After facebook has denied my picture uploading :( multiple times, I've turned to ye 'ol blog. (Granted, I won't be able to post ALL the pictures, but there'll definitely be a good smattering!) To keep this from turning into a novel, I'm going to keep it to short bullets and a wealth of pictures. So...our first vacation...enjoy! We sure did :)

P.S. You should click on the pictures to enlarge them - the small thumbnails just don't do the views justice!

Day 1. Saturday June 30

We arrived on schedule in Denver! With my record of travel disasters, this is a near miracle.

- Walk up the mountain with Littlefoot, the trusty pup
- Ventured into downtown Golden and ate at a local restaurant (the building was the original Capitol Building of the Colorado Territory!)
- Walked through Pearl Street Mall in Boulder to observe the hippies
- SLEPT...or tried to in a new house and bed...and with a restless pup in the room with us

This, folks, is how you efficiently pack a carry-on suitcase!

Dan, illustrating that our tablet paid for itself within the first half hour of travel :) My guy...always loves to be occupied :)

First view of the mitten! This little hand/thumb portion of a giant, rock "mitten" is on the same ridge as my aunt & uncle's house. Me and my sisters would always use it as a gauge to where we'd be headed once we started up the mountain.

The only fire we saw during our trip. It was a bit ominous, being only a little north of the house we stayed. But within a few days it was gone and the smoke had dissipated.

Ah, that view...

View looking south, on our first walk

Dan...in sandals :)

Hahaha! Look closely at Dan's face! I have NO idea what he's doing! At any rate...this is the "resting spot" and you can see Denver/Golden in the background

Littlefoot, our faithful walking companion...and anytime companion. The dog LOVES to be with people.

The mitten from the back. If you enlarge the picture and look at the huge house to the below-left of the mitten, you can get an idea of just how huge that rock is!

Headed down the mountain on the walk. Ah...I can just smell that pine in the air through the breeze...

Looking out over the ridge into Denver and surrounding areas


View from the top of Blue Mountain

Day 2. Sunday, July 1

- Took a trip into Coal Creek Canyon to show Dan where Omie & Papa used to live, before they moved to Sunrise in Boulder. Ah the mems, driving up Butte Drive :)
- Went to Denver for a Rockies gam
- Walked down 16th Street Mall to the Capitol and saw the Mile High Step (where my sister Amanda got engaged in 2003)
- By the time we got back to the car, I'd say we walked at least 2-3 miles (that doesn't sound like a lot, but in HOT and THIN air, it's exhausting) and were ready to call it a day. We got a frozen pizza at Target (gross but oh-so delicious) and had supper watching t.v. :)

Dan in his "spot." If I ever couldn't find him, I knew he'd be in this chair, reading :)

Sunday morning sunrise

The deer were VERY active in the early mornings!

Hangin' out...gettin' some breakfast

Me & Boo, in the reflection

Aw. Omie & Papa's old house. I didn't want to get too close or linger too long. You know...since people were obviously currently in the house.

View from Omie & Papa' driveway...and our trusty steed. In seven days we put over 1,300 miles on that car!

Coors Field

Coors Field, with the pitcher warming up and stretching out in the bullpen

The view from our seats for the first half inning. It went downhill quick...

The Capitol (not of Panem...just Colorado)

"One mile above sea level"

Me and Dan, a mile high

The view, looking out from the mile high step

Looking north on the drive up to Aunt Hope & Uncle Les's house


Denva, through the zoom lens (and smoke/haze) on Sunday evening

Day 3. Monday July 2
- We headed west on 70, straight into the Rockies to Glenwood Springs
- After visiting the Hotsprings, we took a tram up to the top of a mountain where there's a little tourist attraction/mini amusement park. The real draw for us, though, was a cave tour - where the cave is always 52 degrees. It was wonderful.
- Stopped in Breckenridge on the way back and realized we should've budgeted way more time because we LOVED it. It rained! Woo hoo
- We tried to find a local place to eat, but kind of gave up after looking for so long. By the time we decided to give up the hunt it was well past supper time (especially for our Eastern time zone bodies) and we were STARVING. We decided on a Wendy's outside of Breckenridge and let me tell you...it was the best Wendy's I've ever had.

Ah, heading into the High Rockies

We were both excited when we got closer and closer to the snow. We later realized (on Friday, driving through Rocky Mt. National Park) that those snow patches are HUGE.

HUGE. Everything is just SO. HUGE.

That winding road? That's 70...the highway is a bridge for miles and miles. (I kept reciting to myself "I DO trust structural engineers, I DO trust structural engineers." Ironic, seeing as I work in an office with ALL STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS.)

After the Hotsprings, this is the tram we took up the mounain

View of Glenwood Springs from above

Looking east

Excuse the nasty, sweatiness of both of us. It was DANG HOT.

Classic. We saw this in so many gift shops. I told him multiple times he should buy it. Of course...he didn't.

The "alpine coaster" ride and Colorado River in the distance

Entrance to the (52 degree) cave. Holla!

Passages through the caves

Cave things...

More cave things

The cave leads out to this overlook called "Exclamation Point." That's highway 70 and the Colorado River down there!

At Exclamation Point, zoomed in in on the road and river. (You can see little rafts on the river)

Following the highway east, out of Glenwood Springs from Exclamation Point

This "ride" (or what I'd call a torture device) is part of the little amusement park. It's a giant swing that dangles you out over...nothing (with Glenwood Springs in the background)

Getting ready to board the tram, going down the mountain

The view of Glenwood Springs (and an incoming storm), while heading down on the tram

Breckenridge Mountains - seriously, SO pretty here! (And chilly! While it was 90+ in Denver, it was about 72 degrees in the High Rockies.)

Fox in Breck :)

Day 4. Tuesday July 3

- We were supposed to go to Garden of the Gods, but it was closed because of the fires :( Instead we headed to Seven Falls. The water level was low, so it wasn't as outstanding as I was hoping, but still fun/pretty none-the-less.
- After Seven Falls we headed back to Golden for a tour of Coors Brewery. VERY interesting! (And free!) At the end they give you (for free) three 10 oz. samples of beer. Me and Dan got one each and drank about 1/4 of them :)
- For supper we went to Cheesecake Factory in Boulder because it's our "anniversary place." There isn't one in Grand Rapids, so it seems like we're able to go there about every other year :)

The first stairway up Seven Falls (notice the falls are a little...lacking)

Halfway up

It was so hot. And very tempting to jump in.

So there's a hike at the top of the falls and Dan was ALL about it. I, on the other hand, was a tad nervous. Before the hike, there were signs EVERYWHERE giving advice on what to do if you meet bears and mountain lions. I was...very concerned. To say the least.

Despite the mountain lion fear (and feeling that I was being watch from a distance), we trekked on through the Rocky Mountain woods.

Dan at Midnight Falls...which literally turned out to be just a trickle. Oh well.

The view from the top of Seven Falls, looking out

Full view of Seven Falls from the observation deck. You can see the gift shop waaaaay down at the bottom of the picture.

Rocks, rocks and more rocks!

Aw..heeeeeey

So, after the hike, we saw THIS in the gift shop. I don't know if you can read it, but the 'lil write-up says this mountain lion was killed IN THE PARKING LOT. (Had I seen this pre-hike...needless to say, there would have been no hike.)

Onto Coors Brewery! It was so hot in this room!

This is the control room, where all of the "special" brews are overseen by the...you guessed it... brew masters. I don't know if you can tell, but there are tons of little drawings and equations and information all over the back walls.

Where it all comes together!

Coors, being boxed. If you see a can or bottle of Coors Original, it was made in Golden, Co. It's the only brewery location where they brew that beer! It has to be made with fresh, rocky mountain water.

A sight you rarely, rarely see...

A sight you NEVER see. I tried to enjoy it. I really did. But...the verdict stands. I just don't like beer.

Don't know why I took this as we were leaving the brewery...but whatever.

Storm a-comin'!

Day 5. Wednesday July 4

- Since it was the 4th of July, lots of tourist places were closed, so we were pretty limited. But that's a good thing. (Hahahaha! I accidentally typed "thong.") By this point, we were VERY exhausted from the walking (we did a TON of it) and the heat. So the 4th was a good "lay low" day.
- We went to Lookout Mountain in Golden, to see the Buffalo Bill Museum and grave. Then we did about a mile long hike from the grave to the Lookout Mountain nature center. At the end it was pretty..steep. And difficult. But super pretty.
- After the hike and museum, we grabbed Subway and took it up to the house for a leisurely lunch and afternoon.
- We took naps and about mid-afternoon headed out for a "tour of Denver." We drove by all the places my parents lived and where my mom grew up. I'm SO made I forgot my camera :( But, as Dan said, maybe it was for the best so we didn't scare any possible current residents.
- I'm more bummed that I forgot my camera for supper - Casa Bonita! Oh well...that memory will be saved for just us. Ah, the glitz and glamor of an entertainment Mexican restaurant...

We thought we were SO clever by taking panoramic pictures, then switching halfway through to both be in them...

Me & Dan, at the top of the walk...with Littlefoot :)

Overlooking the road up to the top of Lookout Mountain

Golden, CO

Um...Buffalo Bill museum

Old tickets to see Buffalo Bill's Wild West

Dan...being himself, naturally

Buffalo Bill's grave (and his wife beside him)

Look close! You can see a hang glider (or whatever that's called) in the middle of the picture. Scary!

The road up to Lookout. A bit scarier than it looks :)

Me & Dan, on our hike to the nature center

Dan, being a part of nature. He farted, I scowled at him and he said, "What?! It's natural! I'm adding to the natural air!"

Littlefoot! Always clip-clopping out to the deck when we were outside :)

93 & 72, from the zoom lens

Houses down below

Good 'ol Westridge

Day 6. Thursday July 5

- We went rafting! Since our bodies never switched to Mountain time, we woke up naturally at 6am every morning. So we took advantage of the cheaper "early bird special" and went on an 8:00am rafting trip down Clear Creek in Idaho Springs. It was SO fun! I was pretty nervous, but we had a blast. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, I didn't take any pictures :)
- After rafting, we drove right up to Mount Evans. Wow. The elevation at the summit was above 14,000 feet. Me and Dan were definitely feeling it. And it. Was. COLD. The drive up was definitely white knuckle. I took over at the base, because I'd read that it was pretty mountainous and tricky. No kidding. No guard rail, hairpin turns and drop-offs. Whew. At one point my palms were actually sweating.
- We went to this AMAZING pizza place in Boulder called BeauJo's. Best. Crust. Ever. I'm going there with my parents and sister (and nephew!) when we're together in Golden in August.

Me, driving up Mt. Evans. And wincing.

Echo Lake, near the base of the mountain.

Summit Lake, a few thousand feet below the summit. I don't know if this picture captures it, but it's SO pretty!

Summit Lake

Summit Lake. You can see the snow melt, right in the middle of the picture, that drains into the lake.

Dan dipping his toe in. COLD!

Me & Dan at Summit Lake

More Summit Lake

This area is technically "tundra" so all the plants and flowers are really different. They're all very short and hearty looking. Dan called them "the George Costanza of flowers."

You can see the abrupt end to the tree line. Air's too think for 'em!

Going up, up...

One of the many views from the summit. (Sorry about the massive amount of view pictures coming up. I just couldn't cut any out - they're all so pretty!)

The winding road up. Again, it looks flat and non-scary because we're looking down on it. But those drop-offs are STEEP!

Rocky summit

14, 258 feet above seal level

Folks at the summit

Panoram of the summit

The summit, facing the parking area. (That bulge is the observatory)

More summit views...

Me and babe, gasping for air :) (Seriously...you couldn't take a breath breathing through your nose. The air was just too thin to fill your lungs!)

Views...

Looking over to the High Rockies

The wind was not pleasant. At all.

Lookout out, under some cloud cover

This is looking down on Summit Lake, where Dan had his toe in the water

Zoomed in on Summit Lake - you can see the parking area on the right side of the picture

Views

Road right up to the parking area/summit

We finally got to see a mountain goat on the way down!

Baaaaaaaaaa. I'm so glad we got to hear the noise they make!

Last stop for a view on the drive down

Day 7. Friday July 6

- We drove up to Estes Park and spent a good while perusing downtown and going into LOTS of little shops. (Dan was so patient) We got some lunch at this place called Penelope's (DELICIOUS) and then headed into Rocky Mountain National Park
- JUST (literally) as we passed into the park and saw a sign that said it was illegal to touch, feed, injure or capture any animals, I ran over a chipmunk. Like...thump-thump ran over. It was horrible/perfect.
- We drove Trail Ridge Road to the Milner Pass Continental Divide. The drive itself was an event. It was SO beautiful at every turn. Sadly, it was rainy and FREEZING, so we missed out on a lot of the overlooks. But it was awesome driving (literally) through the clouds. One minutes you couldn't see a thing, then it was clear as day. A nice, beautiful, relaxing way to end the week!

We found these super classy wine bottle holders in Estes and were going to buy one for Dan's mom...

Dan, on the riverwalk in Estes Park (Yes, Jessie. The initials for that are E.P. Classic.)

Entering Rocky Mountain National Park - we saw a huge herd of elk!

...and a sly little fox :)

Me and Dan, in the clouds

SO. PRETTAY!

And it definitely got colder than that.

In the clouds

Pretty overlook, looking down in a meadow

Same overlook, less panoramic

Dan, as 12,090

Me, at 12,090...obviously much more excited/excitable than Dan

God's glorious creation

Almost smack dab in the middle of the picture, there's a lake halfway up the mountainside. So incredible.

In awe at the beauty and SIZE!

Again...both of us in the panoramic :)

Oh - here's a closer one of the mountain lake

Little whispy cloud, floating through the air

We kept thinking the clouds were wildfire smoke. Paranoid, much?

This is a bad picture, but I included it just to make you feel like you want to curl up with a blanket, some coffee and watch some trashy reality t.v.