Day 8

Never in my entire life have I not wanted to leave a place more than Estes Park, Colorado.  I really do wish I could just stay here, even knowing how the winters are.  The Rockies have captured my heart, and it's terrible to leave them.

Today, we're driving back to Lawrence, Kansas (joy), which none of us are particularly excited about.  Last night, we had KFC for dinner, and Dad ordered a personal size coleslaw that they forgot to give him, so this morning, he swung back by and demanded they give it to him. So now, on the way back to Kansas, Dad is munching on coleslaw and sipping on Baja Blast Mountain Dew.  Just after breakfast.

Its extremely depressing driving through super flat country again, watching the mountains fade into the distance.  Mom commented that it's neat to see where we have been as opposed to going there and having no idea what's ahead of us.  I tend to agree: the mountains change you.

To anyone traveling through Colorado on I70, a word of warning: Limon is home to the slowest and most incompetent Subway ever, and they try to kill you with mustard.  I don't know what it is about these flat-landers...
In the words of my wise father, "the only good thing about Kansas is the band."  I happen to agree.

You know you're headed back towards home as the humidity gets high enough to notice.  I feel sticky already and we're only in Kansas...

Well, it's 10:43pm Central time, and we changed our itinerary just a bit.  Instead of going back to Lawrence, we decided to spend the night in Independence, MO, so we will be closer to St. Louis (and the City Museum!).  As it is, we will have been in the car for just about 12 hours today.  I don't really have any fabulous pictures from the drive today (although we did see a cargo train carrying the blades of wind turbines...pretty cool), but I have relearned one important fact: long distance trips aren't meant for people over 6 ft.  Holy smoke, my knees.

Anyway, I'm glad to be with my family right now.  I don't get to see them enough with me and Dad and Jessica working.  So I'm thankful.  I'm not even waiting to see if the hotel has good WiFi, thereby avoiding disappointment.  Goodnight, from just outside Independence, MO.  Tomorrow will be the last day of one of our best adventures this far.

Day 7

This morning began hoping that we could pick up two of the things we've missed: a coffee shop, and the Donut Haus.  As it turns out, Coffee on the Rocks is the most picturesque coffee shop I've ever seen.  It sits nestled at the foot of a mountain surrounded by both a calm pond and a rushing river.  There is a stone patio

surrounding the shop, and there is a small indoor seating area with a beautiful chess set inside.  That place made me wish I lived here even more...Fate smiled upon us today, and the Donut Haus was actually open.  If this is any indication of how our day will go (the coffee and donuts are both divine) then we're in for a spectacular day.

According to Jacob, the world's worst insult is: "you're a hock, sir, and your mother goes to college."  These are the things and words we invent while we're riding in the van. Also, it's not every day that your little brother quotes Huey Lewis and the News.  I'm proud of him.  And it isn't every day that you see a "watch for ice" sign in June.

We took the highest paved road in the US towards Grand Lake, CO.  The view here is absolutely incredible.  There is at least 3-5 feet of snow nearly everywhere (Jacob had to make sure it was really that deep), and it actually started snowing on us around 12:30.  A marmot walked right up to us while we were on an overlook, and generally, on either side of the road, there was a minimum of 6 ft in snow drift, with some places getting upwards 12 ft.

We made it about to the halfway point, but decided to head back to the cabin.  Altitude sickness got the better of some of us.  It actually turned out really well for Jacob and me, as we got the chance to explore the area around the cabin, particularly one out-croppping of rock on the top of the mountain that is in plain sight of our living room.  So we packed some water, a camera, and my ENO hammock in Jacob's backpack, and set off.  We took TONS of pictures, and ended up hiking all the way up the mountain, and over to the other side to the park we visited yesterday.  We found a perfect spot for the ENO on the very top of the mountain, and both enjoyed it before heading down.  Once we got back down to the park, we waited on Dad to come pick us up.  A brief rain-storm went over while we were tossing rocks in the stream, but we would have been fine had Dad not been able to come - a nice man offered us a ride back into Estes Park.  ;)

As our vacation comes to a close, I'm extremely sad to leave Estes Park, CO.  I have found a home away from home, with the mountains towering all around me, keeping me safe.  If I don't ever get to live here, I at least hope I get plenty of chances to come back.  The majesty and splendor of God's creation has rarely been so evident to me as it has the past few days.  Praying for safe travels back to TN (and maybe a chance at the City Museum in St. Louis, MO).

Day 6

We are having a super fantastic time at the cabin.  The drinking utensils are ginormous, but not so ginormous as Jacob originally thought.  As it turns out, he had a glass of mountain dew out of a flower vase.  That provided a good laugh.

Today, we are going ATVing!  I'm super excited, as our family hasn't done anything like that ever.  (A quick aside, the Pole Position high score has gone back to me.  Not sure how long this will last; the competition is getting tight.  Addendum: Jacob has reclaimed it as of right now.  We shall see what happens in the next few hours.)

We did a short hike to Moraine Park where we enjoyed the enormous rapids and a good view of the mountains, and while we were there, a nice man offered to take our picture.  Turns out, his family is from Seymour, TN: he was wearing a fire-station volunteer sweater.  It's a small world.

Well...we drove out to go ATVing and as it turns out, the person who rented the ATV before us crashed it into a tree, so we didn't get to take out out.  So, instead, we decided to go to the Donut Haus, a super

famous donut shop.  As it turns out, they had already closed.  Just isn't our day, apparently.  As you can see, Jacob isn't very happy about all of it.




Despite the momentary set-backs, we had a good rest of the day.  From the ATV rental place, we found a beautifully picturesque Catholic chapel built on a huge rock at the base of the mountain.  It was difficult to tell where rock ended and church began, and the view was fantastic.







From there we headed back towards our cabin and decided to hit up the Rocky Mountain National Park and just explore.  What we saw there ranks in the top 5 most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen, up there with the Grand Canyon and the Canadian Wilderness.  The area we spent the most time in was a valley completely surrounded by huge snow-covered mountains.  Through the valley snaked a deep-blue stream that looked as if it hadn't been there long: the bed of it was just bent-over grass, and there was no river bank.  I have a bit of trouble writing about it because I can't find the words to describe what I saw there.

Jacob and I have been aching to climb some good rocks ever since we found out that essentially everything is restricted at Garden of the Gods, so we found a small path leading up to a huge outcropping of rock, and climbed all the way to the top.  The view from up there was incredible, and we satisfied ourselves, for the time being, with such huge rocks.  ;)




After exploring a good bit of that area of the park, we all headed back to downtown Estes where we did a bit of souvenir shopping.  All the kids bought a hoodie (Jen opted for a tshirt), and we tried out some super-
killer hot sauce in an espresso shop (weird combo, I think), and I found this pretty neat picture that I know a lot of people will appreciate: the Lord blessing mankind with coffee.



We've seen probably 50ish elk since we've been here, and tonight hasn't been an exception.  We saw a ton on the way home again, and got a few more fantastic pictures.  Tomorrow we're planning on going to a gorgeous lake that everyone has recommended, as well as visiting Coffee on the Rocks (a superb coffee shop), and maybe we'll get to that donut shop.  We shall see.

Goodnight from Estes Park, CO!

Day 5

Welp, today we began our trip by packing up (Jacob and I vied for the top score on Pole Position for a while, as we were packed in 10 minutes...he finally beat mine), and heading to tour Focus on the Family.  It's pretty neat here (like an aspen tree).  We visited Whit's office, I took a picture in Eugene's face, and we visited Narnia for a few minutes.  Conveniently enough, we have enough kids to fill the four thrones.  Jennifer rode a three-story tall slide, and Jessica found the man of her dreams (that she sadly was forced to leave behind in CO Springs).  We all felt so close and connected as a family (like an aspen tree).

I think today is a dingbatty sort of day.  You can ask mom about her version of the story, but Jessica, Jacob, and I all thought that she told us to sit in the waiting room and wait while she and Dad went into the book store.  So there we sat, until Dad finally came out and asked us why we didn't want to go in.  When we told him, he said mom told him that we didn't want to come in.  We rolled our eyes and browsed around for the Siamese Tiger section (because, according to Dad, the Focus on the Family bookstore has everything.  Like aspen trees).

We made a brief stop by the Air Force Academy, to visit the pristine chapel there.  Their organ and stained glass totally blew my mind.  I kept thinking how amazing it would be to go to school at the base of the Rockies, and to play some Vivaldi along with that organ.

Each spire of the chapel represents the wings of the Air Force.  The reverence was palpable in the upper chapel, but I found it annoyingly ironic that there was a Buddhist, Jewish, and Catholic chapel in the exact same building just below the Protestant (main) chapel.  Hurray for political correctness.

From there we headed to Denver, which I had some qualms about...last time I rode through Denver I ended up on my back on the windshield of our RV.  Rather painful.

In Denver we stopped for lunch at Casa Bonita: a super unique, all you can eat Mexican restaurant (you can see how unique it is there to the right...not every day you see a super-huge, pink restaurant).  They even have a staged gun fight, a pirate sword fight, and a gorilla that runs around mockingly stealing people while you eat.  The place is enormous and doesn't seem to end, and there's a waterfall that the staff dive off of into a fourteen foot deep pool.  We found a pirate cave that winds narrowly through the edge of the restaurant, and I managed to scare Jessica three times, the first two times being within thirty seconds of each other.

I couldn't help but think that Dr Page would be proud of my "cultural experience."

The drive to Estes National Park was absolutely stunning.  The river runs wildly through the valley for most

of the way, and mountains tower around us.  Jennifer is hoping our cabin will be "nice and wildery" like the terrain around us.  I kinda do too.  ;). We saw our first elk on the way in today, and mom finally saw a prairie dog.  Or so she thinks.  It could have been a figment of her imagination.

After driving around Estes Park to pick up some groceries, we have decided that elk here are nearly as common as squirrels back home (before Jacob started shooting them).  They are EVERYWHERE.  Jacob and I went out on the deck of our cabin tonight just to spend some bro-time stargazing, and I do think that the sky here is the closest I've gotten to the beauty of the Canadian wilderness.  Stars are everywhere here.

 Tonight, I will be lulled to sleep by the distant roar of the swelled river that is a two-minute walk from our cabin.  It's surreal being out here.  I feel the rugged land coursing through me in an odd way.  I feel more alive and at home here, much like I did in Canada.  I can't wait to explore.

Day 4

Today is a Chacos, bandanna, rock climbing and adventure-filled kinda day.  Or, so we thought at first.

Garden of the Gods is much more touristy than I remember.  Restriction signs are on every rock, reading "no climbing."  We were overrun with Russian tourists (I chuckled at the irony...especially when people say that

Americans are loud and obnoxious), and walked through a wedding that looked rather spontaneous.  The groom was in shorts and a polo.  I even got a picture of it, just for you.  That wasn't the only romance going on in the Garden of the Gods park, however.  Had to snap a quick picture at the Kissing Camels rock formation.  ;)

Today saw us exhibiting a lot of the crazy attitudes and antics that characterizes our family.  Here are a few photos to enlighten you a little more, if you haven't picked up on that already.

We had lunch at a really cool BBQ shack called Rudy's.  Everything is "do it yourself" with them just providing the meat.  A random fact about me: very few things make me feel awkward, but taking forever to order at a restaurant with people behind us makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.  And with a family of six, that happens all the time. Regardless, the brisket was spectacular, and the atmosphere makes me feel right at home.  We ate in an open air patio on a big wooden picnic table, and instead of plates, you lay down a large sheet of paper on your table. Probably my favorite place we've eaten thus far. 

On our way to Cripple Creek, we drove through a quaint little town named Woodland Park where everything (Walmart, McDonald's, NAPA Auto, etc.) was built to look like a log cabin.  The entire town has a fantastic view of Pike's Peak.

Jacob: How does a creek get crippled, exactly?
Me: It runs too much.  AAHHHAHAHAHAH!

Also, we saw our first wild mountain goat. THAT was cool.  We were driving on the edge of the mountain, and it was on the side of the road.  It looked straight at me for a picture
as we passed.

In Cripple Creek, we boarded a train (completely coal powered...take that EPA!), and took a scenic route through the mountains learning about gold mining, mountains, and bar-maid carousing, and towards the end of our trip, a red fox ran across the tracks in front of us.

This town is rather depressing after being here a few hours.  The population is very low, and all that is left here are bars and casinos.  It is a true mining town if ever I've seen one.

We tried so hard to get Mom to see a prairie dog, and even pulled off on the side of the road multiple times, but as of yet, she has yet to see one.  She is of the opinion we're making them up.  ;)

We made a quick pit stop in Woodland Park for Donuts, and good grief, they were as big as 2-3 Krispy
Kreme donuts.  We ate them and took super awkward pictures with Pike's Peak in the background.

Also, for your enjoyment, here is a random quote from Dad: "You should take a picture of the Walmart with the sun shining on it."  Yes...he was serious.

Tomorrow, we head to Estes Park, where we will be staying in a cabin for a few days.  Leaving CO Springs, Pike's Peak, and the Garden of the Gods will be sad, but I'm super excited.  Wilderness, here we come!

Day 2

Today, we're in Kansas.  The end.

But really.  Most of today wasn't spent cracking jokes or scaring enormous men (see yesterday's post...), but enjoying watching the world zip by.  There really isn't much more to do in Kansas.

Dad observed as we passed a golf course, "how boring would it be to golf in Kansas?  Whack the ball a gazillion miles, walk a gazillion miles...for once I would hope there are a ton of bunkers or water hazards just for a change of pace."  As you can see by the road we traveled for about 8 hours today, he was spot on...

If one were to fall asleep shortly after stopping at a rest area about 2 hours into a Kansas excursion and then wake up 1.5 hours later (when another sibling who "didn't need to go then" decides they need to stop) and said one finds themselves at the *exact* same rest area, just 1.5 hours further down the road, you begin to wonder if Kansas will ever end.  At least their rest areas could be more original.

On the other hand, I do think that it's possible there is little else bigger in the US than the endless fields of wheat or browned corn.  It is majestic to look over something that you cannot fully see all at once: much like looking for the end of the ocean.  It just keeps going.

It is amazing how much of a difference the knowledge that you're in a state other than Kansas can make on your perception of the surrounding terrain.  Absolutely nothing has changed...BUT WE ARE IN COLORADO!

And now that we are in Colorado, Jessica has insisted to drive.  Pray for me.  I may not survive the rest of

...okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration.  But I'm nervous anyway.

As of today, I have seen my first prairie dog ever.  I feel...mystically enlightened.

We drove into a massive storm that lasted about 10 minutes...but it was one of the most intense rain storms I've ever been in.  We could see absolutely nothing, and everyone on the road pulled off to one side.  And then, just as soon as it came, the storm was silent.  Very surreal.

Just as the storm subsided, and the deep blue skies emerged, we passed over a hill leaving the fields of gold behind us as, up ahead, loomed the purple mountains of which the songwriter so aptly wrote.  We are nearly 100 miles away, and they are massive.  Oh, the beauty of our country.

Jacob commented further upon the beauty of this country by pointing out that he loves the "midget Grand Canyons" that pop up randomly through Colorado (really just big ditches made from driving rain).  After 8 hours of Kansas roads, that was the funniest thing we'd ever heard.

Everyone has been constantly freaking out about the mountains, the rain, taking a panoramic picture (on the edge of the road as a semi whizzes by...Dad...), or sticking our heads out the sun roof...but it's very good to be in Colorado.

The kids are down at the pool swimming, and I am watching the sun set over Pike's Peak.  I'm pretty sure that CO Springs is the only other place I'd want to live aside from my beloved Tennessee.  It's beautiful here.  Tomorrow, we go sight seeing!  Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods...here we come!

P.S. This is a panoramic picture for which Dad nearly sacrificed his life to a semi.  I think it only fitting that you should enjoy it.