Colorado ... If only Mom lived closer to there, I'd consider moving .....

Colorado was FABULOUS!! Weather was PERFECT! So much cooler than St. Louis! All in all, the trip was the best I've ever been on ... Luke didn't handle the mountains as well as we hoped he would, the poor baby up-chucked twice as we headed into the higher elevations, Austin did well. Never once did we hear from him "Are we there yet" or "I'm bored" It was for the most part the greatest vacation experience ever!

We started out last Friday, July 22, first stop was Sweet Springs, MO for the night, we ALL were to tired to keep going, made it to Denver, CO on Saturday evening. Austin was so excited to see mountains, Luke could care less, he just wanted out of his car seat. Sunday morning after church we headed to Frisco, CO. Such a cute little town. Dillon Lake surrounded by mountains .... looked like something out of a movie! LOVED IT! Monday, we drove thru Vale and Aspen and stayed the night in Montrose. (Austin said that he saw a bear when we were driving, I can only believe him ... I didn't see it) We stopped at many road side "Kodak Moment" spots for pictures ... at one little rest area in the mountains, there were some cute little chipmunks, I tried to take their picture, but every time I bent down to try to get a picture, they would jump towards me and more came out ... of course, I screamed and ran to the car each time ... Austin and my Mom were rolling ...Austin said, Mom, Its just a chipmunk, why are you scared, its not like they are going to eat you" I just told him, "Hey, he was fat and had friends!!"



<-- can you guess what my suvienor from the trip was? you guessed it, I got a porcelin chipmunk.... Tuesday we hit Gunnison and took in the sites at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, I got sunburned ... Luke's little nose and cheeks got burnt too and we weren't out very long at all, really, I kept him shaded with the umbrella and we sat in the car. We stayed the night in Gunnison. Wednesday we headed to Monarch Pass. Austin and I rode the cable car to the top of the mountain and had quite a view of CO and saw a patch of snow just feet from where we were standing on the mountain. It was very beautiful! Wed night we stayed in Silver Saddle Motel in Manitou Springs. Thursday we went to Garden of the Gods and Old Colorado City and checked into our hotel in Colorado Springs. We attended the "opening ceremonies" for the State Games, which was VERY cool! Friday Austin bowled at Fort Carson and took 10th place (which, if the handicaps for all players were figured by the same person he probably would have done better) On Saturday, Austin and I went to the top of Pikes Peak, we rode the Cog Railway up the mountain, it was such a fun ride... we saw a buck and a marmott ... when we got done, we headed home ...got back home on Sunday at about 5pm.



<-- Pikes Peak








<-- Black Canyon of the Gunnison







<-- Monarch Pass




Here are some pictures that someone took of Pikes Peak Cog Railroad and Garden of the gods that I found when doing a yahoo search, just so you get an idea of what we saw!!