Our Trip Out West!

I have always loved to travel! Seeing new places, learning new things, trying new food(!) but with small children, travel isn't as carefree as it once was. We are on the move plenty as a family, but we don't take a lot of long trips, in my opinion. Some of you know my husband. He hasn't travelled a lot in his life and doesn't feel like he's missing much. We travel a LOT, in his opinion.

My job involves some instate travel several times per year but once a year, in the fall, my co-director and I travel to the National Scholarship Providers Association annual conference. It is always at a nice hotel in a fun city and we look forward to it! This year I was most excited because Andy and I planned early for him to go along with me, which he's never been able to do before. Also exciting was that a dear college friend (Abby) of mine moved to Colorado several years ago and we would be able to visit with she and her family at their home.

So, off we went! On Tuesday morning we flew out of Indianapolis at 8am. Though I do love to travel, I actually really do not like to fly. The day was very windy, all across the country and we had quite a rough couple of flights. I wasn't feeling too hot and blamed it on the turbulence all day long. When we landed in Denver it was chilly, but clear and beautiful. Speaking of learning new things...did you know that Denver is actually NOT in the mountains? It is a mile high, true, but the actual Rocky Mountains are quite a distance from Denver. We stayed in Broomfield, a suburban area that was northwest of downtown, in the direction of the mountains. On Tuesday afternoon, we drove up to Estes Park, Colorado. The drive was scenic and curvy and very interesting.

Estes Park, we watched the snow clouds come in and snow gradually covered the mountains as we watched!

Here's a view of I70, heading west from Golden. This was taken on a different day and so it's a bit out of order but it was fun for us to drive on a curvy, hilly interstate. In Indiana they're pretty much flat and straight.

While in Estes Park, and between stomach cramping, I spotted an elk grazing in the middle of the town square! I yelled "Oh my gosh, there's an elk right there, stop! Stop!" Peg, my coworker and I whipped out our cameras while Andy found a close parking spot. After speaking with the locals we learned that this happens just about every afternoon. Sometimes a single elk and sometimes a whole herd. I couldn't help but think of Northern Exposure and the moose that wandered through town!
We stopped at the gateway to Rocky Mountain National park for a quick picture but didn't hike because snow was coming in and the wind was blowing at 40-50mph. Something about that doesn't sound like ideal hiking to me!

Look how much snow there was! Two days before we got there, the higher altitudes had gotten a foot of snow. All of the Coloradoans were happy because the snow melt in the spring provides much of their moisture for the year. Abby (my friend in Colorado, not our daughter) told us that they have around 330+ sunny days per year, so not a lot of rain to speak of.

On Wednesday we visited Boulder to drive through the University of Colorado and then browsed around the REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) store, which is a hiker/backpacker/skier's dream land. If they have an unlimited shopping budget, that is. That evening we went on a wild goose chase looking for a dinner spot and eventually wound up at a small, family owned Italian restaurant. It was cozy and warm and the food was soooooo good. The eggplant parmigian I had was spectacular and the restaurant was so much like a restaurant in Italy. Perfect end to the evening!

On Thursday, Andy decided to drive to Golden. This a town where we would later wish we'd had a lot more time. It is closer to the mountains and you've probably heard, home to Coors Brewing Company. The drive to Golden was very pretty and once there, he took the brewery tour. I heard it was fun but while he was doing that I was in a financial aid and tax seminar. Yawn. Actually, I the conference has a lot of great sessions and I do find them very interesting. That evening we drove to Abby's house (again, the friend and not the daughter) for a home cooked meal, which was such a nice change from all of the restaurant eating we'd been doing. It was a late night but such a great visit! Abby and her husband have the cutest little boys who were instantly our friends. It is so fun to have long time friends that are so easy to reconnect with. My husband, remember he doesn't like to be away from home, finally chilled out a bit at their house and had a good time, too. I should mention, it's tough to get around out there! Things are laid out very differently from here at home and several times we were following our GPS when it got turned around. Literally, it turned us in a circle more than once. Andy had gotten a little weary of this. Fortunately, we got directions from Abby to our Friday morning destination and a map drawn for us by some of the conference hosts for our Friday afternoon plans. Ahhh, maps! By the way, the GPS is in regular use here and works just fine. It seemed to have trouble getting a signal out there or something. Anyway...

Friday, the conference concluded and we headed out to a Bass Pro Shop. This is where we found souvenirs for the girls (necklaces and blankets) and Andy shopped for his birthday present. Close to the store there was a wildlife refuge where we saw hundreds of prairie dogs! Adorable, funny little creatures, they were! Something tells me that they're probably a real nuisance to residents there, though.

That afternoon, we drove west on I70 to Idaho Springs, a small mountain town. On the way there we saw active copper, gold and silver mines and some incredible mountain views. More than once we wondered how a house had even been built where some of them stood. In Idaho Springs we went on an ATV tour which was not for the faint of heart, but turned out to be really, really fun. It was great to be out in the mountains, finally. The weather was good but at the highest point we reached (8800 ft) it was chilly!

On our two hour tour, we rode to Silver City (above). Not much is left there now, but this was the site of the birth of the American gold rush in the 1880's. The area boomed and this particular mountain was mined for silver, obviously. On a longer tour that we didn't take, you can actually ride to a cemetary from those early years, with lots of young graves. A testament to the terribly hard and risky life it was in the wild west.

Our guide told us that mines like the one below are still active. This hill is called a mine dump because down it, the minerals and metals found in the mine are dumped, along with dirt and rock.

Here are Peg, me and Andy at 8800 feet. This was the highest point of our ride and the difficulty going down was at least as challenging as the climb up. I've never seen so many rocks and boulders in my life! Andy said that it was a tough ride for a beginner, and Peg had never ridden a 4 wheeler before! We all did great and had a lot of fun though.

This picture shows three snowy "steps" in the mountain, which are called The American Sisters. These were mine dumps for many years but the mines are now inactive.

Some whitewater near the ATV tour. In the warmer months, the company does rafting trips. They were so thankful for the snow because more snow now will mean a longer rafting season next summer. Friday evening we drove back into Golden on Route 6, when I wished I could really capture the beauty of the rock walls around us. The sun was setting and there wasn't enough light but those gorges were a sight I'll never forget. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

Prairie dogs near the Bass Pro Shop. Out of order, but Blogger and it's photo uploading takes more patience than I had tonight.

Snow!

Navigational challenges, stomach pains and chilly winds couldn't keep us from having a good trip and some really fun memories!

We are so grateful to Mom, for staying with the girls. They had a wonderful time and although we missed each other, it was a very busy week for them with all of the Halloween happenings. It was a very happy homecoming for Andy and I and we were ordered to 'stay home for the rest of the weekend!' by the girls.

I should note that I don't really live in a time warp, I just don't usually have a chance to blog about things until a couple of weeks after the fact. I say, better late than never.