Colorado Fun

July was a chance to get away on our 35th Anniversary to visit sunny, and hot, Colorado. We had numbers of highlights from this trip. So, here goes:
1) Our visit to our friends Bill & Mary Housley in Granby, Co. was amazing. First of all, Bill & Mary are wonderful hosts and made us not only feel at home, but helped us to relax and gave us a tour of some very beautiful spots in their "neck of the woods". Bill is chief of police in Granby, having left Madison a year ago to form a brand new police department. Mary has formed her own business -- she's the "Chinker Chick" -- which means she "chinks". For most people that probably causes a few eyebrows to furrow...what in the world is "chinking" (I think we all get the "chick" part). Mary took a need -- their own log cabin to be finished with the caulking in between the logs -- chinking -- and started her own business. Now she is steadily building a business she can earn money from and give money away to the Kingdom with...nice. Most of all time with Bill and Mary is refreshing and very relaxing.
Some of the highlights of our time with them:
> Their deck...fantastic relaxing views. It started with the first night and the Sunsets, with the valley lighting up as the sun set, and the temperatures dropping...amazingly quickly after the sun went down. One moment I was sitting there in shorts and a t-shirt, and the next moment I was dashing for a hooded fleece to stay warm! Each morning we arose to crisp air...very clear, and very cold. But, the fleece, coffee, and reading material meant I spent the better part of each early morning on the deck.
Now, don't get me wrong...the rest of the house is pretty amazing also. They have a wonderful log home that Mary, the "Chinker Chick", along with Bill have done a pretty neat job of making a beautiful home. After settling in, the next two days we made day trips to two pretty neat places:
> The first trip was up to and through Rocky Mtn National Park...it's impossible to describe the beauty of going over the mountains with all of the natural beauty, vistas, and animals we saw along the way. I suppose the best part for me was the hike at the top...12,500 ft...and the herd of Bull Elks we came across and photographed.
The trip up took us through the Grand Lake area. That was, in itself, an awesome view. Hopefully you'll catch some of the flicker photos of that place. The trip was most of Friday, which sounds like a lot, but believe me, there was so much awe inspiring moments, that I didn't need the altitude to take my breath away!

> The following day we took a trip to Steamboat Springs, where the highlight was the gondola ride up the mountain to the first major ski hill. It was only the first hill, if it had been winter, there would have been more lifts and more hills to climb to. It was an awesome sight from the top and made me wish to be more than an amateur skier.

While the trips were fantastic, the time with Bill and Mary was the most fun. It's sad to know they are so far away, but it's nice to think that we have friends in a place with such beauty.
Mary and Bill, thanks...and oh yea, we'll be back!!

2) Even though we only had a few hours with each, we made visits to some friends. First, Milo and Karen Bishop, who've we've known since 1972. We spent the first night in Colorado with them and went out to dinner...catching up on life, politics, faith, with lots of good natured kidding and laughter to go along with every serious conversation.
The next day we got the treat of Eric Jensen for the better part of the morning. Eric is the son of our close friends Russ and Sandy and we've known him since he was 12. He's all grown up now and we had a great time as he showed us his "Golden" -- both on the ground walking and from a 1000 or so feet up on Lookout Mtn. It was great catching up with E, and just to spend time where he lives, talking about what is ahead in life, and even catching a home-town brew made it a fun few hours.

3) Colorado Springs and the Cheyenne Canon Inn was our final destination for three days and four nights. The Inn is a former bordello :), now turned into a 13000 sq foot B&B. Unbelievable breakfasts and spacious quarters make it a "wow" place. From there we explored the Colorado Springs surrounding area. Two notable places are worth mentioning:
> The Garden of the Gods is a city park in Colorado Springs that has some outstanding rock formations...with walking trails, hiking trails, and unbelievable spots for Sunset and Sunrise -- and it was all free! It's a don't miss thing.
From this park you can also see Pike's Peak. I wanted to get to the top of that 14,110 ft. Mtn. There's a Cog-Railroad that climbs to the top, and I even tried to get a ticket, but they were all sold out for that day. The time that I wanted to get on ended up having a thunderstorm hit the top of the Mtn while that group was up there...thank you Lord for keeping me from that experience.
> The second trip was to the Royal Gorge, about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs. This was a two hour train trip through the Gorge. It was an awesome ride and the views were amazing. I saw lots of "rafters" on the river...made a mental note that if I get back again, I definitely want to do that. The view from the bottom of the Gorge up to the suspension bridge is 1000 ft. We didn't get on the bridge...I don't think I could convince my bride to walk across this bridge and look down on the gorge below.

We left on thursday, driving the 1100 miles in 16 hours...almost 5 of it with the convertible top down before the heat on the plains got too hot. We crossed the long stretch of Nebraska and Iowa on I80 with the heat between 105 and 112 degrees! Still, we pulled in tired, but having had a great anniversary trip. Thanks Bill & Mary, Eric, Milo & Karen...you guys made our time really enjoyable.