First wanted to say that on the way to see Lisa, we stopped over in Council Bluffs (Iowa) to see some relatives! Had a great time there. We ate at a restaurant called Tish's and had an outside table. Very good food (if you are ever in Council Bluffs!) and we had a great night between great weather and good company! There was my cousin Deb and her husband Doug, My cousin Bob and his wife Ginny, my cousin John and his wife Diane, and my cousin Barb! I was very happy to be able to stop in for dinner and had a great time!
After dinner, we went and stopped in to see my Aunt Kate! I always love to see her! She has the best sense of humor and always has stories to tell and picture to see! My cousin Pat was there as well as my cousin Mary and her husband Mike. Always good to see them and was happy they had time to stop in to see us on our very short stop to Council Bluffs! We stayed at a very very nice hotel called the Ameristar which was a hotel and casino......so......I went and fed the machines $50 and then called it a day! One of these days I'll get it back!!! ha ha
The Colorado Rocky Mountains have the absolute most awesome scenery ever!!! This is actually my 3rd visit to the Rocky Mountains (I was about 16 years old the first time I went) and we were there in 2003 and again this week! It is very surreal and captivating to surround yourself in the beauty of the mountains and the animals and the cool mountain air! Here's a few of our adventures.........
It is always an adventure crossing the mountain tops! It appears that you could just go right over the cliff, but my daughter who travels that road almost daily assures me that it never happens!!! We let her drive!! Going over the mountain on a clear day is awesome . . . . we also went over in the evening, in the clouds - - - now THAT is a scary thing! We did see some Big Horn sheep around the continental divide, but they were high up on some rocks and probably didn't turn out very well in my photographs . . . . . .
On day 2, Bob, Lisa and Matt went camping....oh, I went with them, but didn't spend the night, I preferred a nice comfy cozy bed! But, while we were at the campsite, we took a little ride. We saw this OWL swoop down and grab a small animal, maybe a chipmunk or ground squirrel, and fly back up to a rock . . . in the meantime it is spotted by a coyote . . . . the coyote went and sat in front of this rock staring up at the owl anxiously waiting for him to either drop his prey, or maybe he was trying to figure out a way to get up onto that rock himself . . . . it was an experience to watch! Something I am sure I will never see again.
Lisa and Matt went to a documentary type thing on coyotes and I went back to the room . . . . the others camped out, getting up at 3:00am and doing some star gazing!!!
The next day (Saturday) Matt and Lisa went on a private, guided fly-fishing afternoon. Photo's above for your viewing pleasure of them holding fish that they caught . . . of course, it is catch and release, but loads of fun from what they tell me!
We ate dinner at some pretty good restaurants . . . if you are ever in Estes Park, a couple places to check out are the Rock Inn and also Mary's Lake Tavern. There is another place that was a steakhouse which was GREAT, but unfortunately I can't think of the name at this point!
On Sunday, we went over the mountain to the "West Side" called Grand Lake where Bob and Matt went golfing - - - - I guess the course was a little over their head, but they managed! While they were golfing Lisa and I went to Hot Sulfur Springs Spa and treated ourselves to a private bath in the hot sulfur springs water (suppose to be healing and contain a lot of minerals), and I had an herbal body wrap and Lisa had some type of body scrub. Very interesting. Afterward, she and I sat in a hot tub of sulfur springs -- VERY hot stuff!!!! We then drove back to get the boys who were finishing their 9th and final hole!!!
It was a good day for us all!
Before going to Grand Lake, we did go see Lisa's new apartment in Lyons. It looks very cozy and I think she will like it. Cute little town too!
On Monday Lisa wasn't feeling too well, so we took it easy that day......however, Tuesday (4th of July) Matt and Lisa went for a 2 hour horseback riding trip through the YMCA of the Rockies and had a great time while Bob and I went to look for more sheep!!
That evening we walked over to Lake Estes which was very close to the Holiday Inn where we stayed and watched the fireworks! Awesome show!
I really wish my video recorder wasn't broken cause I really missed some good video opportunities during this trip!
Wednesday Lisa worked and so the rest of us hung out in the park, and at the Stanley Hotel as well as McGraw's farm at the Twin Owls and did a little hiking/sightseeing.
We left for home at 5:00pm on Wednesday and drove straight through! Got back home at 2:30 on Thursday!!! Great Trip!
