Family Trip 2013 | Personal

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, 

from everlasting to everlasting  you are God."

~ Psalms 90:1,2

We haven't been on a family vacation in a long time (long being 13 years or so ;-). Colorado has been our planned destination for the last few years, and this summer we finally...

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, 

from everlasting to everlasting  you are God."

~ Psalms 90:1,2

We haven't been on a family vacation in a long time (long being 13 years or so ;-). Colorado has been our planned destination for the last few years, and this summer we finally made the trek up there! We arrived after our 12 hour trip in the dark when you couldn't really see the mountains, and oh! were we in for a surprise when we woke the next morning! It was absolutely beautiful there... not to mention our view from the cabin was just spectacular! It aaaalmost made the extremely narrow and winding road up the side of the mountain to get there actually worth it. ;-) Aside from a day at the U.S. Denver Mint and visiting the little souvenir shops downtown, most of our time there was spent hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park. (neat story... when we called to schedule a tour at the Mint a couple weeks before we left, we were told that you have to make reservations for tours sometimes a year in advance to get a scheduling, so it was full. Plus, no one hardly ever cancels. Mama left them our phone number, and sure enough a day or two before we started out they called and said that they got a cancellation for a group of one more than the size of ours for the day we were going to be in Denver! We were so thankful for the ways that God worked everything out so perfectly =D)

There was hours and hours of sightseeing in the van, wading in the Colorado River, climbing to the top of Alberta Falls, sliding down the side of the Alluvial Fan, and walking along the side of the highest highway in the U.S. to get a closer look at the elk herds. One of the wonderful things about this trip was that we could be outdoors so much and simply take in the beauty around us... instead of a whole lot of rushing around, we were able to take things slowly and just enjoy everything. Together. <--- that's what makes life sweet no matter where you are, isn't it?

Tea and devotions on the deck overlooking a beautiful sunrise over the mountaintops? A perfect morning. The only major problem... was that we hadn't brought sugar. ;-)

The Alluvial Fan

The Stanley Hotel

On to Denver... We learned later that Colfax Avenue (below) is the longest street in America!

My little sister sitting next to me: "Look! It's an 'A' for Anna!"... oh, the games you can come up with when you're on a long car drive!

Forest Canyon Overlook, on top of the "The Backbone of America"

This is what you are reduced to when you don't want to bring the jacket from the car that mommy brought for you, and you're watching elk on a mountain as high as that car can possibly go in the whole U.S. Yes, it starts to get a little cold up there. =) 

Hiking to the Colorado River

Haha! My crazyandfun siblings. =D

No, the clover in Colorado are not purple. They're PINK!

The red trees there were so different from what you see here... while we were there, someone told us that they smell like vanilla? 

...the next time I came across one (which isn't hard to do in Colorado), guess what I did?

And yes, it smelled like vanilla.

A stick fight with Little John and Robin Hood, anyone?

This quiet and tranquil creek bed below the Continental Divide was Mama's hands-down favorite of favorites from our trip. She decided as soon as she saw it. ;-)

When you have a rock-collector of a little brother, the rock shoppe is a must when you travel to Colorado!

Longs Peak view from Bear Lake

Alberta Falls

Trolley ride

If you're not too bored of Colorado yet, check back soon for some starry night skies from our trip there as well. =)