– Rocky Mountain High Part II –
Welcome back, and thank you so much for following our continued adventures from last weeks Blog!
We start off on Day 4 of our adventure! Time to meet up with some new friends! After driving almost 3 hours through beautiful mountain roads we arrived in Keystone where we attempted to teach the boys to ski. I say attempted because we entered on the wrong side of the ski resort, and the bunny hill was on the other side. Our only option was to get on the lift and go to the top of a 3 mile green, School Marm. After very valiant attempts they both finished the hill sliding down sitting on their skis…. Thankfully our cabin had given us vouchers for free ski rentals, because even half day lift tickets were pricey. Our failed ski attempt ended nicely at an Irish pub for dinner with our new friends. That night our rental started breaking down, and after a very sketchy drive home we parked our vehicle waiting for a tow. Thankfully that night a big snow storm blew in and covered our cabin with 18” of beautiful, fluffy white snow that made being stuck in our cabin a real treat. Especially when a herd of Elk ran through our yard that morning! Fire, Local Beer, Steaks and movies kept the boys quite content while I spent hours trying to fix our lack of transportation. By noon the next day we finally had our new truck, along with a nice discount for our trouble. Time for a snow hike! This time we set out for Lumpy Ridge Trail, and Gem Lake Trail. Snow continued to fall all day long, making for one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever done. The snow muffled all sounds and made us feel like we were almost in an entirely different world. Am I the same person that couldn’t breath last week? I think that this was probably the moment that I felt like the world stood still and I felt so much peace and clarity. Watching my boys discover the world around them, those moments when the world is almost too beautiful, and your heart feels like it could burst with appreciation at just being alive……if I could hold a moment and keep it forever it would be a moment like this.
Day 6 Today we drive into Denver, but first another stop in Boulder for Ramen at ZO MA MA right off Pearl Street.
The Denver Art Museum had a special STAR WARS costume exhibit. It was just as good as I had hoped (Yes, I’m a not so secret sci-fi geek), and they had a great collection of art in their permanent art section as well. We spent the night exploring the city with coffee at Roostercat Coffee House and dinner at CRU
Day 7 we decided to do some major driving and get in a bunch of sightseeing. Starting with Buffalo Bill’s Grave, Seeing some real Buffalo, and checking out Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre I found it to be even more impressive than I had expected because pictures just don’t do it justice. We squeezed in time for a Coors Brewing tour in Golden and then met back up with our new friends in Denver for one last dinner and walk through Union Station before flying home at 4 am the next morning.
Flying home with breath back in my lungs, having shared a truly epic adventure with my family I felt renewed. Sharing laughs, new experiences, nature is all of it’s God given glory having returned my heart to calmness. Being able to pause in a moment and see how quickly my boys are growing up, and being excited about that, about the things we have to look forward to, about sharing my love of travel and seeing new things and trying new food. I have to say that this is my favorite phase with them so far. I love seeing the men they are becoming, the sense of humor they have, the courage they have, the abilities they are gaining…….It’s a big world out there and I’m excited to share it with them. These are the moments that make all the hard work worth it.
You were good to us Colorado!
Kisses,
Ro
