John & I and my parents (Tom & Theresa Smith) recently took a two-week trip to Colorado, from Sept. 24 - Oct. 7. My parents had never been there, and at this point in their lives they would never make a trip there on their own. John & I did all the planning and driving (well, actually John did most of it), and all they had to do was go along for the ride! They absolutely loved it and never even had any problems with the altitude, which I was concerned about. The weather was good for 12 out of the 14 days. Fall is such a wonderful time there... the temperature is comfortably cool and the aspens are a brilliant gold.
We basically took a circle around the state west of Denver. Things we did: Denver where we toured the Coors Beer factory & the Red Rock Ampitheater, Colorado Springs where we stayed with sister Mary. The 2nd level of her home was our space for a few nights....thanks, Mary)! We toured the Garden of the Gods, & visited Brian, Treshia, & little Abbie (who won over our hearts again!). Then we proceeded to travel the Phantom Canyon road (kind of scary), visited the Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park (my parents loved this place), took the Durango to Silverton train (if you've never done this, it's a must!), stayed overnight in Ouray (looks just like Switzerland), saw Black Canyon of the Gunnison (just amazing), Buena Vista where we stayed in a Young Life place for 3 nights & visited with Marty & Pete and Julie & Tim... of course we had a WONDERFUL time, Aspen where we spent a few hours shopping but not buying), Glenwood Springs, Kremmling where they have the "Big Shooter" coffee place that we love cuz that's our son-in-law's nickname for John, Breckenridge (stayed 2 nights at a beautiful ski condo). During our stay in Breckinridge we drove over to Vail & shopped for awhile & did actually buy a coat for John at a decent price. Then we went thru Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park & saw the herds of elk with the males bugling....very fun!!! Then we stayed in Estes Park where another herd of elk lived right by our hotel... that was SO cool! We had one male that bugled all night long outside of our hotel room...you can imagine how John loved that! The last night was spent in Denver again (where we had to be for our flight home), and we took my parents to Ruth's Chris Restaurant for my mom's 75th birthday. It was a great way to end our vacation.
The trip was very memorable for us....it was a special time with my parents. John downloaded software to make a slideshow of our pictures to music; it took quite awhile but he learned it all on his own, & his first slideshow turned out great! We gave that one to my parents, & he needs to make another one for us.
Now I'm ready to be home for awhile. We had enough trips for one year! Actually next year we won't be doing any travelling, except maybe Traverse City a few times. And that's because Rachel has some news for all of you... but I'll let her publish a post on that!
Take care, and our prayers are with all of you! Chris & John
My dad in front of the train in Silverton.
My mom & dad, Marty & Pete, John & I and Julie & Tim in Twin Lakes! :)
John & I. :)
Beautiful Colorado scenery!
Julie & Tim looking "dishly." :)
Pete & Marty looking awesome in the Aspens! :)
Here we are at Trail West... we fit right in! :)
A herd of elk at Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park.
Some more elk (in Estes Park this time)... they're everywhere! :)
John and the elk.
John & I and my mom & dad at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Denver.
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