Colorado

Our first stop in Colorado was in Glenwood Springs. There we stayed in the small town of No Name and went white water rafting down the cold, muddy and very full Colorado River. We had great views of the canyon and enjoyed the raft trip, being very glad that we were wearing a paddling jacket to stay warm when splashed. We saw many indications of the recent bad fires that have plagued that area - from mountain sides covered in dead trees to the debris from numerous mudslides when the mountain couldn’t hold back rain water.

Our next stop was to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The fast moving water of this river carved out a canyon much steeper than the Grand Canyon. The infusion of different colored rock in the walls and the abundance of wildflowers added to the majesty of this national park.

In Colorado Springs we visited several friends who had moved out there - Kristen and Kevin from our church in CT, Colleen and Pete who shared the condo building with Ken in Boston and my best friend from middle school in Vermont - Rachael.

We also enjoyed a lovely dinner with old friends from when we lived in Colorado Springs- Tom and Emily Murowski and their daughter Jenny and her family. Emily brought over a photo from 35 years ago of Becca, me and her kids- we followed that blast from the past with watching old home movies from 1976!

Rebecca and her family, Toby’s sister and fiance and our two boys joined us in Colorado springs where Becca was born. She and I had a blast going by our old house, and our nursery and elementary schools. No visit to Colorado Springs is complete without a visit to Garden of the Gods and a lesson in lassoing!

We ended our time in Colorado with a 3 day stay up near Rocky Mountain National Park. The alpine walks were stunning, whether walking in snow or across a meadow, and we saw lots of wild animals including big horned sheep, moose, and elk. There are so many elk that they have moved into town and we regularly saw elk on peoples lawns and on the street.

We loved spending time with the family and seeing our boys again after five months. We also got a chance to see Ken’s niece Melissa and her top notch boyfriend Tom when they spent a couple nights at our campground.