Rocky Mountain High

I'm so excited that Kelly is having a Show us Your Life--Your Favorite Vacation Spot. I've been planning this post in my mind for a week not realizing Kelly would be doing this. Go on over to Kelly's Korner to check out other favorite vacation spots. Also, Susan at A Southern Daydreamer has Outdoor Wednesday every week. Plan to stop by Susan's blog to see many more beautiful outdoor pictures. Thanks, Kelly and Susan!

Of course, I love our beautiful beaches on the Gulf Coast. Even though we live there, we never take it for granted and we enjoy it as often as possible.


However, for the past ten days, my hubby and I have been in Colorado and have covered some miles seeing as much as possible. We've visited ghost towns, 4 national parks, ridden the train from Durango to Silverton, taken a jeep ride to the top of the San Juan Mountains, gone white water rafting on the Colorado, and enjoyed seeing some of God's marvelous creation. As someone said on the jeep ride to the top of the mountain, "It feels like we can just reach up and touch God's hand." Here are a few pictures of our trip to Colorado.

St. Elmo's Ghost Town

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Durango to Silverton Train Ride


Mesa Verde National Park-Cliff Palace (We made the climb down and up on the tour--lots of fun, but, more importantly for me, I overcame my fear of heights to do this one!!)

I did NOT overcome my fear of heights to do the Balcony House tour but my hubby did. I'm so proud of him. This one is tough!

Next on our stop was Ouray. Here's a picture of the jeep we rode to the top of the mountain (open air and there was ice in the creeks up the mountain---a little chilly but worth wrapping up in blankets to enjoy!!)

The wildflowers in the meadows were gorgeous and one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Ouray was one of our favorite places----surrounded by mountains and gorgeous baskets of flowers hanging everywhere.

Box Canyon in Ouray

After leaving Ouray, we headed for Dillon. First we stopped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
After Black Canyon, we drove to Leadville which is one of our favorite places in Colorado as well. It is filled with history and interesting buildings which we love.


After Leadville, we arrived in Dillon and went to eat at one of our favorite spots---Arapaho Cafe. Even though I don't have a picture of it, we also love to eat breakfast at Kula's in Dillon. We have dear friends who have a condo in Dillon and they graciously allowed us to use it while we were there. Kula's and Arapaho Cafe are both in walking distance of the condo which overlooks Lake Dillon.

Our first full day in Dillon, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. Here we hiked, looked for wildlife, visited an early dude ranch, and just enjoyed the scenery.


From meadows, to lakes, to mountain tops, the park was breathtaking.



The next day in Dillon, we slept in and then ate breakfast as Kula's. After that we drove off the beaten path to Montezuma (a ghost town), visited Lomax Mine near Breckenridge, and went to Frisco.




Our last full day in Dillon, we went white water rafting on the Colorado River. It as one of the calmest parts of the river because we didn't want to start out with class 3 or 4 rapids, but next time I think I'd like to try doing a trip with more class 3 rapids.

All good things must come to an end and it was time to head back home. We walked out to Lake Dillon for one last look as the sun was setting. It was a wonderful trip filled with many memories. We're thankful we got to take this trip and enjoy God's handiwork together.