Yodel Lay eee Oh

Whew!!! I feel like I am reliving this vacation as I am typing about it. At our second adventure of the last day of our Colorado trip I felt like Yodeling. Pike's Peak has an altitude of over 14,000 feet and with available oxygen in the 50% range. At the entrance there is even a sign that says no babies less than 4 months of age. Man that is some serious altitude change!!! We stopped at a cute little snack bar about half way up to eat lunch. It was such an exciting time...the road was very close to the edge of long drop offs at several points near the top. The views were breathtaking!!! Literally!!!

Here we are...at the top. Even though we were higher than at Rocky Mountain National Park it wasn't as cold when we reached the summit. We still didn't keep Matthew out of his stroller and from under his blanket for very long though.

Love this picture!!

There was a cog railroad that goes to the top. This is the end of the line, man I hope they stop it on time or its a long way down. (We learned about the cog railroad at the Railraod Museum...you see the middle row of rails..well they have these little grooves that the train pulls up on to get the train up steep terrain.)

Matthew isn't phased by any of this as you can tell.

This spot is where Katherine Lee Bates actually got the inspiration for the poem to "American the Beautiful" I can completely understand why...simply amazing!!

View from the bottom.

At the top...they had these wonderful donuts and this cute little place to take some pictures. Matthew really liked the donuts too!!!

One of the higher switchbacks on the road that has a view that is straight down. What an unbelievable trip!!! Stay tuned for our last adventure that I will post about tomorrow!!!

Garden of the Gods

The Gardens of the Gods was the first stop on our last day in Colorado. This beautiful park is located near Colorado Springs and has a very neat history. In the early 1900s, the park was turned into a place for people to visit and a trading post was built for Native Americans to be able to sell items that they made. It was amazing to visit this place because of the stark contrast to the rocks found in and around the Rocky Mountains. The red color reminded me of rocks I have seen in pictures of Arizona and other mountainous regions southwest of Colorado. We enjoyed the time we spent there...it was so nice and pleasant.

This is the first rock face you see as you enter the first parking lot. It was very impressive and much like a skyscraper!!!

Matthew is wondering if we are ever going back home to Florida or if we are going to travel all of Colorado for the rest of his life!!! HA...this was the beginning of a very long day for him as we still had 2 other adventures to go on.

The Kissing Camels

The Cathedral Rocks

Yes, if I had let go Matthew would have continued to climb!!!

I had a book one time that had a picture of a rock that looked like the profile of a man's face. I thought this looked like that picture.

The view of Pike's Peak (I think)...see the difference in the colors of the rocks.

Balanced Rock...very neat!!!

Choo Choo---I think I can, I think I can

After we got back from the wedding in Red Feather Lakes we checked into our Hotel and found some things to do in the Denver area. Since it was already late afternoon we only had time for one adventure so we had to choose between the Colorado Railroad Museum and the Coors beer factory. I honestly could have done either one but felt that the Colorado Railroad Museum was the best for Matthew. Although I didn't think he was old enough to get much out of either choice we found out that he LOVED the train ride. As we sat down on the train the train blew it's whistle and Matthew perked up and immediately stood up on the bench, put his hands on the rail and looked out the entire 20 minute ride in amazement. After this experience I feel that we will have many more train experiences in our future!!!

I don't think he knew what to think about what was going on at this point!!! (man my hair looked awful...HA)

We had a little time before dinner after the railroad museum so we decided to take a ride around downtown Denver. There were some beautiful parks and scenery. Seth was excited to drive by Coors Stadium (where the Colorado Rockies play) and Mile High Stadium (where the Denver Broncos play).

Colorado Wild Flowers are beautiful!!! Everywhere we went they were growing wild on the side of the road. Just a wonderful experience.

Bronco statue in the Civic Center of Denver.

Indian statue in the Civic Center.

Colorado State Capital

Union Station

Beaver Meadows

The second part of our Colorado trip was in Red Feather Lakes. This town is very small but is so beautiful. We stayed at a Dude Ranch named Beaver Meadows at 8,500 feet above sea level. Joanna, Seth's step sister chose this beautiful place to get married and we loved being able to attend. While we were there Matthew got to meet his cousin Sophie and Aunt Hayden, Uncle Duncan, Aunt Joanna and Uncle Duncan (yes Joanna and Hayden are both married to Duncan's now). The bad part about the whole trip was that I forgot to pack pajamas for Seth and me. In Red Feather Lakes there was NO WALMART!!! or any type of store to purchase even sweatpants. I ended up going to a thrift store that had some for Seth to wear. I just slept in my regular clothes. I did end up getting a t-shirt so I used that and pants. It was kinda uncomfortable but we made it work. Below are some pictures of our stay in Red Feather Lakes.

Matthew and Sophie hugging. Actually these pictures loaded in reverse order. This is actually Sophie hugging Matthew good-bye. She was so sweet to him.

Aaron in the kick line with Joanna and the gang.

Matthew was sooooo tired in this picture but we are dancing with the wonderful bluegrass music. He actually had a lot of fun...I think?!?!

The bride and groom: Joanna and Duncan 2

Joanna and Duncan 1 (Hayden's husband Duncan (I know its confusing))

The beautiful scenery surrounding the ceremony!!!

Matthew and Sophie in their wedding finery!!!

The Patterson family

Me, Matthew and Uncle Aaron

Matthew and me (I love this picture!!!!!)

The river behind the ceremony!!! It was so beautiful listening to the river as the ceremony was taking place. Duncan's family are Quakers so there was a portion of the ceremony where we had 30 minutes for people to stand and share experiences and wisdom to the couple. With the scenery and the sound of the river 30 minutes passed quickly.

Matthew behaved himself very well throughout the ceremony.

Seth and Aaron climbed to the top of this mountain. If you look very hard you might be able to see them.

Seth, Matthew and Uncle Aaron go for a paddle boat ride.

Cousin Sophie, Aunt Hayden, Matthew and Seth