Rocky Mountains in September

We took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in September for a little business and a little pleasure.

Here are some pictures:

More pictures on September Webalbum

RMNP and Winter Park

We took an overnight trip to Winter Park and decided to go the long way.  Well, it was longer in distance and longer time because of our stops along the way, but the I-70 route probably would’ve taken us awhile but sitting in traffic.  So the slow scenic route was a good choice…it was up and through Rocky Mountain National Park.  We debated about taking Old Fall Road, but decided on the Trail Ridge Road because I really wanted to see the tundra wildflowers.

Good thing we took Trail Ridge Road, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen BIG HORNS!

A traffic jam alerted us to the potential upcoming sighting, but we assumed it was going to be elk.  How wonderful to see a Big Horn here in the park.  It was the first time, I believe.  The poor thing started to panic when he realized that there was no way to cross the road with two lanes of traffic blocking his way and people standing all around taking his picture.

I got this shot of him from the car before he bounced off the back side of the rocks to the rest of his herd.

Elizabeth was so happy hiking the Alpine Tundra Trail.

Steph helped carry Elizabeth when Eliz wasn’t running up the path.  At 12,000’+ that was some feat for the little girl.

I think Eliz liked this area so much because of all the rocks.  We helped her climb up the big boulders and let her climb over all the little rocks by herself.  The wind was ripping up here at this elevation, so we took a rest on the leeward side of the rocks.

But Eliz still wanted to climb, so she started walking her feet up the rock face.

Daddy helped her go even higher!

There are some cute videos of her climbing skills in the webalbum if you want to watch some.

Then as we continued our drive to the Alpine Visitor Center, we saw our elk.  Two had 12-points.  All males in this area, which I thought was interesting.

You’ll have to visit our webalbum for a funny video that Steph filmed for us.  She was in the front passenger seat, closest to the elk.  You won’t see too much elk in the footage but you will get a chuckle out of the audio.  Granted, this huge elk was probably a foot and a half from Steph’s window as we demanded a good picture…and all she wanted was to get away!

(Months later, Elizabeth still laughs whenever we see anything with antlers or horns and she says, “Stephie is afraid of that!”!  ha!)

Here’s Steph teaching Eliz all the right things to do while hiking in the national parks…not!

Sometimes I wonder if Elizabeth really understands and appreciates the beauty that surrounds her when we go out for a hike.  Here she is hiking over rocks at probably 13,000’ with a 360 degree view of nothing but clouds and mountains.  I love this feeling of being on ‘top of the world’.  The openness, expansiveness, and the appreciation that I am truly so small in this world. 

But she does indeed appreciate nature’s beauty.  She points out flowers and rocks and butterflies to me.  We sit and listen to the birds and talk about squirrels and wildlife.  We have sat down and watched clouds float by or water flow over rocks.  As life gets crazy, it is imperative that she remembers to slow herself down, look around, and appreciate what is around her.  I have found that that is my saving grace whether I’m on a beach, or as now, in the mountains.  I need these mountains and these moments to ground me when things get too busy.  Elizabeth has learned to breathe deeply when she needs to relax before bed, and I hope she’ll also use nature to find peace as well.

Unfortunately the tundra wildflowers were past their peak, but I just adore these miniature beauties.  They are delicate, yet so strong!  Amazing plants.

At the Alpine Visitor Center, looking for more elk…

At the Alpine Visitor Center, sucking on a Huckleberry lollipop!  Not sure if she noticed the view while we were here ;)

As we proceeded over to the west side of the park we were blessed with a moose sighting.  It has been an awesome day for animals – big horn, elk, marmot, and now moose.  All we missed on our trip was a pika and a bear!

The next day we took a hike on the Vasquez Creek Trail in Winter Park.  It was like we entered a rainforest in the NW Pacific region of Oregon or Washington.  Everything was wet, there were mushrooms and moss, ferns, and more.  The feeling was so NW that I had to keep reminding me I was still in the high-desert state of Colorado!

It is a Forest Service trail, so as usual, we had a little bit of a hard time finding the trail head.  Good thing a camping family walked us through the woods to the trail itself, though it wasn’t the trail head – which we had driven past not knowing.

Elizabeth loved the trail because it was littered with rocks and it ran along the creek the entire way.

So we played near the water doing her favorite activity – throwing rocks into the creek.  While Andy played his usual games of throwing rocks into the creek or bushes trying to scare us!  I’m used to it, but Steph was not…feels kinda good having someone else taking the brunt of Andy’s antics!

She loved the challenge of climbing over fallen trees.

We enjoyed our little getaway.  These trips aren’t nearly long enough, but since we’ve been working many Sunday mornings this summer that has put a damper on our weekend travels.  I’ll take what I can get, but we’ve agreed not to do festivals next summer so we can take our much-desired trips.

It rained that Saturday night while in Winter Park, so Steph was kind enough to stay in the hotel and watch Eliz while Andy and I got to run into the village for a beer.  Thanks Steph for being a trooper and babysitting even on our nights away!

More pictures and videos on July WebAlbum

Jubilant July

July was a wonderful month…we got two great getaways in and a nice hike.  It was also a fascinating month for Elizabeth’s development.  Boy can things change rapidly at this age.

Our first trip was to Estes Park for Fourth of July weekend.  Our hotel had a nice view of the creek in downtown Estes.  Eliz loved sitting out with us watching the cars, people, and water go by.

The water level in town was incredibly high…just kissing the bottom side of the bridges in town.

I think I would’ve been nervous living in some of these small creekside cabins.

We had been wanting to see Trail Ridge Road – which had it’s latest opening this year due to the quantity of snowfall.  I think it opened in mid or late June. 

I was eager to show Elizabeth some of our Rocky Mountain wildlife – elk, marmots, and pika.  I wasn’t surprised to find the elk, happy to see a couple of marmots, but unfortunately no pika.

Here we are at the start of the Alpine Tundra trail near the Alpine Visitor Center.  It was a little chilly and breezy, but of course we were some of the few in jackets and hats (but we were warm and comfy!).

I was so excited to get to see the tundra wildflowers.  These petite flowers just absolutely amaze me with their beauty and hardiness.

At the top of the trail there were skiers still taking advantage of the snow that was there.  It would’ve been neat to see where they went when they “dropped over the edge” as it appeared from our position.

Did I say we saw some elk?  How about this big guy?

Traveling with a baby is new for us.  We’re learning that we move at a much slower pace.  We had to stop for a “break” to feed and ‘rest’.

Elizabeth can only handle being in a car seat for so long without a break.  During our break here in Beaver Meadows, Elizabeth was able to pet her very first horse.  Some riders were unloading their horses to prepare for a trail ride and let us bring Eliz over.  The joy and awe on her face is a look I hope to remember always.

Andy took us on a beautiful hike called the Boulder Brook Trail.  This was the trail he took by himself last September while I was in the Yoga Journal Conference.

It was the perfect trail for a hot summer day.  It followed the creek and was shaded most of the time.  Elizabeth loved it for the sounds and sights of the rapids and waterfalls along the way.  This girl loves the water.

We were supposed to head back on Sunday, but decided to spend one more night.  We had to change hotels and ended up at the Appenzell Inn, within walking distance of Estes Lake.  Nice place, though a little tight for the three of us.

But we enjoyed the extra time.  Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park are great places to relax and unwind.  Exactly what we needed.  We were glad we spent the extra night to let go and recapture the joy of traveling.

But we did want to be back home for the Fourth of July fireworks.  The city of Arvada’s fireworks are set off from the baseball fields right across the street from our house.  We live in the “ash zone”, where debris and ashes rain down on us as we watch the show.  This was Elizabeth’s first time watching fireworks and we were wondering what would happen.  She was absolutely wowed by the sights – jaw dropped down, eyes bigger than usual.  But the sounds…that was another story.  The show seemed louder than last year, so I didn’t blame her for getting upset (not to mention that she was exhausted from our trip, and it was way past her bedtime).  The good news was that we were able to take her inside and from her large bedroom windows we were able to watch the show with the sounds very muffled.  I thought she was very brave for handling it all so well.  Don’t you want to know what babies think when they see something for the very first time?

We had hoped to hike every weekend this summer to enjoy the beauty of Colorado.  That, of course, was an impossibility.  For one thing, we scheduled Elizabeth’s Baptism for August, and needed to take several classes with the church.  Oh, and work and life got in the way, too.  But I still think it’s good to have lofty goals.

We did get to return to Walker Ranch open space again.  This was a hike that we’ve aborted both of the last attempts (with Jim & Chris Guld – train breakdown blocked our way - and with David & Bryce – winds and cold temps forced a retreat).  This is a beautiful hike.  The loop is 7-miles, but we just did an out and back this time.

We hiked down to Boulder Creek and back up.  It’s a steep little climb with a rocky trail, and we had forgotten our walking poles of course.  Good thing we found a stick that helped Andy and Elizabeth.  Sometimes the good thing about moving a little slower (with the babe), is that you notice different things…such as this unmarked, unofficial trail that ran along Boulder Creek that fishermen use.  It was very pretty, and we were surprised we didn’t even see it the last time we hiked through.

When we left Walker Ranch we chose to drive the backroads that connected us to Flagstaff Road and took us into Boulder.  Very nice, although unpaved for the first few miles and not very forgiving to a sleeping baby.  We had to protect her bouncing, swaying head with several rolled up receiving blankets, and even reclined her car seat more than the usual.

It was a beautiful drive.  Some day we’ll have to take advantage of the hiking trails off of Flagstaff Drive.

Here’s a picture of the Flatirons in Boulder.

Elizabeth’s skills really took off this month.  The doctor told us at last month’s appointment that since Eliz is very flexible, both muscularly and in the joints, that she might be behind the curve on learning to crawl and walk.  I had joked that she heard the doctor and set out to prove him wrong the very next day.  She began to make very pointed efforts to crawl that next day – such as lifting her hips; pushing back onto hands & knees; pushing herself across the room while in Cobra Pose.  She also started walking supported much further – from room to room, instead of just several feet.  By July 21st she crawled…several steps…at the babysitter's house.  Needless to say, I was not a witness to this great first moment.  Phooey.  By that Saturday the top-of-the-stairs safety gate was up at our house, and just in the knick of time as she was exploring her home on hands and knees.

 

She has also been very good about walking supported and standing supported, so to encourage more standing we got her this activity table.

She loves it – especially the piano.  Her joy of music continues.

On our weekend getaway trip to Vail at the end of the month, Eliz started pulling herself up to standing…on several pieces of furniture throughout the hotel room.  The furniture was styled differently enough, and at a different height, that helped her to do so.

Eliz also started to get used to more foods and textures.  She’s been trying pizza crust, naan bread, cheese, pasta, and different fresh fruits.  Sadly, I’m not a cook and this poor girl will have to get her nutrition from restaurant foods!  Or worse, I’ll have to learn to, and fake an interest in learning to, cook.  Dang.

I had enrolled Eliz in swim lessons this month as well.  Not surprisingly, she did great.  She loves the water.  The only problem was the time of the lessons – prime nap time.  So several days as we practiced floating on our backs, Eliz would stick her thumb in her mouth and close her eyes.  Hey, at least she is THAT comfortable in the water, right?

Her sense of humor continues to surprise me.  She loves to initiate play and finds some things so funny that you can’t help but laugh.  One day I was trying to get her to fall asleep for a nap.  She was clearly exhausted, but struggles to let go.  So I stood by her bedside making sleeping sounds (you know, like the 3 Stooges).  So after several minutes of “snoring”, I open my eyes to see her hiding under her receiving blanket – with one eye peeking out waiting for me to “find” her!!  Her eyes were crinkled up in silent laughter as she laid there playing her little game.  How long had she been laying there waiting for me to find her?  So much for her nap as we both started to crack up.  The “snoring” sounds has always made her laugh instead of put her to sleep…why do I keep trying this method?

We ended the month with a wonderful trip up to Vail.  Last minute deals made it too appealing.

We stayed in West Vail. The walking trail into the downtown area was so pretty.

Elizabeth had her first Gondola ride…up Vail mountain using the Eagle Bahn gondola.

Our plan was to hike Ridge Trail to the top of the mountain from the gondola and do the Ptarmigan loop trail and then return.

The wildflowers were tremendous.  Every color, and thick blankets of them, with the ski slopes and mountains in the backdrop.

I love it when I can catch a shot like this one with the bee:

But, as usual, the weather threw us a curve ball.  We watched these storm clouds as we hiked up hill, only to realize they were indeed coming our way.

So we turned around early and headed back down to safety.

Sunflower and storm clouds:

Due to the lightning that came with those clouds, the gondola stopped running.  We waited in the bar for several hours, with everyone else, until finally we were given the all clear to board and descend back to town.  Andy thinks they held us up longer than necessary so everyone would order a second $8 beer.

It was another great trip that made us miss traveling all the more.  Colorado is such a beautiful state and there are so many towns like Vail that we haven’t seen during the RVing days.  Hopefully we’ll get to see more before life changes again.

More pictures on the July Web album.  And thanks to Steve S for the title of our July posting!  Steve helps to nudge me into getting my posts up on the blog…before I have two months to write about!  Thanks Steve!