Mission: Moose Sighting

So hard to pick a favorite day, but this one might have been mine.  One famous, but elusive, wild animal in Colorado is the majestic moose.  Heather and Andrew have spotted them on hikes a few times in their short time living here, so expectations were high that we'd see one too.  To help ensure we added moose to our CO/WY wildlife list, Heather took us waaaay up to over 10,000 feet in Cameron Pass where 600 wild moose are known to live.

The drive alone was totally beautiful!  It was through a rocky canyon and hugged a river full of white water rapids most of the way.  If we hadn't found moose, just the drive would have been worth it!

Our happy chauffeur!

Moose are so known and loved in this area, there is a whole visitor center dedicated to them!  We enjoyed learning all about the mighty moose and reading the board for where they had been sighted that very day.

So thus, after an informative stop at the moose visitor center, our Moose Tracking Mission commenced!  Check out Dave, the moose hunter! It was actually Delia who spotted the first ones off the side of the road as we were driving to the reservoir where others said they saw them!

We pulled over and watched these two bulls munching for a good long time from a safe distance.

It seemed they were moving in a certain direction, which was confirmed by others we spoke with.  A group of four bulls was steadily making their way to the pass.  So, we made our way there too.  We sighted them one more time, running.  We stopped and ate lunch, then cautiously hopped on a hiking path that we felt pretty certain would intersect them if they continued traveling in the direction they were.

Success!  Shocking success, actually!  Out from the woods and right onto our hiking path popped a different moose!  He was SO close that when he turned our direction and headed right for us, we actually had to run a bit and follow the guidelines we had learned at the visitor center to put a tree between us and the moose!!  We kept teasing Delia that on this day her hiking caused her to be CHASED BY A MOOSE!

We know we saw moose three different times on this day trip and we believe we saw three different ones.  Let us know if you need guides for your next moose finding expedition!  Auntie Heather's Colorado Wildlife Safari Tours are definitely 5 star! ;)

We didn't just find moose on this day in the mountains, we found some pretty spectacular scenery too.  Places where the road opened up to show the mountain range were breathtaking, as were the fields of wildflowers and alpine lakes!

Cheyenne Frontier Days

On our third day of vacation, we switched gears a bit and got our cowboy on.  We crossed the state border to Wyoming for "The Big Daddy of 'Em All" Cheyenne Frontier Days.  This is a major stop on the PBR circuit and hub for all things country music, rodeo, and Wild West.  It was a really neat thing to see!

Uncle Andrew actually used to ride bucking broncos competitively in his late teens/early 20's, so he could answer our million questions about this strange-to-us sport and culture.

We went on the Frontier Days Opening Day, so the rodeo had not officially started yet.  It all opened with a big Wild West show, which gave us a lot of history of rodeo and just a taste of each event.  It also included lots of impressive horse stunts and races.

Since Ella spent a good portion of this school year recreating a Wild West Show with her Annie Get Your Gun cast mates, we thought she'd especially enjoy seeing the real thing!  Besides the show, Frontier Days also featured an Indian Village with legit native performers, a ride carnival, a recreation of cowboy camps, a delicious BBQ lunch straight off the chuck-wagon, and tons of vendors selling Wyoming essentials-- like buffalo skin jackets, all items of clothing with fringe, or home decor made of horse shoes? ;)

As we drove back into Colorado, we loved viewing more wildlife on the way-- antelope and buffalo!

This vacation allowed the girls to color in two new states on their map.  Heather and I tallied it up and my kids have literally been in twice as many states as my sister and I were at their ages.  And most of their states are ones we didn't see till adulthood!  Lucky kids!

RMNP

Our second day in Colorado had us at our third National Park this summer!  Rocky Mountain National Park was gorgeous and another amazing landscape and set of wildlife completely different than what we saw at Joshua Tree or Yosemite!

This park actually sprawls over a good part of the state.  Figuring it out on our own would have been intimidating, but Heather has been researching!  The hike she picked for us was at at little over 9000 feet.  It was 5 miles long and offered views of 3 different waterfalls while we hiked right along a rushing river. (Pictured above the flow coming off the first waterfall-- Copeland Falls.)

Not only did the hike afford views of waterfalls and the sound of raging rapids, sometimes so loud it swallowed up our trail conversation, it also had a ton of beautiful wildflowers.  Here is the columbine, Colorado's state flower.

Calypso Cascades was probably my favorite falls of the hike!

You know hiking is not Delia's first choice of vacation activity.  She was not without complaint, but still completed the hike with us and we were proud!

The third and final waterfall, Ouzel Falls, was the most grand and dramatic of the three.  We sat here and enjoyed the mist a good while before making the 2.7 mile return.

On our way down from the mountains we stopped in the picturesque town of Estes Park for some ice cream...and wildlife sighting!  We found a couple elk swimming in a pond!

Then we found these cool bighorn sheep hanging out on the side of the road!  They looked like a family, complete with Big Daddy Horns, nursing mama, and a few little babies.

They hide well!  Can you see them? ;)

It was another remarkable and memorable day in God's glorious creation!  Thank you, Lord, for wildflowers, waterfalls, rushing rivers, elk, bighorn sheep, able bodies, strong minds, and the National Park system!

Water World

We had two big vacations this summer-- LA/Palm Springs right away, which you have already read about, and this trip to visit my sister and Andrew in their new home in Colorado, which we are just returning from.  When Dave did their wedding in September, their thank you gift was airline tickets for us to visit, so we were thrilled to cash those in and see their new state and home.

Our priority was, of course, to spend time with them, but Heather is an adventurous soul and packed our week with super fun activities making the week of vacation feel especially full.  Leading up to this big trip, I was getting hilarious texts from Heather that said things like, "How do you guys feel about class 5 white water rafting???" or "I found this company that will take us up a mountain on an ATV!  What do you think?" ;)

Our first day in CO and first outing was a total blast!  Heather and Andrew took us to the best water park ever, located in Denver.  Here we rode water slides unlike any we'd ever been on before. 

There were roller coasters!  Like, uphill and downhill while in a raft roller coasters!  SO fun!

There were water slides that actually went underground and had a whole bunch of animatronics and special effects to entertain you as you swooshed along.

There were races that pitted you against your family and clocked your time.

There was a video game slide where your raft had buttons you had to press to match colored rings you slid through.  There was a wild rapids version of the lazy river, which was not really so lazy.  There was a ride that flushed you out a hole in the bottom of a funnel and left you feeling all sorts of disoriented.  One of my favorites, there was a water slide called Storm, which churned you through a long dark tube with thunder and lightning!  And then there was this crazy thing (video above), which we nicknamed "The Skipping Stone" because that's what you felt like as you zoomed off it!

We were at Water World from open to close, rode everything just once, and didn't even get to it all because the park was so massive!  It was a great day!  I love my sister, but I may head back to Colorado just to revisit this awesome park! :)

Happy Birthday, Delia!

A few weeks ago we celebrated Delia turning 12!  Her summer birthday, as it often does, fell right before we left for our big summer vacation, so she once again had lots of grace in picking out activities for her birthday that were special, but low-key.  That is what is awesome about Delia.  She is so enthusiastic and passionate about the things she loves; presents, a best friend over, and her favorite foods are all she really needs to have the BEST DAY EVER! :)

 We were all delighted with Heather and Andrew's gift-- a Pogo Ball!  Who remembers this?  Who had one?!

 LEGOs from Grandma and Grandpa!

Ella was sweet to make the play date with BFF Kate super special with this painting tutorial.  Ella researched ideas, wrote out a step-by-step lesson plan, shopped for supplies with me, then guided the 7th graders through this fun Harry Potter painting.

Cheeseburgers, fries, berry salad, and ice cream cake was the birthday menu Delia selected.  

I'm so thankful for this girl and the 12 years we've had to be entertained, challenged, impressed and blessed, by her!

Pretty Pretty Pinecrest

We took a day this week to drive up to one of our very favorite places in our state-- Pinecrest Lake.  It was the perfect summer day!

Tons of precipitation this winter meant the water was HIGH and very very cold from the recent snow melt.  It was not comfortable to swim in, but bobbing around on our big fun floats was lovely.

 And hilarious as we tackled the challenge of  getting our rafts connected while trying not to get too wet in the numbing water! 

Ahhh, life is good.

Ella and Dave took off for a few hours to do the 4 mile hike around the lake.  They returned with these pictures and stories of how gorgeous the views of back part of the lake, where the river feeds it, were. (Ella started the hike in just her bathing suit top, but was getting bitten by bugs, so Dave lent her his undershirt!)

Later in the afternoon we grabbed our favorite Twilight Special on a kayak rental and had a great time taking turns paddling around the lake.  

We even invented a new way of tubing by tying the handles of one of our floats to a rope hanging off the back of our kayak.  This was soooo funny to us!  We loved Delia in her life jacket especially.  Safety first with these dangerously high speeds!

 After her big hike with her dad, Ella was content to curl up in her kiwi raft with her book for some beach reading.  

It was a great day away!  Can't go wrong with a gorgeous summer day at Pinecrest Lake, though!