We are home

Got home sat July 5 th

Denver, Family and the Journey Home

July 1st and 2nd, 2014

Woke up in Denver with my Aunt Nette looming over me with her little finger pointing at me saying, "Karen Rose, you and Joe are not leaving today. You shouldn't be in that 4th of July traffic!"

She's all of 5ft tall and cute as anything trying to get us to stay one more day! I told her we'd love to, but as of July 3rd we will have been gone one month and we were ready to be hom3e! She calls me a "zana" which means gypsy in Italian. 

We had a great visit! I hung with Ro and got my mani/pedi finally! And, I got my baby fix! That Archer was a doll baby. Griffin was like a little Parker and Cyrus and a big help to Ro, who could juggle a 6 mos old and 4 yr  old, fix dinner, chauffeur her mom and entertain us, while leaping tall buildings!!!

Joe hung with the cousins, Frank, Frankie, Danielle and Johnny who all did a "working" lunch at a local pub that just happened to have the USA/Belgium soccer match on. Hmmm, nice perks at Double Encore. 

We did manage a game of May I with Aunt Nette and drinks at Frank and Jody's. 

Hated saying goodbye, but we packed up the car, said adieu and took off for Albuquerque. 

On our way to there we did manage to fit in a Happy Birthday message to little Lemon who turned two today!

One Park Too Far

Monday, June something!

Woke up to the bite of the mountain cold. I love sleeping cold, but remembered waking up off and on to pull the covers tight around me! Joe actually turned the heater on and sat by the warm air to drink his coffee. 

Had to get going early thru the mountains for more animal sightings and to make it to Denver around the time we'd promised Aunt Nette.

Grand Lake was near the entrance of The Rocky Mountain Park, so we used our magic pass (the senior pass we got in Glacier) and entered the park. So sorry there is no sign depicting this as Joe zoomed past and I thought, "just another park" ( thus the blog title).  

It's too bad that I'd had about enough of parks and animal sightings as this park was awesome!

Snow, fields of wildflowers, lakes and waterfalls...

It had them all and more! 

The tundra, where we were so high up, the wind was biting and freezing!

We even saw elk and more elk with big racks!!!

But it got so that Joe would pull over and say, "there are two bull elks, want to see them?" And I replied, "Nah, I'm good!" I think that was Joe's first clue that I had had enough of nature and the wilderness! 

I was just done with parks and wildlife and fresh air and couldn't wait to get off the curvy mountain roads and in to civilization!

Ok, finally heading to Denver and family! Made it about 2:00 pm after hitting a little road construction. But seeing my aunt and cousins at the end of this trip was just what we needed. I think Joe and I enjoyed the company of others this evening!

Johnny and Aunt Nette at Ro's place. Great view!

Little cousin Archer!

Sorry for the horrible quality. Everyone groaned when I started with the pics.

Oh, and thanks, Ro, for a great dinner.

The Perfect Place

June 29th, Sunday

Woke up with a little headache today. I knew we were only going as far as Steamboat Springs, a 3 or 4 hour drive and we'd make it an early day on the road and truly relax and sightsee. 

The drive into Colorado was pretty, and we had a few animal sightings along the way but mostly uneventful. 

Made it to Steamboat Springs about 12:30, tired and hungry. Not a good combo, especially when Joe and I took the same drive into town and I thought it was cute and a great place to stroll around for our early day and Joe thought it was a yuppie shopping trap and not at all in the mountains as he'd pictured. 

These were mountains ( see the ski trails) but not the right kind, I guess.

Sooooo...we hurriedly picked a place on the little creek to have lunch. 

I ordered a Brie and bacon sandwich and Joe the sugared beet salad. I thought the water, good food and great ambience would win him over, but he wanted to move on and I didn't have the energy to make a big deal, but I was disappointed. Could have rented bikes, tubed down the creek or napped till a walk into town for dinner, but Steamboat Springs was not in the cards for me. 

You could tell from our body language we were not sympatico! He wanted out of there!

So, we strolled a bit, got in the car and our route was changed to head to the Rocky Mountains and add on a few more hours driving time to Denver.

Goodbye Steamboat and thoughts of an early night and possible pedicure!!!!  So, I away we went in search of the perfect place!

At about 5:30 pm we rode into a pretty little town at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park called Grand Lake. It was Joe's nirvana and we started looking for a hotel ( again both of us tired and me with my headache), so Joe checked out these little cabins at Lemmon Lodge right on the lake! $120 if a bit off the lake. I liked the sound of Lemmon Lodge.

Poor Joe! I know that by now he was totally frustrated and was trying his best to please and I just wanted to lay my head somewhere!

It was quaint, rustic, but had a bed with a window open to the cool breeze and I put my head on the pillow and was out!

When I woke up, I knew Joe would be sitting down by the lake. I felt much better. Walked down with the wind  and dappled sunlight rippling through the trees to find Joe relaxing in his perfect place.

Had to admit it was gorgeous... A lake a little beach where kids were playing and I let it all go and chilled!

Joe got a cold Stella and we sat and watched the boats coming in for the evening and thought how perfect it would be to bring the kids and grandlids here to stay and play!

We walked into town and had dinner at Sagebrush. Joe had a buffalo burger and I had spicy green chili soup. 

Then we strolled around on their wooden boardwalk to have a "look/see".

Cute little park for the grandkids to play.

Little shopping area and spa here, for adults to play!

Then sauntered home along the lake. By now it was sweatshirt cold and we opened the windows and slept under the Rocky Mountain sky! Tomorrow Denver and Aunt Nette.

Adios, Yellowstone, Hello, Grand Tetons

June 28th

Cloudy with a chance rain. Outlook not great to sight see the lower loop of Yellowstone plus we've already done part of it with Old Faithful. 

We decide to see as much as we can before hitting the southern exit and seeing The Grand Tetons! 

Oh...this is where we want to stay next time! Cute cabins in town!

Ok, back to leaving...look at this animal sighting that I saw first! Joe has such good hunters eyes and he's constantly pointing things out..., "Did you see that mountain goat? Did you see that eagle...that elk, that...." And on and on. I never see them but sometimes say that I do 'cause I am too embarrassed to say I don't. Well, this morning I spied a mule deer buck with a great rack (Joe told me to write that) and I felt like Diana, the mythical Goddess of the Hunt! Not only did I see him first, Joe and I watched him cross from one side of the river to the other!

I know you see this in movies. But such a thrill to see it happen in the wild without a cage between us!

Briefly, the sun....

The Cintinental Divide and a look at Yellowstone Lake before leaving.

You can sail all the way to the Columbia River from here!

And right away after leaving, we were in The Grand Tetons where rain showers were the norm. Saw lots of bikers and felt bad for them in the pouring rain!

The views were spectacular, but hard to capture in the rain with Joe zooming by!

Once in awhile the rain lifted and I got a glimpse oh the wildflowers on the hillsides.

And then we came upon a herd of buffalo! The mothers and their calves on one side of the road and the males on the other! Joe zoomed by until I pouted and said, "When will we ever see such a sight in our lifetime again?" So I guilted him in going back for some of these pics. 

Then, before we knew it, we were leaving The Tetons on Hwy 191 and on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Ok, this is the town's welcoming feature and everyone must stand under it for a picture! See our new Yellowstone jackets? So warm and it was a windy, sometimes rainy day! Joe felt like this was a yuppie ski town, but so cute!

We were even greeted by the horseback riding sheriff who rode up and down answering questions and directing visitors! Missed a pic of him!

Except for the cars, you might think you stepped back in time.

We had lunch at the new sub shop/deli in town. Great sandwiches. Lolled like bike riders loaded up on meet and cheese for their treks.

Took this of the ski slopes you see from town. 

And a few friends we met along the way!

But this town was not our travel stop for the night. Drove another couple of hours to stay at Rock Springs at a brand new Comfort Inn and ate at a Dickies BBQ! 

Tomorrow we are making our way to Steamboat Springs, Colorado before visiting Aunt Nette in Denver.