monday

ok... so i've lost track of the days... and thats a good thing :) its monday morning, but the only way i knew that was because i saw the date on a sign.

we've been hiking several times, and took one drive to see what we could see. all of us prefer hiking over driving. there is nothing like turning a corner and seeing a beautiful waterfall or an a wolf or coyote? i'm not sure what this creature is.. i'll have to look it up when i get the chance... but luckily he wasn't angry that we were there.


the weather here changes so fast its weird. we can be driving with perfectly sunny skies and within minutes a storm comes up out of nowhere... here is what one of those rain showers looks like from about 12k feet.

the same thing happens when we are hiking but we've been lucky so far and the rains haven't lasted more than about 15 minutes at the most.

this last image is of Mill Lake. we hiked there a couple of days ago. the hike was extremely challenging. the altitude and the steep climb sure helped us sleep well that night.

we're having a great time... actually we are on our way to hike one last time today before we pack up and start the drive home tomorrow.

i'm not sure of the route yet... maybe thru wyoming and on to south dakota and eventually back to michigan :)

i'll update you from the next stop!

days 3 and 4

yesterday was kinda yucky weather wise.. rain cold.. wind.. lightening... but that didn't stop us!

we got in the car and drove up a dirt road that is only open for a couple of months in the summer the rest of the time its closed due to the snow. the boys ended up with headaches after we reached the alpine tundra (above the treeline) but they are doing fine now.

here is just a couple of shots from the rainy day on the mountains...


alex had my camera set on iso 800 :| but its fixed now.. so todays shots will be much better i hope!

also the sun is shining today.. .and we have a 4 mile hike around bear lake planned. (hope to see something other than a bear)

this picture is alex.. actually helping sam out of a sticky situation... see??? miracles can happen.

the clouds were so low most of the day it was hard to see the tops of the mountains.

malcolm.... .for google earth.. check rocky mountain national park... .bear lake :)

its just a bit north of estes park, co.

ok.. hopefully tomorrow i'll have internet again so i can actually spend time writing in my blog :)




bye for now!

bye bye DES MOINE + S

i had to leave iowa because the people there were upset that i couldn't spell the name of the town i stayed in ;)

now i'm in colorado.. which i can spell.. and i'm on my way to the campground in just a few minutes

gemi.. now you can stop reading cuz its the same blog you've already seen *giggle*

the trip is going great!

although finding a hotel room in Ft. Morgan, CO (tiny town) turned out to be difficult. we continued down the road to Greely, CO where we were able to snag the very last hotel room available. apparently everyone gets tired after 700 miles of corn and looks for hotel rooms at the same time.

i was lucky to get the room i got. besides just being lucky.. my faith in human kindness was restored when the hotel clerk gave me the room for 50% off because i told him it was over my budget. he spent a few minutes talking to my boys about the trip.. asked them if they had been good on the trip.. and then told me that since it was after midnight he could cut the rate in half for me :)

now its morning.. my boys are grazing at the breakfast buffet and i'm about ready to hop in my last "clean" shower for the next 10 days. today the plan is to drive the last 90 minutes to the campground and stop before we get there to buy groceries and ice. the weather is GORGEOUS.

the mountain weather will be a lot cooler than what we've had in michigan. 40s at night and 70s during the day.

perfect for hiking ;) i made my boys buy some hiking shoes at a Cabellas in the middle of nebraska somewhere. although they are convinced that their skateboarding shoes are "perfect" for everything.. i know better

ok.. i'm off !

byeee

b