Returning home

We left Canon City Friday morning.  We browsed at some souvenir shops before we left, plus the hour time difference from Texas, so we got a later start back than when we were heading out there. 
Caleb had said earlier in the week he wanted to get a bag of Colorado rocks so we went back to the Rock Shop and he bought the bag plus a couple other pretty rocks he found. 

The trip back seemed to take so long!  We got to my Dad's house late, talked a little bit, and went to bed.  Then we came the rest of the way home last Saturday.

Here is our map of states.  We colored the state when we saw a license plate from that state.  We had fun finding these.  From the scan it is hard to tell which are colored.  The ones that look grey are white...on the northeast coast and a few others in the middle section.  After we got started with it I thought I should have used a different color for each day or my husband suggested a different color for each of us and whoever spotted the license plate would color it their color. 

 
Have a day of blessings!
 

Day 5

We couldn't decide what to do today.  We had a couple of choices related to the Royal Gorge and neither of the places had that grand of reviews on TripAdvisor.

We decided on the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.  We had gotten a coupon for $5.50 off per ticket from the office at the campground.  We arrived as the park was opening and first walked across the bridge.  They had flags from all the states.  We had to stop for a picture beside the Texas flag. 

This sign made us laugh.

On the other side of the bridge was a campsite area that looked like a little village.  Then there was a small petting zoo and other animals in cages to view.  We went up to a tall lookout point which was a really spectacular view.  I was surprised how far away the bridge looked and how long it was too.  And I was thinking we have to walk down this hill AND all the way over there?!  Caleb spotted a trolley pulling up at the base of the lookout area.  He ran down the steps and literally raced over to it with his Daddy following behind.  I followed along, not quite so fast (haha!) down the steps/hill and got to the trolley.  It was very nice to be able to ride back to the other side instead of walking! 

So glad to see this trolley!

This is where we waited in line to get on the car that took us down the side of the gorge.

We rode a "car thing" down into the gorge.  Then we had an ice cream, looked in the gift shop, rode the cable car across the gorge, and then did a mini train and carousel. 

See the red cable car?  We rode it across the Royal Gorge.  It was 1,000+ feet in the air.

Looking down from inside the cable car

We went back to our cabin after this for leftovers for lunch.  I did not want to waste the food we had and we had plenty for us all to eat.  Then we rode pedal cars around the camp site and went swimming.


In the evening we went back to look at the river and walked around.  It was a beautiful evening out.

My two favorite boys!

It was such a fun day!  We don't really want our vacation to be over but tomorrow we start the trek back to Texas.  We've all enjoyed our time here. 

I have had so many thoughts to blog about but haven't been on the computer and wanted to not be while we were here.  I may share these thoughts in the coming days here on my blog. 

Have a day of blessings!
 

Day 4

(You can read the previous posts to read about other days of our trip.)

Today we drove over to Colorado Springs.  It was about an hour drive from where we were staying.  We went on a long winding road that was undergoing road construction.  We were first in line behind a police car.  The officer kept stopping at some of the cones that had fallen over and putting them upright. 

We went to Garden of the Gods first.  I told Caleb where we were going, and he said he didn't like the name of that place because it sounded like they were making fun of God. 

It was such a pretty day and we enjoyed seeing the park.  Caleb heard the lady tell me when we picked up a map to watch out for rattlesnakes on the trails so he didn't want to get on the trails.  We walked a short ways on one to try to find a picnic spot but the tables were all in the sun.  We drove a little further and came to the Balanced Rock.  We had our lunch here, it was a great spot with a nice breeze.  I climbed up part of it and the boys climbed around some more after we ate. 

Balanced Rock

Next we went to the US Air Force Academy.  We saw this advertised in a brochure and Caleb was very interested in it so we decided to go check it out.  We went on a walking tour and looked in the chapel and then went to the gift shop. 

Then we went to visit the Welcome Center of Focus on the Family.  I always hear them talk about it on their radio programs so I thought it'd be fun to stop by.  It was a neat place to look around.  They had a bookstore also and a kid area.  Caleb wanted to do the big 3 story slide but when we got down to it they had closed it due to a storm in the area. 

On our way back we stopped at a farmer's market type thing.  Caleb got a balloon "monkey in a tree" and I bought a zipper purse.  I have never seen such and thought it was so cute and fun.  I told the lady I'd want to buy some for Christmas gifts.  I got the water bottle size but she had others that were bigger and smaller.  The whole purse is made of a zipper. 

When we got back to the cabin I couldn't find my iPod touch.  We searched for it and finally my husband found it hiding under my seat in the car.  I'd already looked there but hadn't seen it. 

We went over to the jumping pillow.  We saw a small rainbow as we watched Caleb and I jumped with him too. 

Today we saw license plates from a bunch of states.  Even Alaska!!  Our map is getting full! 

Have a day of blessings!
 

Day 3

(Continuing to share the story of our vacation)

We had to be at the rafting office at 8:00, so we got up and ate breakfast at the cabin, put on our sunscreen and swim suits, and drove over to the office.  When we arrived we had to sign the release waivers...I just "love: reading "this activity may cause injury or even death."  Really helps my  nervousness!  They gave us some water shoes and we got fitted for life jackets and helmets.  We all gathered at a picnic area and a leader gave us some safety warnings.  Like if the boat flips how to get out of it and if you fall out of the boat not to put your feet down because your foot could become trapped in some old junk on the river bottom and the current would push you over and other such warnings. 

We got on a bus and went down to the river spot where we met our guide, Eric.  He showed us how to paddle and what his commands would be to us.  We rode with another group of 4 adults plus the guide.  He put Caleb in the middle and gave him a rope to hold onto.  Caleb asked if he could paddle also.  The guide said it was great he had such enthusiasm to want to paddle too.  I felt so much better about the whole thing when he showed us how to place our feet to stay in the boat.  I hadn't thought about there being a place to secure my feet! I just knew I would fall out when we hit a rapid!  And Eric told me that the warnings the leader  gave at the beginning were really for the other group going to the Royal Gorge trip, not our group in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon.   

Arkansas River where we went rafting

We got in the river and began paddling.  As we hit the rapids the cold water felt refreshing in the heat.  It was a beautiful clear, sunny morning.  We saw some baby sheep in the canyon.  I totally enjoyed the excitement and fun of the rafting.  Caleb had a blast; he was fun to watch.  He'd say "Mr. Eric, can I paddle now?"  Eric let him paddle in some of the smoother areas of the river.  I appreciated that Caleb got to experience this and had such fun.

We all really enjoyed it and I'm so glad we went!  I had heard a Focus on the Family broadcast a while back and something that stuck out to me was how boys like adventure. The speaker said how she sometimes did things more adventuresome than what she'd choose to do because she had boys.  When we got the brochures about Colorado, they all had information about white-water rafting.  I thought it would be fun but not something I'd normally want to do.  But I decided I wanted to do it as something fun and adventurous we could do together.  I'm so glad we did!  It was such a great adventure and we all want to do it again! 

Near the end of the rafting trip my right eye started feeling funny.  I couldn't tell if it was due to getting splashed in the face with water, maybe messing up my contact or something else.  We got on the bus to go back to the office to return our supplies.  Then we went to our cabin to change.  I knew I needed to eat soon so we went to a restaurant and I drank lots of water with my lunch.  I could tell I was starting to feel better but didn't feel just right.  My eye was bothering him and head started hurting.  We came back to the cabin and I rested while the boys played on the jumping pillow.  Then they came back and my husband rubbed my head and my boy rubbed my feet, it was so sweet!  I relaxed and started feeling better, thankfully. 

Then we heard thunder and had a rain storm.  We sat in the cabin and played two games of Uno.  We heated up the burgers my husband cooked last night for our supper and then went to town to a couple souvenir shops.  One was called the Rock Shop.  It was fascinating to look at all the different rocks.  I forgot to take my camera! We ended our night with a trip to an ice cream shop and I had a hot fudge sundae. 

Tomorrow we are going to Colorado Springs!

Have a day of blessings!
 

Day 2

(This is the story of our vacation to Colorado.  I'm putting up a new post each day from our trip last week.)

This morning started with the sun busting through the front door at 5:38 Colorado time.  About 6:15 Caleb got up, which is about right on schedule for the time he gets up at home.   The boys ate some breakfast and got dressed and walked and played at the campground.  I got up too after I laid in bed a little longer and we went to explore the little area of Canon City.  We went to a pretty city park and walked along the river.  We had lunch at Subway and then went to pick up a few things at the local Walmart. 

Everyone told us how they thought it'd be cooler here than in Texas, but it was still 100 degrees on our car temperature reading this afternoon.

Back at the cabin, Caleb changed to go swimming.  After the swim time we went over to borrow a grill and Daddy cooked burgers and hot dogs while Caleb rented a "pedal car."  We had our supper at the picnic table by our cabin and then went for a drive.

We went down to see the Royal Gorge.  It was absolutely breathtaking...pictures do not do it justice.  As I was leaning over the fence looking down at the river below my husband came and grabbed my hand.  He said I'd come down after you if you fall but I'd take a different route than that.

Looking down over the fence at the river

The bridge over the Royal Gorge

Then we went to Sky Line Drive, which is a one-way road up a mountain and you can look out over the city. Caleb said it looked like we were looking at a map.

Looking out over the city

Tomorrow is white water rafting.  I'm so nervous about it!  I'm not sure why.  I've never done it before and I'm afraid we'll flip or one of us will fall out of the raft.

Bed time for us!

Have a day of blessings!
 

Travel days

(Note:  This week I will be sharing the story of our vacation that we took to Colorado.  I typed these posts last week after Caleb went to bed to share here this week.  Hope you enjoy!)
Continued from previous post...

We left our home on Saturday afternoon and drove to stay the night at my Dad's.  We had a nice visit and yummy supper  (Have you had homemade Butterfinger ice cream?  It is delicious!) 

Sunday morning my Dad made us breakfast (with Caleb's help) and we headed on our way.  We spent most of the day in the car!  And it seemed to take forever to get out of Texas! 

Finally made it out of Texas!

I had some games from my blog friend Sarah that I had fixed for Caleb in a notebook.  We watched for license plates from different states and watched the changing scenery.  He played the DS (that Gramma let us borrow) for a little while and occupied himself with crocheting and playing with some toys. He had a great attitude for being in the car for so long. 

We arrived to our campsite in the early evening.  We had rented a cabin at at RV campground.  Caleb was so excited that it has bunkbeds!  We got the things unloaded and then went around the campground.  They have several activities for children.  One is a jumping pillow.  Caleb and Daddy had a blast on this!  I tried it out too. 

The jumping pillow

We are looking forward to a fun time this week making many happy memories together!

Have a day of blessings!

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time there was two college freshmen who went for their first walk around the ACU campus on February 7, 1998.  On this walk a cute guy told the girl about a special trip he went on several years prior back in 1992.  It was a motorcycle trip from Texas to Colorado with his Pappaw.  That conversation began the girl's dream that one day she would get to go to Colorado with the cute guy. 
Fast forward to 2011....
The cute guy and the girl have been married for 10 years.  They begin making plans to go on vacation to Colorado.  Originally they'd wanted to go in June but that did not work out with cute guy's work schedule.  Later he found out he could go in July.  Plans were made and they loaded up for Colorado...

To be continued...

Have a day of blessings!