Summer vacation

Last week I decided to tale a little vacation.  I just wanted some relaxing time away for a few days and also wanted to go to the temple before it closed for renovations.  I love camping in the mountains but just could not get things to work out as I had hoped.  Instead I booked a hotel in Denver for 4 nights.  I left on Tuesday afternoon, checked into the hotel and found something for supper that night.

Wednesday I decided to drive in the mountains for the day since I was unable to camp over the weekend.  I have driven through Idaho Springs to Echo Lake before then on through Evergreen and Morrison back into Denver.  It is a beautiful mountain drive without taking all day.  One thing I have never done is once arriving at Echo Lake, is to take the 14 mile drive to the 14,264 feet summit of Mount Evans.  This road is the highest paved road in North America.  This time I am doing it!  I paid the $10 for passage up the road and away I went.  The climb began immediately.  Up, up, curve, up and curve again.  The further I went the steeper the drive became, the tighter the curves were, the narrower the road became and the less there was on the side of the road.  In fact, you could see the depth of the blacktop of the road...then...nothing.  There might be a rock or two beside the road but other than that it was a sheer drop off into the valley (or road if you are lucky) below.  As I drive, I am a gawker.  I love to look around.  As the traffic was light that day I was able to drive in the middle of the road on some straight stretches of road and really look.  The mountains were beautiful, so many colors in them and the sky and clouds looked so fresh.  As I looked around and over (even from the middle of the road) I got butterflies in my tummy.  Oh, my goodness!  I can't believe I'm doing this and know Dad would absolutely hate the drive and view although he is where I got my love for this.

This is what I actually saw as I was approaching a very tight curve on the very steep road that had no guard rails.  I had the camera in my hand on the steering wheel so I could show what it was really like.  I am as high as the clouds with nothing between me and a beautiful free fall should I not make the curve.  I stopped once about 9 miles up the mountain at a little lake that had a rest area.  I just sat for about 10 minutes to catch my breath and relax my tense muscles before going on up.

As I finally get almost to the top I am stopped by wildlife. There is a family of sheep crossing the road in front of me. I know it is a little hard to see. but there were 6 of them-a couple were babies.


At the top it looks like God used a huge dump truck to make the top of the 14,264 foot high peak and people were climbing it.  The road is 14,120 feet high and you can see for miles as the sign says.  I felt like I was on the top of the world but had the little butterflies in the tummy and the swirl in the head as I looked all around me.  Can you believe people ride mountain bikes up this road?  I would not want to be on the edge of the road there there is nothing but drop off and have cars coming from both directions at once on this very narrow road.

The drive back down the mountain was as intense as the drive up.  I think I was on the drop off side of the road more.  Every curve would bring forth a prayer.  I saw more wildlife also.  There was a little red fox walking along the edge of the road.  Then there was a deer standing on the edge of the road on the side of the mountain so close that a passenger in the car could have reached out and touched it as it stood so still.  There was too much traffic at that time to get a picture of the deer. 

Once I got back down to Echo Lake I could have gone on the drive through Evergreen but at that time I was to the point of "Just get me out of the mountain and back to the Interstate" state of mind. But on the way there was this meadow and pond with moose playing in the water.  There were probably 20-25 critters there.  I know the picture shows the meadow much better than it does the moose.  I finally got to the Interstate and back into Denver.  This was a beautiful drive, although a very tense drive, and I am so glad I finally did it.  It was a nice day in the mountains that brought me a lot of joy and peace.

When I returned to Denver I went to visit a friend.  An ice cream truck came down the street.  I have not seen an ice cream truck since I was little and we were in New York visiting my uncle and aunt.  I did not know they were still even in existence.  I flagged him down and bought a $3.50 drumstick ice cream cone and visited with the driver a bit.  That was like being a kid again and was fun.  I later went out to supper at Rosie's Diner.  It was a cute place with the old diner counter as well as booths and tables.  The booths had the old jukeCristo sandwich.  I have not had one of those for at least 15-20 years.  This was a day to remember.

Thursday I did a little shopping, took a nap and visited my aunt and uncle.  I took them some items for a garage sale his family is having to raise money for his daughter that needs surgery.  After a nice visit I went to the Outback Steak House and had one of the best sandwiches I've had in a long time (not counting the great sandwich I had the night before).  It was a steak fillet cooked then sliced thin and placed on some kind of special herbed bread served with au jus and sweet potato fries.  Yum, Yum!

I went to the temple on Friday from 9:00 - 3:00.  It was great to be able to do some family history work and be reminded of all the covenants made and blessings promised in the Holy Temple, The House of the Lord.  Later I got together with my niece, Liz, that lives in Denver for college.  She has the cutest house that she shares with 3 house mates.  Liz has done a lot of work in the yard planting grass and flowers to make the place really look like a home and not just a rented house.  We went out to a Mexican restaurant in a trendy part of town off Colfax Ave.  It was a place and in an area that I never would have found or gone to on my own.  The food was good and the company was great.  We had a wonderful visit and I'm so glad she was able to share some time with her old aunt.

Saturday was the day to return home.  I got ready to check out and the main elevator was out of order.  At least there was a back service elevator to use.  I would not want to haul all the stuff I had down the stairs by hand.  It would have taken 4 trips.  I went shopping for a bra and got frustrated and just headed on home.  Dana called me to ask me to babysit that evening.  I was about an hour from home at the time.  I got home, unloaded the car and went to babysit my great niece and great nephew.  I love spending time with the kiddos while my nephew takes his wife out on a date.  They got home very late and I set my alarm to get up for church but fell back asleep and did not wake up until 1:20 p.m.  Oops, I missed church.  I guess I was totally exhausted from a great week of 'relaxing' vacation.