Colorado Was Great...

Going from the end of our trip to the beginning, here we see the Barnes family posing by the Riverwalk in Estes Park, CO. We all went up there to spend 4 nights at the YMCA resort facility, which they make available for conferences and family gatherings. It is an awesome setting and a wonderful facility, and we recommend it! We started planning a family gathering there, way back last year, not knowing that the Barnes's would be moving to Denver, only an hour away! We had to commit to the camp, not know if everyone could come, although all wanted to.  But realities dictated that, even with our help, it was just too big an outlay of cash when considering the big drive, the amount of time away and the cost of the place. Erin and Jim saved it from being the "Famililess Family Reunion" that David joked about by joining us. I want to say, though, that we totally support the kids' families not going into debt and being realistic about what they could do! We're proud of them for not just putting it on the card. And other times will come, for other gatherings.

In fact, a reunion happened anyway, among the girls and kids, when Gretchen and Anders decided to go to Texas for 2 weeks to stay with her sisters. Various ones pitched in various ways, and it happened!

At the YMCA camp, they have horses to ride and Garrett got to ride this little pony, "Strawberry." He just sat in the saddle very naturally and it was so fun to see Jim introduce him to horses. The weather was really pretty cold most of the time, but that was fine. 

We ate our meals in the big communal dining room and Erin was able to find things to eat. Garrett loved all the food and it was a really nice break for Erin, not having to cook for everyone!

This is a nice spot along the Riverwalk.

David loves to get the grandkids to get really stiff, then drop them on the bed or a couch. This is Garrett, getting the treatment in our YMCA room, and he enjoyed it!

On the day we left Erin and Jim's new house to go up to camp, David and I stayed outside with Garrett all morning so they could get things packed up and organized. Here we are, having a "nice little picnic dinner with Grandma." He really likes his new backyard (although he thinks it's our house) because he can just walk around to his heart's content. Erin doesn't have to worry about fire ants or snakes. There's a nice "riverbed" full of rocks that he can pick up and drop. Nice!

The power went out five times while we were at the new (rental) house, so we headed to Walmart to pick up some battery lanterns and got a gate for the stairway while we were at it. Actually, when we arrived at Jim and Erin's house, Jim was in Texas, getting ready to drive the family back to CO in the truck/camper. We got there on Friday night and they pulled in on Saturday night. So when they came in the door, we were there to welcome them, so Garrett just naturally assumed it was our house!

Erin really likes the new place and new neighborhood. This is their family room... right now the house has one big truckload of stuff in it, so Jim's kind of camping out there and going to work. When Erin comes up for good in a few weeks, they'll bring all the furniture and can get settled.

On our way to Denver we spent one night in Vail, which is absolutely beautiful in the summer. There are baskets and pots of beautiful flowers everywhere and the main village is so scenic. I took this picture from our table where we ate lunch after riding our bikes around for a while. The weather was great.

Behind me you can see the famous ski slopes.

The highway (70) is a great road with not much traffic and some amazing land formations along the way. Look at that road sign, too! I couldn't just keep snapping, but some things I just HAD to take a picture of!

I love the blue skies and puffy clouds. I was also grateful for a dependable car! I'd sure hate to be stranded out here!

The first night we stayed in Cedar City Utah and David had bought tickets to a play at the Shakespeare Festival.  When we were there before we saw Julius Caesar in their outdoor theatre, but this time is was actually a Noel Coward play in an indoor theatre called "Private Lives," which was fun. I accidentally left my pillow at the hotel and we picked it up on our way back home. They said that hundreds of pillows are left behind!

Here's some of the red rocks and beautiful scenery as we head through Utah. It was a lovely trip! 

Tomorrow we look forward to picking up Madeline and Abigail at the airport! They're coming for a week of "Camp Grandma," and we've got lots of plans! I bought 2 beach umbrellas today at Rite Aid, so we're in business!