Monthly Archives: July 2013

Today we had a great and relaxing time!  We went to a free concert at Butterfield park (that the Meadows sponsors every year).  They brought in a U2 cover band.  They were really good, but didn’t play a lot of the really familiar stuff.  It was a beautiful evening and with some food, camp chairs, and blankets to sit on as well, it was nice.  We invited the Liddell family who came over as well and it was great to kick back and chat with them.

There were also lots of companies there with booths trying to drum up business so the boys got a bunch of free stuff, and Angela and I got “concert series” t-shirts.  🙂  We also ran into our insurance agent who we had a great chat with.  She told us to make sure we come over at Thanksgiving to the office to pick up our free pie that they give out to all their clients.  🙂  Sounds good to me!

What a GREAT way to end the month of July!  🙂

Today we are official Colorado residents!  We went to the DMV and got our driver’s licenses!  Fortunately, all we had to do was take the eye exam.  We didn’t have to take the written test like we did when we first moved to Illinois.  That was a relief, especially for Brittany!

Zach and Ben also started swimming lessons today at the Recreation Center and had a GREAT time!

Today we took a trip down/up to Pike’s Peak!  It’s not a very long drive from here, and you can drive all the way to the top.  🙂  Our 2nd 14er in the bag!  🙂  The view up there was really pretty and it was a great day for it!  We didn’t think it was a stunning as the view from Mount Evans, and it was a LOT more tourist-based, but it was a lot of fun.  Sometime we’ll have to ride the cog train up to the top as well.  The drive up to the top wasn’t near as nerve-racking as the drive to Mount Evans so that was a plus!  What is amazing to me is how many people bike to the top!  We also saw some joggers!  Holy cow!  No wonder CO is the healthiest and fittest state in the nation!

After we saw the sights at the top, we went into the gift shop and browsed around for a bit.  They also have a cafe where supposedly they have the best doughnuts in the world.  They say that doughnuts made at that altitude taste better than normal ones.  We bought some and they were good, but they weren’t exactly the best ones we had ever had.  🙂

At that altitude, staying up there for too long being the “newbies” that we were, we were starting to get a little light-headed, so we drank a bunch of water and started our way back down into thicker air.  We saw one guy up there totally pass out and hit the floor from a standing position.  They have multiple EMTs up there to handle tourists with altitude sickness.  It’s a really common thing.  Even being in Castle Rock at only 6,300 feet, you can feel the difference whenever you walk, exercise, etc.  We get worn out faster!  🙂

On the way back down, we were told we got off the mountain at the right time because they were expecting a big storm to come through.  They had one such storm last week and it stranded everyone up there for 3 hours or so until they could plow the roads.  At that altitude, it doesn’t rain much!  All it does is snow.

On our way back home, we drove through “Garden of the Gods” and we also ate lunch at Rudy’s, our favorite BBQ place that we got to know on our trip to Texas last year!  YUM!

Today we had our first visit from Chicago friends!   The Cerda family just happened to be out in the Denver area for a soccer tournament and called to see if they could come over!  🙂  It was great to see them!  Zach was SUPER excited to see his best friend from Illinois again!  We had a hard time pulling them apart when it was time to go!  🙂

We had a great time catching up on everything that was going on in the old neighborhood.  We love it so much out here in Castle Rock but we sure do miss our good friends from back in IL.  What a blessing it is to have modern transportation and the ability to see people from far away more often!  🙂

Today we got up early, ate breakfast and then started driving the final stretch home!  We saw some beautiful country along the way…

We finally made it to the I-70 pass down into Denver and made our way home!  After 10 days, it felt nice to drive into our own driveway, unpack, and sleep in our own beds!  What a GREAT vacation!  Thanks to all who made it GREAT!

This morning, we packed up, said good-bye to everyone, and then started our drive home.  We stopped in Las Vegas, drove along the strip, and then up to the temple to visit the grounds there.  We ate lunch and then started on our drive again…

What a different feeling between the strip and the temple!  🙂

We then stopped in St. George and went to the visitor center and walked around the temple grounds…

We eventually stopped in Beaver, UT for the night and will continue our drive home tomorrow.  Yea!

Today we decided to stay an extra day and visit the LA Natural History Museum with a bunch of the families.  That was a lot of fun.  We also got to see the Colosseum/Rose Bowl!  We went to a really cool butterfly exhibit as well.

By the time we were done with the museum, we were exhausted.  The last 7 days have really taken it out of us!  We went back to the house and had one last beach bash before crashing for the night.  We got everything prepped for the drive back home tomorrow.  We’ll see how far we get!  🙂

Prep to go home.