We spent Sunday morning and early afternoon in Calgary, going to church and then to a party/reception for the newlyweds. After church, we first headed to Gord & Annie's home to see their place and admire their new deck/outdoor kitchen.
Read MoreWe started the day with a great breakfast at Denny's with Brian & Jill. We had a little time before the wedding so we headed over to the Olympic Park which was not far from our hotel. It was hard to imagine the place as a winter Olympics site, as it was very hot and sunny.
Read MoreWe left South Bend in the early morning hours (Seth drove us to the airport), and flew to Helena, Montana, with one stop in Salt Lake City, Utah. We saved quite a bit on flights and rental car, by flying within the states and then driving to Canada.
Read MoreToday was traveling day. We were up at 6:00 am, and after showering and packing were ready to check out by about 8:15. When we went over to the Admin building, we were surprised with one last chance to see Jared, as he was on his way from breakfast to work.
Read MoreToday was our last day in the Rockies. We had many things on our “to do” list, as there was just so much we wanted to squeeze in before leaving the area…
Read MoreToday we woke up to fog, clouds and overall dreariness. This is the day we had planned for some family hiking, and since the rain was not forecast until noon, we got everyone moving and headed out to the Bear Lake Trailhead. We joined a ranger-led hike with “Ranger Drew”
Read MoreToday was a great day in the Rockies. The kids checked out the YMCA day camp where Jared works. Jared actually works only with the local kids, Kindergarten and 1st grade ages. Our kids were in the program for visitors. Chloe was a "Pioneer"…
Read MoreNothing big happened today. We were kinda' looking for a relaxing day, so that's what we had. After breakfast, we sat and talked to Barb, Fred & Stacey for awhile. Then we went over to check out the day camp options for the kids--Jared has been highly recommending it (wonder why??)
Read MoreToday is Sunday, so of course the first thing on our agenda (after breakfast) was to go to the campground church at Rocky Mountain National Park where Jared and his cousin Shanna's ministry team from the ACMNP (Association of Christian Ministry in the National Parks) were putting on the worship service.
Read MoreWe had a leisurely morning today before heading out from Golden toward Laporte (between Fort Collins and Estes Park) where we had reservations for a 2:15 Whitewater Rafting trip. This was our second attempt as a family to try WWR. The first time in Wyoming
Read MoreOur day began by meeting up with Linda's sister Barb and her family at PIke's Peak to take the Cog Rail train to the top. The ten of us were all seated together on the train, and we enjoyed seeing all the sights and listening to the conductor's corny jokes and interesting facts on the way up…
Read MoreThe big event of the day was our reunion with Jared in Estes Park. We hadn't seen him since he left on May 26 (5 weeks ago) for his summer job and in that time has gotten a nice tan, broken his wrist, and grown to LOVE Colorado!
Read MoreThis morning we got up bright and early so we could leave our hotel between 7:30 and 8:00. We had a 3-hour drive to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which ended up being even longer due to some road construction by Fort Garland. We finally arrived around 11:00 a.m. and were amazed as soon as we saw the sand dunes off in the distance,
Read MoreThis morning we got up bright and early so we could leave our hotel between 7:30 and 8:00. We had a 3-hour drive to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which ended up being even longer due to some road construction by Fort Garland. We finally arrived around 11:00 a.m. and were amazed as soon as we saw the sand dunes off in the distance…
Read MoreOur goal today was to see some sights around Colorado Springs, but to save the bigger attractions for the end of the week when Jared will be with us. So first we headed to the Air Force Academy. This was an awesome experience…
Read MoreSince we got in so late last night, we decided to take it easy this morning and let the kids sleep in a bit before having breakfast (in our hotel) and then spending a little time in the pool. We hit the road around 11:15, and spent most of our day gazing out over the flat, flat plains of Kansas…
Read MoreOn our first day of our big trip, we left home at about 8:30 in the morning. We were pretty proud of ourselves, considering our goal had been 8:00, so only 30 minutes late when leaving for a big vacation was pretty good for us!
Read More