What I did on my summer vacation...

Mr. Michael from In Time... has asked me to write a 300-500 word report on what I did on my summer vacation. There are lots of other reports that you can read if you go back to his blog here. They'll be great so you should check them out!

Summer was all about... THE GREAT OUTDOORS! 

(you should probably have some music going. You can click on the link below if you want to get in the mood. Nothing like a little John Mayer!) 

First up, camping! or as Talei of Musings of an Aspiring Scribe calls it Glamping! We went glamping in Kansas. And as you'll see above the fam is playing not far from the tents as the sun is setting. It was a brilliant evening and it wouldn't be long before we would settle down to drink champagne, watch the last of the sun's light glimmer and watch the dance of the dragonflies as the stars settle into the heavens. 

 We had planned on making a big hike up a Fourteener at the end of the summer so we had to train! (Okay well, I'll tell you a little secret: Mo planned on the two of us getting up a Fourteener. I wasn't so sure I could make it up a Tenner-- I don't know if there is such a thing but a Fourteener is HIGH!!!-- so I wasn't thrilled about the idea but I nodded and more or less gave the effort of getting in shape the old college try. We wound up not having time to do it before the summer ended, alas...)  There were plenty of hikes to travail in the buildup. 

 Occasionally our paths wandered by beautiful brooks far from the sounds of civilization. 

Sometimes we could look back and see the girth of the city, sprawling and voluminous. 

 It's always amazing to us that we can live in the heart of that city and then drive just 20-30 minutes and be here on a mountaintop, far from the Madding crowd with the wide sky and silence (mostly) around us.

 And then to turn a corner and have some gentle soul wondering what we're doing in her living room. I was gauche, couldn't leave well enough alone and kept taking pictures until she finally decided take her leave. "Surely humans understand privacy laws," I'm sure she hmmphed as she ran off hoping we weren't traipsing after her.

A bit of our time was spent on less strenuous activity. A drive down south (an earthquake shook things up here a few weeks later which is quite amazing!) to a town that consists of one post office and NOTHING ELSE- no stores, not even a gas station (in fact the gas station is where the post office is now located!). Just a few homes and empty shells where there used to be thriving family owned establishments. We were in search of Mo's roots or we might never have stumbled on the place, it being around the bend of an old dirt road that only the very determined venture. But it's a place that should be remarked upon, the almost forgotten and fallen apart Trinchera, Colorado.

 And then on the way home, we stopped by a real ghost town: Ludlow, Colorado. I've posted about this before so won't go into it again but it's filled with the kind of ghosts that can haunt your dreams for many a night.

And then easy day of training: walking in our city park. 

 But we were serious about training, so it's back to the hills we go! This path was none too easy. Plenty of steep inclines and rough terrain. The blue skies with a white puffy cloud to break the monotony keep me going. The skies in Colorado can be quite an amazing shade of deep blue some days...

 We also managed to make it to a mountain town for some touristy fun. Estes Park is a quaint little town nestled in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Not being a ski resort, it's etched out it's living being something of a convention site and summer haven, I think. We saw lots of Texans it seemed to me. I wanted to get lots more pictures (this wasn't a great one!) but my camera ran out of batteries.

 And on another hike, as we rounded the corner, we were quite stunned by the sun's rays as they shone down  through the trees. The  path we were walking was barely visible in places, seldom taken and overgrown.    

The brilliant afternoon in this quiet wood.   

So, that's what I did on my summer vacation... what did you do? (can't wait to read everyone else's! Hope you drop by too!)