Colorado Part 1

My family has been in CO on vacation with some other family members and some dear friends. Here is the whole group.



Okay, actually, this is the whole group minus me, the frady-cat. I can handle a lot of things but I don't like severe thunderstorms (hay! I'm a Kansas girl, those thunderstorms carry tornadoes and those can kill ya!) and I don't like spiders, I mean really don't like. Like maybe a wee bit phobic, and I don't like heights.
Driving up those mountain passes makes me freak. I have to close my eyes or look at the rock wall on the other side and NOT the sheer drop off. The sheer drop off will make me come unhinged. Because I have the kids in the car, I try not to show that I am panicking. I just act normal and DON'T LOOK. But I don't like it at all! It's funny because Violet knows.



As soon as I start to feel all freaked out she starts whining and she will try to get to the seat I am in and lick me. It's really funny.

I am not in the above picture because where they were can only be accessed by jeeps. Sir D let both of the boys drive up the scary, rocky, muddy, roads.



I'm not sure they've ever been happier.

It took a 5 hour jeep ride to get there and it was harrowing in some spots (I was told by my 12 year old little girl who is braver than me) I stayed back at the lodge doing laundry and sitting here…



…drinking coffee. All in all, not a bad trade off. The jeeps that they rented were from Castle Lakes Campground. If you are into jeeping, motorbike riding, or 4 wheeling, this is your place. It has a lodge, campgrounds, and some cabins. The best thing is that you can drive your vehicle of choice right out of the camping area and up the mountain whether or not it’s street legal. This is a pretty cool thing and hard to find.



Usually you have to trailer your non street legal vehicle to the starting point of the trails. That was a big plus for our crew. It’s a very beautiful spot with some really nice people running it!

Here is another photo of the whole crew. This photo I was in!



This was a lot of fun. It was not as fun for the guys because it was kind of tame. More of a river tour than a rafting trip because it was late in the season, but I liked it. It was a nice introduction to rafting for me. I will definitely do this again!

The Mountain Man Tours in Creed took us on this trip. The guides were good, a little hyper, but I’m thinking it must be hard to do this same trip 2 times a day for weeks and weeks and maintain your enthusiasm. I’m thinking caffeine is the way they make that happen!

While we were on the river, our guide Paul, told us of this lodge in Wagon Wheel Gap that sold pies that are made by the local Mennonite community. On our way out my Sister in Law, Ruth and I made nicely asked our husbands to pull over our giant RV’s so we could buy a pie. They of course, grumbled were happy to do so. That was probably the best berry pie I have ever had. If you’re ever in Wagon Wheel Gap, get yourself some pie!