The days are getting cooler, my favorite time of year. And we are having the time of our lives being retired! Scott’s last day of work was September 30 and I surprised him with a retirement party and I did a good job because he was SOOOO surprised!
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| It was a great party.... |
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| ...with Cafe Rio... |
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| ...good friends... |
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| ...and his favorite German chocolate cake! |
Two days after his last day of work we left on a road trip around Colorado. Our first stop was Moab, UT where we were going to do some morning hiking before heading to Aspen. But instead...
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| ...we ended up spending the day here. |
I had been sick before we left but was feeling better until we arrived in Moab and had a huge relapse that turned into bronchitis. Fortunately, I got the right kind of medicine that knocked it out and I was fine in a couple of days. On to Aspen where we found out we would be sharing the town with bears.
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| These signs were everywhere and people were telling us to be careful. |
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| This picture is as close as we got to seeing one though. |
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| We spent our first full day in Aspen at Maroon Bells. |
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| It was chilly and I was in heaven! |
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| We took a hike and saw some beautiful scenery. |
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| Trees everywhere! We were soaking it in. |
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| The next day we went to the John Denver Sanctuary... |
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| It was a very peaceful and beautiful place, I think John would approve. |
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| We went to a Saturday market where we got the best kettle corn I’ve ever had in my life! |
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| Fall colors were at their peak! |
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| We loved Aspen! |
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| On our way to Denver, we stopped in Idaho Springs, one of my favorite places on the trip...LOTS of souvenirs were purchased on this street!... |
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| ...not to mention the best pizza ever! |
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| Beau Jo's Pizza! |
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| Our first full day in Denver we did a tour of historic homes... |
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| Loved the Molly Brown house the best! |
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| The next day we did an all-day tour that started with Garden of the Gods... |
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| ...where we were surrounded by beauty like this... |
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| ...everywhere! |
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| It was a warm and sunny day in Colorado! |
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| Stopped for lunch in Manitou Springs. |
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| They are famous for their bubbly spring water and there are fountains all over town. They say it tastes like club soda, but in my opinion, it tasted more like dirty alka seltzer. Wouldn't want a whole glass. |
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| Then on to Pike's Peak summit... |
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| ...there were some beautiful views... |
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| ...it was about 25 degrees, not so warm up on top! |
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| We ran into Big Foot on the way down the mountain...not much to look at but a pretty nice guy. |
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| Lots more beautiful trees! |
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| That night we had dinner at the Chocolate Lab where every single dish has chocolate in it.. |
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| ...including my tortellini.... |
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| ...and my salad! Super yummy!! |
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| The next morning when we looked out the window we got a wonderful surprise! |
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| I love Denver!! |
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| We spent the afternoon at the Brown Palace... |
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| ...at a tea party! |
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| It was very elegant and fun. Thank you, Scott, for indulging me! |
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| We also went to the Denver temple which was beautiful... |
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| ...especially covered in snow! |
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| On our last day we drove down to Durango and saw more beautiful scenery...it's like it never snowed at all! |
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| Ok, there were some signs.... |
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| ...it was a beautiful drive. |
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| We stayed at the Strater Hotel in Durango... |
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| ...and indulged a little bit... |
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| ...at the hotel saloon, complete with a piano player. It was a fun, historic hotel. |
Our other big news, of course, is our mission call to the Palmyra temple! We are so excited and don’t know how we are going to wait until May to begin.
We are headed up to Utah and then California this weekend so stay tuned...
