The big trip of the summer was to Colorado, planned around a reunion with the GC Hospital House Class of 1997, whose members all turned 40 this year! So, we planned a two-week family vacation to sight-see in Colorado.
We decided to drive straight through, because honestly, stopping to unpack and settle into a hotel room with 3 kids is WAY more work than driving through. We left at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, made two gas/pee stops, and pulled into Canyon City around 8:00 that night. It was amazingly easy trip (thanks to modern technology!) Our first night was at a cabin in an RV park. We arrived to a spectacular view.
The next day, we did the Royal Gorge, and we did it all! We walked the bridge, found the Texas flag, and the boys couldn't leave without doing the SkyCoaster....a huge swing that lets you hang over the Gorge. Pure craziness! Luka was ready to go without any hesitation at all. TJ, on the other hand, was not so sure, and it wasn't until the last minute that he talked himself into it. He conquered a fear and gained some confidence after that experience....and he really enjoyed it as well!
We had reservations that afternoon to go white water rafting. Mikayla and I went on the family float, and the boys all went on some actual rapids. We all had a ball. Our guide let Mikayla sit up on the front of the boat most of the way, and she thought that was pretty cool. This picture isn't of us, and I refused to buy one picture for $30, but this one off of the internet could have been us!
The next day, we got off the beaten path, which we often try to do, and headed for Paradise Cove in Guffey. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough homework ahead of time, and by the time we needed more specific directions, we had no bars of cell service. So, we just headed for Guffey the old fashioned way. We arrived in Guffey at 9:00 a.m. and it looked like an old ghost town in the middle of nowhere. We pulled into the fire-station to see if anyone might be around to ask, but no luck. A bit stuck, Mr. Local, who clearly knew we didn't belong there, pulled up andoffered his assistance. The directions we were given went like this: Go 5-8 miles up the road, and at the top of the hill, you will see "Do Not Park On The Road" signs. Lovely. So, we decided to take a shot at it, because all the reviews on Trip Advisor made it look amazing, and was highly recommended to Scott by a flight attendant as something you just can't miss.
Well, we talked ourselves into driving actually 10 miles, which seems like a really long time when you were told 5-8. But, it was definitely worth it! When we got there, there was only one other car in the parking lot, so we were a bit uncertain. However, on the hike out, we passed probably 50 people, and there were probably close to 100 people there by the time we left at 11:00.
The 1 mile hike was amazing...down flowered covered hills, through streams, over rocks, etc. And once you get over the cliff and see the cove, you quickly realize it was all worth it. It's basically this natural swimming hole, and it is known for people being able to jump off rocks/cliffs. Luka and Scott went to give it a try, but Luka had to turn around. Scott went several times. The video just doesn't do it justice, and you just can't get a sense for how high it was, but it was fantastic...and freezing. This stop was a highlight of the trip for the entire family.
In the vertical picture, Scott is at the top waiting his turn to jump.
Scott jumping:
http://youtu.be/jRRLTTlTFyE
By day 3 of the trip, our van now looked like this:
On the way to Breck, we made a stop at Hoosier Pass, famous for the Continental Divide. We were all still in our swim clothes from that morning, and it was practically snowing, but we all sucked it up and got the picture!
That afternoon around 5:00, we rolled into Breckenridge. It was just crazy to think of all that had happened since the 20 years ago when we formed that lifelong friendship. We had all decided to meet in Breckenridge, which is within driving distance for anyone coming from California (Jennette and Kevin Claassen), Illinois (Carrie and Travis Stalter), or Indiana (Brooke and Kumar Kandel Cisco), or Texas. Dana and Stephen Graber Ladek, from Costa Rica, come home each summer to Colorado. We rented an 8 bedroom house, with 5 master baths, to hold all 22 of us. There were 12 kids ranging in age from 1 year old to 10. In the first kid picture, 11 out of 12, not bad. (Auden is missing.)
We were only there for 3 nights, but we packed it in, with enough down time as well. The kids had a ball in the basement with the pool table, and organized a pool tournament. (With all the screaming, we were glad they had their own space.) They "connected" on Minecraft (each on their own iPad or iPod), and they had hot tub time. We rode the gondolas, went hiking, had dance parties, and shared two meals a day - each family cooking once. We used almost all the dishes each meal, and had to run the dishwasher twice after each meal. The adults had hot tub time after the kids were finally in bed. My boys rented bikes and rode down from the top of the ski mountain and had a ball.
It was just really special to get everyone together. Many of us had not met all the kids, and even Stephen was a bit new to the clan. But it's amazing how such strong friendship bonds endure the test of time and distance. It is easy to welcome new members to our little college gang; a friend (son, daughter, husband) of yours is a friend of mine! (21 of 22 in the group picture...Corina got to fly home early!)
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