Life After Cows...Trip Part Four...

Finally, another post.  I'd better get this documented before I forget details!!

*Warning...lots of pictures ahead in these next couple of posts, as this was some of the most beautiful country that we encountered this time around!

Early Friday morning, we said good bye to Jenna and headed west on Route 70 through Kansas on our way to my Aunt Alice in Fort Collins CO.  The day started out rather dreary, and we drove through some rain, but by late afternoon some blue sky appeared.

I think desolately beautiful would be one way to describe eastern Colorado!

Grain bins in every town.  I might have to do a collage later, of all the grain bins I took pics of on this trip...

We arrived at my Aunt Alice's house around supper time on Friday.  It was so good to see her!  She is my Mom's younger sister, and has come to Pennsylvania many times to visit us.  (I was named after her and my great Aunt Alice, with whom I share a birthday!)   So many times we wished we could visit her, and finally it happened.  She had a yummy supper waiting for us along with a delicious apple pie for dessert...

She says that she has two cats...but I'm not sure that I believe her.  We only saw one cat the weekend we were there.  Here's Muffin...

Smokey didn't show his face even once.  The only sign I saw of him was a gray streak as something flew up the stairs when I opened the front door after one of our outings.  He apparently hid under her bed the whole time "strangers" were there!  Aunt Alice, you know I'm just giving you a hard time!  :)

On Saturday, Aunt Alice took us up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a cloudy day and we couldn't see the beautiful Colorado skies and the high mountain peaks, but it was still beautiful!

Here we are heading up into the foothills...

Devil's Backbone...

 About to enter Thompson's Canyon on our way to Estes Park...

At every turn (and there were lots of them) we were surrounded by beauty.  It's so different from what we see every day!  We kept our eyes out for mountain goats on the rocks, but our eyes weren't sharp enough to pick any out...

 As we entered Estes Park, we saw herds of Elk lounging around enjoying their weekend...

At the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park we were happy to hear that the road to Bear Lake was open.  I remember being there when I was ten years old.  Of course it looked quite different then because it was summer time.  I vaguely remember hiking around the lake.  This time however, the lake was frozen over and snow covered so we walked across it rather than around it...

Frozen water falls...

These baby pine cones caught my eye...

The photo-opps were many, and do you see that?  Blue sky peeping through those clouds!

We ended the day being hosted by my cousin Eric and his wife Xioma and family. I hadn't seen "big Eric" as we call him :) since "our Eric" was about two years old.  It was so nice to see him again and to meet his lovely wife and daughters!

This trip was about so much more than just seeing the beautiful sights across the country!  We were happy to spend time with family and friends along the way!

Next up...Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods.