A Summer of Blessings…Colorado

Our summer started off in early June with a road trip from Arizona to Colorado by way of Wolf Creek Pass and the Colorado mountains.  This is by far our favorite way to drive, because the views vary tremendously and are so beautiful.  We start off in Arizona at around 1,000 feet, climb to 10,856 feet at the top of the pass, and then settle in at a mile high (5,280 feet) when we hit Denver.  

Our first stop on our summer adventure was a visit with Steve’s parents.  It’s always so nice to see them, and we enjoy helping them out with little projects whenever we can.  This trip, their project for us was two broken fence posts in the back yard.  Luckily, they let us know about this project before we left home, so we were able to bring along some very helpful tools.  The fence project wasn’t hard, it just took some time, taking down the pickets where the posts were broken, digging out the rotten posts and breaking out the concrete, buying new posts and concrete, setting the new posts in new concrete and replacing the original pickets.  The blessing of this project is that we didn’t break a single picket, so they all still match with their pretty weathered patina.

Once our project was done, we enjoyed just spending time and catching up!  We even took the time one day to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens.  It had been years since Steve and I had been there, so it was a real treat for us!  We felt like we kept moving, but still only saw a small sample of what the garden has to offer.

It was a pretty hot day, so a few breaks in the shade were a necessity.

After about a week in Colorado, we made our way up to Wyoming to see our youngest daughter.  We spent a few days with her and her fiancé, and then met Steve’s parents back in Colorado at the family cabin to help them open it up for the summer.  Steve’s dad and mom have always opened the cabin on their own, and certainly don’t need our help, but it’s fun for us to do, and selfishly, we get to enjoy some time at the cabin that way.

Cabins in the Colorado mountains have to either remain heated all winter, or they have to be winterized so the pipes don’t freeze.  Steve’s parents always winterize so there are no worries throughout the winter months.  Once we had the cabin opened up, we spent some time doing the annual fire mitigation, which involves cleaning up dead branches and pine needles from the property to create a fire barrier in case of a wildfire.  There have been several fires in the area over the past few years, so it’s more important than ever to do.  We got it looking pretty good before we left, but there were a few trees that had died over the winter and had to be professionally removed after we left.  After enjoying a few days at the cabin, it was time to say goodbye to Steve’s parents and make our way back to Wyoming.