Topskys Out West

Here are some of our favorite quotes from the trip: "Shush it! The poodle lives!" - Caroline "Flat, he said; paved, he said; easy, he said." - Judith and Caroline "No, nope, you took the vow of pistachios." - Caroline "Oh, look at that beau- oh, pfft, sorry it's fake." - Dad "Wait, an overlook? Does that mean I have to walk?" - Judith "I think I'm going to catch on fire." - Mom Mom: I'm sure the driving in the Rockies will be better. Dad: I'm sorry, did I just guffaw? "Wait, watch out! There's a road coming! I mean a car." - Dad "...naked butts as big as cathedrals..." - Judith, reading a quote from Major John Wesley Powell "It's buttes, not butts!" - Mom "The trail gets a little weird." - National Parks of the American West "I'm sad that I know what day it is." - Dad "The organic kale you bought and left in your car? It just tur...

12 hours of driving back to Louisville. Finished unloading just as Spinelli's delivery pulled up!

The girls were great travelers. They had a number of adventures!

Nature towered around us. Literally.  In order below: Rocky Mountain National Park, Arches National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park.

So many times during our trip, I was amazed by the feats of engineering that people have accomplished, whether to build houses in cliffs, to put in a trail allowing us to hike up a cliff, or to build a road that took us to the top of a mountain.

The wildflowers are what I will remember most about the Rockies. The mountain meadows are full of colors - yellow, red, white, pink, purple. This morning, we hiked about 5 miles to Cub Lake and back. The rocky trail started at a beautiful mountain stream and wound through a wetland full of small ponds and pools. We saw areas recently scarred by fire; although green was already creeping back, it will be years before evidence of the fire is completely covered. Cub Lake was beautiful - a mountain lake covered with water lilies & their yellow blooms.  Thunderstorms were once again threatening when we got back to the campsite, and we had to scramble to get the tent and the rest of the gear packed. We made it just before the rain started.  These afternoon thunderstorms have been pretty regular, so we decided to head back home a bit early. We'll spend the night in Hays, Kansas, then drive the rest of the way to Louisville tomorrow.

Yesterday, we spent most of the morning driving into Rocky Mt. National Park via Trail Ridge Road. This is the highest paved road in the US, and it's only open during the summer - this year, I think it didn't open until late May. The side of the road is lined with tall poles that puzzled us until we realized they marked the edge of the road for snowplows. We took our time, stopping for a couple of short hikes and making frequent stops at turnouts to take in the amazing views of the Rockies. We passed a surprising number of cyclists on the road, and even met a cyclist from Louisville. These folks are tough. Along the way, we crossed the Continental Divide again & encountered the Colorado River for the last time - a small stream not far from its headwaters in the Kawunechee Valley. The highest point of the road is at 12,183 feet - more than 2 miles above sea level! After being in the desert it was weird to stand next to snowdrifts and feel a chill in the air. T...

Today we arrived at the Rockies. We went on a scenic drive with many twists and turns before we got to our campsite. Next to our campsite is a bear box. You have to put everything scented or edible in it. That included food, toiletries, and about almost everything else. Apparently they will break into your car if you leave stuff in there. This was a good incentive. We got the tent set up and a little later it started to rain. It got windy and apparently this is normal. It rained on and off for the whole afternoon, sometimes storming a little here and there. Overall, nothing's too bad.

We were supposed to camp tonight at the Stillwater Campground beside Lake Granby. The site was gorgeous and right on the lake; the only problem was that it was already raining and we could see sheets of rain moving in from the mountains. Even worse, the gusts of wind were turning the tent into a kite faster than we could stake it down. We decided to opt for less risky lodgings and headed back up the road to Granby, where we're now at the Trail Riders Motel (whose sign says, "If you're lucky enough to be in Grand County, you're lucky enough"). The drive today was beautiful, but took a couple of hours longer than we expected. This was mostly because of a hair-raising stretch of highway 40, which offered magnificent scenery as well as an seemingly endless series of short, sharp switchbacks both ascending and descending.  We followed the Colorado River for almost the entire drive - the last time we saw it, it was just a small stream running through green...

Things are turning green!