The Paint Mines October 24, 2008

7am comes early on a Saturday, and sometimes even when you have a great outing planned you have to fight the urge to just stay in bed. With the warmth from the goose down comforter and the softness of my pillow I could have been back to sleep in just a couple minutes. But Jeremy wasn’t going to let me sleep in...

We finally left the house just before 8am. Since we were only going out to Calhan, we didn’t have a very long ride. About 20 minutes later we arrived and were jumping out of the 4Runner with our coats on. I was surprised that we were the only ones there, perhaps everyone else thought it would be a great day to sleep in too. We only had about half a mile to get to the formations, but from the looks of things I was wondering if that could be true. There was really nothing in sight except the rolling hills and path before us. We made our way down the side of a hill and saw the beginning of the formations.

We spent the next couple hours exploring the hoodoos and spires in the area. The reds and yellows of the clay were breathtaking in the morning light. The paths let you through a maze of formations that towered above us. There was so much to see in just a small area. We only visited one interpretative site so I am anxious to get back and see more.
Until next time, Monica.

The Patio Project: October 17th-19th, 24th-25th

It’s a project that we have been kicking around for quite some time. Well actually since we moved into our house and noticed that Andre & Dakota were constantly bringing in dirt from the backyard. Now that the carpet in our house is quite dingy, we have finally gotten around to putting in our patio. It was probably a good thing that we waited, we changed our mind and scaled down the patio from 1000 sq ft with a huge fire pit to 300 sq ft with a chimenea.

It was actually started back when my parents were here. Jeremy and my dad built the retaining walls and stairs. From the time that my parents were here until last weekend we had what appeared to be a large empty sandbox. Andre and Dakota saw it as a big obstacle and preferred to run and jump over the walls instead of using the stairs. It all changed when we had 2 truckloads of dirt delivered on Friday. James stopped by (remember James from a few entries ago) and helped Jeremy even out the dirt. Early on Saturday Jeremy rented a tamper and compressed the dirt so that he could have a fairly level surface to lay the pavers. He Then he went back through with a level and finessed the surface. The next step was to figure out the pattern that I picked out. It’s almost random, not to uniform. I helped out by bringing the pavers to him from the pallet off to the side of the patio. Jeremy finished the laying and cutting of the pavers on Sunday evening about 8pm. We were both exhausted and amazed that the project was almost done. All that’s left not is to fill in the cracks with sand and tamp everything down one more time.

The Patio project continues...
Well...finally we have a finished patio. The last bit of work was finished over the weekend. The sand pouring, tamping&retamping, and brushing off the last of the sand is complete. We changed our mind about the chimenea and went for a square fire pit style outdoor fireplace. It even has a ledge to put our feet up on.

We love our new patio and we’re so glad that it’s done. It’s a fantastic outdoor space... even if Dakota tries to pee on it again. Until next time, Monica

The Antelope Canyon Tour October 3-5, 2008

Our day started early on Friday. I grabbed my Starbucks and checked the time, it was just after 7am, our target. We hopped in the 4Runner and began the trip. The first stop along our way was the Great Sand Dunes. The drive down there took about three hours. When we arrived it was late morning and the temperature was perfect. Since we didn’t have a lot of time to spend there, we didn’t waste any time. We rose to the challenge to climb the dunes that towered ahead of us, but the dunes turned out to be pretty deceptive. Jeremy, determined to make it to the top, found that out. He was way ahead of the rest of us and from our angle it seemed as thought he was at the top. However, once he climbed to the “top” he realized that he was not even close. There were larger dunes looming over him. He snapped a few pictures, and started jumping down one of the steepest dunes. Having lost all hope of making it to the top, (especially if Jeremy wasn’t going to make it) we turned around and started the trek back down with him. We made it back to our 4Runner and pulled out the lunch spread. Little did I know that sandwich I held in my hand for that day’s lunch would be something that I would have given anything for in the next couple days.

Well, with 7 hours to go to Page, AZ, we packed up and hit the road. It was our first time traveling through the bottom of Colorado and it was quite a fascinating experience. We pulled into our hotel in Page, AZ at about 10pm. We were all tired from the long car ride, but the anticipation was building for tomorrow, when we would go to Antelope Canyon.

I booked our trip with Chief Tsosie’s Antelope Slot Canyon Tours and opted for the 2.5 hour photographic tour that cost $50 per person. Our guide was a native Navajo named Milo, he made our trip really fantastic. He was super helpful with the cameras and a really talented photographer. I booked the tour 3 weeks in advance b/c the photography tours are limited to a certain number of people and fill up really fast. We drove 10 hours for Antelope Canyon and I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Antelope Canyon far exceeded my expectations. I knew that it was going to be amazing, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around the canyon’s beauty until I stood inside the crevice in the red sandstone rock. The red walls wrap around you and the sunlight from above echoes off the walls throughout the canyon. The red waves of rock were created by the power of nature: flash floods and time. It felt as though I was standing inside a sculpture whose light and shadows change constantly by the sun overhead. You can look at hundreds of pictures of Antelope Canyon but none compare to being there and enjoying it’s three-dimensionalness. You really just have to see it for yourself, there is something about Antelope Canyon.

After the tour of Antelope Canyon was over we found a familiar standby in the Safeway across the road: Starbucks. We hopped back in the 4Runner and started our trip back. We drove 3.5 hours back to Cortez, CO, where we would stay for the night. Our final stop would be Mesa Verde. We were only supposed to be 10 miles from Mesa Verde, actually, that’s how far we were from the entrance. The national park sprawls over 52,000 acres, with most of the dwellings towards the bottom part. So our 10 minute drive became 30, not a big deal. Since time was limited, we did one tour: The Cliff Palace Tour. It’s the largest and best preserved of the dwellings, so I definitely recommend it. It’s a rare chance to peek into the lives of the Pueblo Indians that lived there. While you don’t get to climb through the ruins, you get to see them up close. Next, was a quick stop at the museum and then we were on our way back home. We had a long ride ahead of us, and lucky for us the thunderclouds made things a bit more interesting over the miles of plains. After the hours of driving we made it back Sunday evening, the time was 10pm.

Peace, Monica

Aspen Fall Colors and the Bear Scare September 27-29th, 2008

My parents have been visiting us for about a week and a half now and this past weekend we drove up to Aspen for a long weekend to enjoy the leaves, mountains and for a bit of adventure.

It was beautiful on Saturday when we set out for Aspen to enjoy the glowing colors of the changing leaves. We took 24 out through the mountains and made a quick stop at Independence Pass. We got out of the car and the icy wind hit our faces. It was starting to snow and the air was silvery with the fog looming overhead. A quick stroll up to the lookout was all we needed, and the mountains and ground were beginning to collect snow. We took our “ever so famous picture” at the Independence Pass sign and then made a beeline back to the car as the wind was blowing through us.

We started to come down from the top of the pass and we noticed the weather was starting to give us a break. The icy wind started to recede and the sun began to break through the clouds. Nearing Aspen we stopped the car and hopped out to see the road lined with glowing aspens.

The drive through the town of Aspen is always such a thrill. The details in the architecture and the surrounding mountains make it my favorite ski town by far. However, where we stayed was just outside Aspen, in Snowmass Village, a town equally gorgeous, just not as big. On our way to Snowmass we made several stops to jump out for pictures. The mountains and hills were golden with the late afternoon sun shining down upon them. It’s an experience that you can only have in that part of the country. We had arrived, let the 2 days of adventure begin!

We began the day early on Sunday and pulled into the Maroon Bells Recreation area at 8am. Even at that time, the parking lot was full and we had to “create” our own spot. Walking up to the lake, the first thing you notice is that the shore is lined with photographers. Everyone was setup and in place for when the sun has completed it’s ascent over the mountains to illuminate the forest of golden aspens below the Bells. Jeremy and I decided we had about an hour or so until the perfect light was in place, so we made our way past the lake area to the hiking trails. There were a few spots in the aspen forest that the sun had touched, so I deviated from the path a bit to bask in the glow...

I am shaken from an almost dream-like trance that had been induced by the glowing aspens, when I hear a loud grunt-like roar. It takes a minute to process what this large roaring creature in the forest, less than 20 yards away from me was. I come-to and realize that it was a large brown bear (we are still in discussion over whether or not it was a grizzly or not) running through the forest, thankfully it was running away from me. Too stunned to lift the camera to my eye and press the shutter, I just stood there for a second, then I took off towards the path yelling “JEREMY!” I caught up to him, and told him what I saw. He wanted to go back and find the bear, but it was long gone. By then, the sun had reached over the mountains and we headed back to take some pictures at the lake. We finish up at the Maroon Bells and get ready for the rest of the day’s adventure.

We headed north about 40 miles up to Hanging lake for a pretty intense, but well worth-wild hike. The hike was a 1.25 mile forest canopy covered dream. A stream wound it’s way up the trail along beside us, sending a cool breeze our way in the midday heat. We gained about 1200 feet in elevation on the way to the lake, a lot of the steepness being in the last part. Once we emerged at the top of the canyon an incredible, emerald lake with 2 waterfalls stood before us. We took the boardwalk around to the side of the lake to get a little closer to the waterfalls. The mist from the waterfall hit our faces and we were rejuvenated. We made our way back across the boardwalk and down a path that we passed by on the way to Hanging Lake. The sign said Sprouting Rock, so we went to check it out. Sprouting Rock is a great place to get your feet wet, it’s a waterfall that appears to be “sprouting” from the side of a cliff. It was time to begin our trek back. It’s far more of a challenge to get back down than it was getting up to the lake. It took half the time, but you must remain focused on the ground and rocks below your feet. We were all pretty tired once we made it back to the car, we were ready to get back to the townhouse, throw our burgers on the grill, and relax in the hot tub.

On the morning of the next day, we set out for the Maroon Bells, one more time. Mostly to see if we would see another bear...j/k. After we took all of our last pictures, we went back to pack up and be on our way back to the Springs. We took the less scenic route this time, via 70. About 5 hours later we were back in our driveway. Our trip was over as soon as it began.

Until next time, Monica