After quickly washing up from our Long's Peak excursion, Brian and I headed to DIA to retrieve our guests, Mom and Auntie Lynn. They stated with us a total of five days, and thought I would have loved to keep them here much longer, we made the most of each day they were in town.
On Sunday, after a leisurely start to the day (thank the 15 mile hike the day before for that one), we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park. The sky was bright most of the drive, but as we arrived in Estes Park, the rain began to fall. By the time we were in the park, it had stopped and the sky was a combination of bright blue and fat rain clouds, the latter of which chased us for the better part of our hiking day. Regardless, we were able to visit both Lake Bierstadt and Nymph Lake before heading back to Boulder that evening. We even made friends with a few eager chipmunks when we stopped by Lake Bierstadt to have a snack.
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| RMNP |
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| Mom, Auntie and Bri on our way to Lake Bierstadt |
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| first hike of the trip is complete |
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| at Nymph Lake |
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| my adventure bud and me |
On Monday, we sent Brian off to work and then headed to Monte Vista to visit the Mitchell family and their new home, which is absolutely lovely; no matter which way you turn, you're met with mountain views. Madeline and Sophia entertained us quite thoroughly throughout the afternoon and evening. When Tyler got home, we sat down to a family dinner and then enjoyed more conversations and a glass of wine before calling it a night. I do believe we were the first overnight guests at the Mitchell residence, and though one of us jumped on a bed or two (Auntie!), I do hope we will get to head back to Monte soon.
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| Poodle |
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| Madeline's mutton bustin' trophy |
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| inspecting the garden |
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| Madeline pulling out an onion |
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| look at that onion! |
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| eatin' beans |
When we got back to Boulder the following evening, we enjoyed a quick meal and then headed up Flagstaff Mountain to the Green Mountain trailhead. We summited Green Mountain just as it was getting dark, which meant that we were able to enjoy the full magnitude of the city lights below; just as Brian promised Mom and Auntie, they got quite the view after all their hard work. The ladies even joined Brian and me atop the boulders at the summit, making this their first mountain summit and their first bouldering excursion. Not bad for a Tuesday night, ha?!
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| the bouldering ladies |
On Wednesday, we were back on the road, though this time we headed north to Fort Collins to visit with the Siemens family, who also just steeled into a new home. Like Melissa and Tyler's home, Matt and Sara's is gorgeous. My mind was working on overdrive, plotting and planning my own home (I have no idea if we will ever build a house, but I've always got ideas in mind if we do). Our visit to Fort Collins was also a family reunion of sorts in that three of the four Navarrete sisters were together in Colorado as Auntie Bunna and Uncle Ed had just arrived in town the day before. While at Matt and Sara's, we enjoyed drinks on the porch, shares summer stories and had another wonderful family meal. The drive back to Boulder was rather short, less than an hour, so I envision lots of trips to see the Siemens family.
Thursday was the ladies' last day on the Front Range, so I had to take them to the Flatirons. We went to Chautauqua Park and hiked to the base of the first Flatiron, where we were able to watch a group of climbers set out on the first pitch of the route. After our hike, we headed into town and met Brian for lunch. Then it was time to head back to the condo, pack up and get the ladies to DIA.
I had such a wonderful visit, and I spent the better part of the drive back to Boulder thinking about how wonderful this place is and how great my visit with my family was. Though I will soon have to par ways with Colorado myself (only temporarily), I hope that when I return, I will be able to share my new home with many other family members and friends, and I hope the ladies had a terrific time in Boulder. I sure did!
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