7.19.2015

Colorado Twenty Fifteen…

June was a busy month!  We put over 3,000 mile on our car and with a quick add up of travel times, we spent about 40 hours in the car.  Traveling can be exhausting.  I hate coming home from vacation feeling like I need a break.  However, long drives aside, it was a great month of vacationing.  And an added bonus…I am completely unpacked.  Not quite caught up on laundry, but unpacked.

This year for vacation we headed out to Colorado.  Our first stop was Denver for Marissa’s wedding.  Marissa and I lived together for two years right out of college.  We got to experience all the fun and stress that first year teachers have together.  It was so much fun getting to be part of her big day!  The venue, the weather and of course the bride were all beautiful.

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After three days in Denver we headed into the mountains for a little camping.  Anyone who knows me knows that camping is not exactly my cup of tea.  I love being outside, but the idea of being outside all the time is a bit much.  No bathrooms, no showers, no thank you!  But, I put on a {mostly} brave face for Trent and mustered up the best attitude I could as we set up our tent.  (Trent may or may not disagree)

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Pikes Peak in the distance…

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If you look carefully at the above picture you will notice the bear that was roaming around the lake we were fishing at.  Surprisingly I handled the situation quite well…even when he made it to our side of the lake!  I was scared to death to hike the rest of the trip, but I handled the actual situation quite well. :)

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On Tuesday we drove up to the summit of Pikes Peak.  The original plan was to hike another 14er, but there was somewhere in the range of 200% more snow still on the peaks than normal.  We figured that our novice hiking skills probably weren’t up for that challenge this year.  So we made the twenty one mile drive, slowly winding and turning all along the way.  When we got to the top it felt like winter.  Cold, windy and snow all around.  However, we could still see for miles and miles.

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On the way down from Pikes Peak we stopped off at a nice little reservoir and Trent did some fishing. 

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First catch of the trip!

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On our final day in Colorado we decided to hike up the Manitou Incline near Manitou Springs.  It is an old railway that was used to help transport supplies up to Pikes Peak.  Now it is a climb that is one mile long, straight up 2,000 feet.  It was fun and challenging at the same time!

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We made a quick stop in Nebraska on our way back.  I got to squeeze in a little Audrey time and hit up a College World Series game.  Nothing says summer like the CWS.

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Vacation was a success.  My favorite part about Colorado is that we go there almost every year, yet there is always something new and amazing that blows my mind.  

Until next time Colorado…

{The Launes}