Colorado Springs to Minnesota! Summer travels continue...

Thought I would update the blog with more adventures from our summer! Here's a look back in June at our time in Colorado and Minnesota. :)

After leaving The Black Canyon of the Gunnison Natl' Park, we were on our way to Colorado Springs! Here we are on Monarch Pass (11,312 ft)... it was gorgeous!

We stayed with our friends Mark and Tiffany, (Thanks guys! We miss you!) and they showed us around their beautiful town. First stop, the Garden of the Gods. Here we are in front of some of the huge, jutting, red rocks... and Curt and Mark climbed up between a couple spires so I could catch this shot:


Here's my favorite pic overlooking the Garden - it was simply breathtaking!

We checked out Denver the next day, and a rockin' REI downtown in a huge old train station that had been remodeled. From there we took off and traveled up to Boulder where we hooked up with my friend Laura and her husband Travis, who graciously showed us around and took us to the BEST Mediterranean restaurant we have ever been to. YUMMY. Lamb meatballs, bacon wrapped dates, cheeses, humus and spreads, pizza, smoked trout, and... well, you get the idea. :) It was off the hook! (Thanks guys!!)

Here's a quick morning shot as we are saying goodbye and about to take off for Minnesota.

We drove straight from Boulder to my grandparents farm in central western Minnesota; 15 hours later, we had arrived. Yiiippppeeeee! We had a WoNdErFuL time visiting with family and friends. My little sis (Mark, we missed you!), brother Chris and his wife Karen, and my mom all stayed at my grandparents farm, and though it was bitter sweet being there with both my grandparents now passed away, we had a wonderful time going through all the memories contained in the house. Old trunks and boxes explored turned up videos dating back to my mom's first steps and pictures of my grandpa on family road trips from the 1930s! It was so fun.

Here's a few pics from our time out there... Here's my sis, mom, me, and my uncle Curtis outside my grandparents farm house:

My uncle Mark and aunt Elaine and cousins Lance and Rosina:We had a great wiffle ball game out in the front lawn one afternoon... I have to say, I was hitting 'em out of the park!

A quick pic of us girls after the big game:

We also had fun exploring "the old farm house" as we call it -- the farm place a mile from my grandparents house that my grandpa was born in!

Here's Curt and I in front of one of the old out buildings... and we even ran into a wild turkey!

We also spent lots of time over at my Uncle Mark and Aunt Elaine's as well... They have a beautiful place, full of warmth, and lots of adorable cats to boot!

Here's a pic of the fountain my aunt built all herself -- I want one of these for our house some day! They are so crafty! :)

We also had a ton of fun checking out some of old relics we found -- here's Jen and I sporting some old glasses, and my bro talkin' on the original cell phone.

Here my bro is wearing my grandpa's original American Airlines hat and shirt, posing by one of the ultralight airplanes my grandpa built.

We love and miss you grandpa and grandma, thank you for some of the most wonderful memories of my whole life out at the farm in Minnesota. It will always be a second home to me :)

More summer adventures and updates to come as I try to catch up our activities with our blog. :) I gotta get on this! Love to you all, and we hope you are having a wonderful summer filled with your own adventures!