An Update from Colorado

  Many of you have asked me how things are going for me out in Colorado so I thought I'd post a few photos and an update.  With the long holiday weekend, I spent a lot of time outdoors.  In fact, I find that I now spend a lot more time outdoors in general!  It's usually sunny here and warmer than it was in the midwest so I often come home from work and go for a walk.  That combined with drinking a ton more water and giving up caffeine (and therefore soda) has had some wonderful health effects!  I feel great and have toned up a bit!  My favorite thing to do on the weekends has been to try to get in some hiking.  The photo above is from when my sister, her fiancee and I went hiking last weekend up in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).  We even saw some moose on our way over to this hiking spot!  Those pics are on her camera but I will try to get some and post them! 

You might notice that many of the pine trees in this photo are a rusty red color - this is damage due to the pine beetle that is all over the Colorado mountains.  From what I hear there have been many things tried to attempt to control them but besides a really hard freeze it's going to be difficult to wipe them out.  This area is in the western area of RMNP and the beetle damage is everywhere.  For now the eastern side of the park (near Estes Park) has very limited damage so I hope that there is something that can be done to help before they move into the rest of the park! 

Now, on Memorial Day weekend, RMNP officially opens Trail Ridge Road which goes over the Continental  Divide to get to the other side of the park.  They have a nice visitor's center at the top but unfortunatly it's not open much of the year and here's why.  That photo is of the road that we drove by and how high the snow still is on the side of the road!  Now, it wasn't that high all the way but I have to tell you that I was a bit relieved when we went back the other way without the snow right next to us! 

When we stopped at the visitor's center I bought two hiking books - one specifically for the park and the other for the Front Range (the area between Denver and the N. Colorado border in and around the mountains).  This is where I live for those of you not familiar with Colorado.  Anyway, Monday I got up and decided to do a Red Rocks hike in Bouder that is supposed to be a bit like the red rocks of Utah.  Well, it was rainy and a bit overcast so it was a short hike with Maverick, my sister Carrie's dog but it was still very enjoyable!  Here is a photo from the hike and also an attempt at a self portrait with Mav and I.  I'll post more photos as I hike more but just wanted to share a bit about what I've been up to in my spare time when I'm not stamping or working!  Now, back to stamping...