Colorado....

We're back! Vacation flew by...and maybe wasn't quite as relaxing as Mary and I would have liked. More on that later...



We left Thursday (Jul 26) and drove to Junction City, KS. After getting some sleep, we headed further west and ended up in Colorado Springs on Friday. Friday night we went to the Flying W Ranch. They serve a western "chuckwagon" meal (meat, beans, chuncky applesauce, spice cake, and biscuits) on a tin plate and lemonade or tea out of a tin cup. Then they put on a show mostly including cowboy/gospel songs and humor. Their fiddler was pretty amazing! While there we met 4 couples from Rockville and we talked to them quite a bit after the show. Mary knew one couple and I am related to the other couple so it was nice to see them.



Saturday morning we road the cog rail up to the top of Pikes Peak. Interesting tidbit....Pike never made it to the top! It was very chilly at the top (a little over 14000 feet!). Mary and I got some donuts and hot chocolote to keep ourselves warm. It was quite a ride; on the way up we saw deer, marmots, and bighorn sheep. We also went past the point were Katherine Lee Bates was inspired to write America the Beautiful. Must have been before Colorado Springs was such a big town! Althougth it was still very beautiful! After the ride up Pikes Peak we headed north to Fraser/Winter Park area. We rented the Haefli Condo for a week there. Saturday night we eat at a seafood restaurant. It was quite delicious and our waitress was quite a crack up. The only problem was that she didn't know it....When she came up to the table she said, "Good evvvvennningggg" in this melodramatic voice. Then Mary asked what kind of soda they had and she started listing them....Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Soda.., ahh hemm....Orange soda, Sierra "Nevaaaada" Mist....all of this was said in that melodramatic voice that just about had me rolling! Thanfully she left soon and then we had a chance to laugh!



Sunday we went to services in Winter Park. The Denver church put on the services there. It was quite a success....probably 70-90 in attendance. The huge windows in the front...looking out over a mountain made it a bit hard to concentrate from time to time. We both saw some people that we knew and really enjoyed the day. For supper we went to Hernando's for pizza. It was very delicious!



Monday we had a very slow start so we just drove up to a mountain lake about mid afternoon and sat by it as we read our books. It was quite relaxing and we planned on coming back later in the week to hike some trails by the lake. Unfortunetely, it never happened....



Tuesday we planned to be our big hike day. We got up pretty early and headed north to Monarch Lake. With the help of a very helpful Park Ranger we found the Cascade Creek/Falls trail. It was a 4.4 mile hike one way...for those mathematically decline...8.8 miles total. We felt pretty confident that we were aclimated to the mountains by then. So we set out. I had a fairly heavy unsupported backpack on my back for the entire hike. It was mostly all uphill on the way to the falls...but drinking plenty of water...we made it...and the falls were lovely. We found a soft flat spot and stopped to eat our lunch...right at the base of the falls. After eating lunch and reading our books for awhile, we got up and headed to the top of the falls. From the top there were some beautiful views of the waterfall and of the adjoining mountain. After a short break at the top we headed back. The hike back was much easier as it was mostly downhill. After we returned to the condo we headed down to the hot tub to relax. As the evening wore on I developed a headache that was a harbinger of things to come...



Wednesday morning about 12:00 AM I awoke....with a headache, sore throat, and couldn't sleep. The rest of the night I tossed and turned and had seemingly thousands of dreams. When it finally got to be a decent time to wake up, I moved from the bed to the couch. And there I lay for nearly the entire day.



Thursday morning about 12:00 AM I awoke....again....with a headacke, sore throat, and couldn't sleep. The rest of the night I tossed and turned and had seemingly thousands of dreams. When it finally got to be a decent time to wake up, I moved from the bed to the couch. When Mary got up, we went to the Winter Park Resort. We played two games of mini-golf, took two rides on the alpine slide, and went through the maze. It was fun....except....I was feeling awful. As we sat and had lunch I told Mary...maybe we could leave Friday since I was not going to be in any condition to hike of Friday. She thought that sounded good and we agreed. Then we sat a while longer and I said...maybe we could leave today so I could get out of the mountains. Most of the signs of illness I had were classic altitude sickness signs. Mary was agreeable to that as well and within a few hours we were on the road. We drove Thursday night to the western side of Kansas.

Friday we drove the rest of the way to Kansas City and spent the night with Mary's brother Phil. As usual, he was a wonderful host and took us out to eat at delicious BBQ places (Jack Stack twice!!!). We also went and got custard on Friday night.

Saturday we went to Union Station with Phil. We also went to the WWI monument that is right across the street from it. It was built in the early to mid 20s. I thought it was pretty amazing that it was built so quickly after the war. Once inside the museam we saw they had a display of Flanders Field...the poppies, etc. Mary got so excited that her cell phone dropped from her purse, to the ground, to the gap between the floor and the 1/2 wall, and down to the level where the poppies were. Needless to say, a security guy went and got it for us, and amazingly...the phone still works! Next we went up the tower that was part of the monument. It was very neat to see KC from that vantage point. I even got a good picture of the IRS (where all you folks in IL mail your return if you are getting a refund!!). Around 2 we left Phil's to head back to IL. We listened to a book on tape that was quite interesting...and soon we were home. I was still not feeling the best...but the last few nights I had been able to sleep.

We spent the weekend doing quite a bit with my family as Steph's inlaws were down. Also, Steph and Nate were home from Germany. Steph will actually be here all week!! On Monday I finally got an appointment with the doctor Sheila works for. She seemed very knowledgeable and was funny. They took a throat culture to see if I had strep. It came back negative in the office, but a day later the one they sent to the hospital came back positive. So, I am sitting at home today (Wed) and finally posting on my blog. I started some antibiotics last night, so I am hopeful they will begin to start working soon!

That's all for now...

Greg