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The dogs didn't do much all week. All they had to do is ride in the truck and relax in the camper all week. But you can see everyone was totally worn out when we got back. It was a great trip. I'm so glad we got to go. Next time it will be very different with a baby girl in the mix too.

Colorado Day 6 golf

Friday we hung out in Buena Vista... again. Andy played golf whild I drove the cart. That was actually the 1st time I've gone with Andy golfing and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my hubby! We met a couple who had been born and raised in Colorado and had lived in Buena Vista for a really long time. They said it's not uncommon at all to see deer, elk, moose, bear, etc on the golf course. He said one day they were in the clubhouse when a nervous golfer called in. There was a bear just hanging out on the fairway and he didn't know what to do about it. The people in the clubhouse just told him, "Well, don't run up to it or bother it." I guess he eventually walked off? I dont' know.

Friday was the 4th of July so we went to Salida to watch out 4th of July fireworks we go to every year. They set them off on the Salida mountain so they're up really high and everyone lines up along the river to watch the show. We saw about 4 or 5 fires start on the mountain where the debris from the fireworks had landed and caught fire. I was a little unimpressed with the fireworks show this year and I think maybe they cut it short because of the fires. Fires on the mountain during the fireworks show is not uncommon, but I don't remember seeing that many of them in past years.

Colorado Day 5 campfire

We loved the evenings. It got down at least in the lower 50s and I'm sure it got even cooler than that. The dogs got to hang out with us by our campfire and most nights we played games. We played 2 new ones... Apples to Apples and Phase 10. Both were a lot of fun and it's always nice to relax, sit around with family, and play games. Good times!

Colorado Day 5

Thursday night was a beautiful night. On our way in town we saw a rainbow. And the sun going down behind that cloud just looked like heaven.

I've been going to Salida with Andy and his family for 6 years now and I've never gotten a picture of the lightening tree. I thought it was the neatest thing when I first saw it. On the highway between Buena Vista and Salida is the tree that was split by lightening. And what I find so fascinating is that it didn't totally kill it, but there are other trees growing up through the middle of it. Isn't God amazing!

And we had a full kennel with us. Our best friends... Bailey and Chelsea (Bailey's the brown one, Chelsea's the black one), Daisy (the blue heeler), and Obie (Andy's mom's cockapoo) all hung out in the camper with us all week. Last year we were more adventurous and brought them fishing and 4 wheel driving a few times. But being preggers this year I was taking it easy and didn't want to have to battle with them fishing so they stayed at camp all week.

Colorado Day 5 snow

On Thursday we drove up Cottonwood Pass to see all the snow that was still up there. We had planned to go Wednesday, but after the big deer incident, I wasn't in the mood for it.

Apparently Andy doesn't follow directions well... "Caution, Unstable Snow"! Love you, Honey!

Colorado Day 5 fishing

Thursday we went back to Wright Lake for some more fishing. There were lots of fish swimming around right on the bank of the lake. The pictures doen't even show how many there really were. Too many to count for sure.

I finally got a picture of Andy catching a fish that day. We caught more than that. We just didn't take pictures this year when we caught them. It was a good fishing day. Nice and relaxing. There was a ton of cottonwood out there. I tried to get a picture of that but none of them came out any good. But when a big wind would blow, the cottonwood would blow so thick that it looked like it was snowing.

Behind us at the lake was a little bit of brush and when we left we saw 2 deer grazing right behind the brush. And this time we didn't hit them! HaHa

Colorado Day 4

Wednesday morning we got up early and drove back to Buena Vista. There was a lookout point on the way back where we got this picture of the mountain range. It was really cool to think we were about 45-60 miles away and we could see the mountains where we were spending all of our time from afar. My parents were in Silverthorne (just a little bit outside of Breckenridge) that day, about 2-2 1/2 hours away from us, yet they were looking at the same mountains we were seeing. I think one of the peaks in this picture was Mount Elbert.

When we got back to Buena Vista, we met the rest of Andy's family to go fishing at a new lake. If you look at the 2 horizontal strips of snow on the right in this picture, that's the area where we were. I think it was on the way up the peak just to the left of it. I think that's Mount Elbert. Not much luck at that lake. It was a pretty long day and I was in a "pregnant hormonal mood". We didn't stay long. My fishing line got caught on something and broke the 1st time I threw it out. By the time I got it all ready again, I think I cast out about 4 or 5 times before we left. Very quick fishing trip. We decided to head on out because we weren't haveing any luck and I was getting frustrated. And then the real drama began...

We were heading down the highway back toward Salida when I deer ran out in front of us. We always see plenty of deer on the side of the road, but usually they're just standing on the side of the road and not crossing. I pointed the deer out to Andy and started to get the camera ready. Andy slowed down and looked at the deer for a quick second. When he did, and 2nd deer ran out and this time we were too close to her when she ran out and Andy hit her with the truck. I knew we were OK so my 1st thought was... "how's the deer?" We just hit her back hip and it didnt' do much damage to the truck. I didn't even feel us hit her. I thought maybe I heard something but wasn't sure until Andy slowed down to stop... then I knew. The deer ran off so I think she was OK. Those things are pretty strong animals so I'm sure she was fine. But of coarse this really shook me up.

I immediately started crying. With the high altitude, I had trouble crying and was almost hyperventillating. Andy was so good calming me down and getting me to breathe deep and slow until I was better. But at that point I was just ready for a hormonal meltdown. Andy and I stopped in Buena Vista at our favorite burger shop, K's, for chocolate milkshakes and went back to camp. I really wanted to be left alone for a while so he went fishing at a nearby pond for about 20-30 minutes. It was a very draining event!

In all the years we've been to Colorado (and especially Andy) we've never seen or known anyone who's actuallly hit a deer. We have seen wrecks though after a deer's been hit and they can do a LOT of damage. You can see in the 2 top pictures of Andy's truck that we were very lucky that we weren't hurt and that the damage was so minimal.

Colorado Day 3

On Tuesday, we went fishing at a new lake (Wright Lake). The 5th picture is Andy's mom and sister, Becky. The bottom one is Andy's dad. This was my favorite lake we went to this year. It was up in the mountains on a back road. The scenery was beautiful. We saw a deer on our way out there. He was just hanging out in someone's front yard. What a dream to have a house in the mountains where you've got the beautiful scenery and deer wandering around your yard!

We caught a few fish here. I like Mickie's new way of fishing. We use a fly so every time I caught a fish, it just lipped it so I was able to just catch and release all week. Andy and I didn't keep any. And that's a good thing because I'm not a big trout eater.

We left early from fishing and drove up to Colorado Springs to see some old friends, Mindy and Matthew. Andy grew up with Mindy and I went to church with Mindy and Matthew when I first moved to Dallas. That's where Andy and I met. They made a really good dinner for us and let us stay overnight so we didn't have to drive 2 1/2 hours back at night. We had a really good time visiting with them and playing with their black lab, Max. (Check out her blog... It's listed on the right as "Taking It All In").

Colorado Day 2 Fishing

After getting the popup all set, we were able to go fishing at a nearby lake (Foose) for a little bit. Andy's mom went to "The Fly Guy" the week before we got there and found a new way to fish for trout. We didn't have any luck on Monday, but we didn't fish very long anyway.

My parent were in Denver the same week we were in Salida. They were looking for a house or condo in Colorado. On Monday after fishing, they called and were in downtown Salida. Andy and I had just gotten to Salida for dinner so we got to meet my parents there and visit for a while. It was such a great surprise to see them.

Colorado Day 1 and 2

After our 2 day, 13 hour drive with all 3 dogs, we finally made it. On the way out there we pass by a buffalo ranch. This year we were able to see tons of them. (Sometimes they're way off away from the road and we don't see any at all.) You definately won't see these in Texas!

There was still a lot of snow at the top of the mountains this year. The snow for the year melted much later than usual. The last snow in Salida was June 1! That made the whitewater rafting really good for this time of year too.

We got in on Sunday late afternoon and our popup wasn't ready to rent yet. So we stayed in his parents' camper Sunday night and spent half of Monday getting the popup, setting it all up, and unpacking in there.