Collbran

(Oops! This is an old post that I had saved but never actually posted. Oh well. Better late than never. These are photos from our two days in Collbran, CO...)





Toby has had the pleasure in working in the tiny mountain town of Collbran for a couple of days this week. Elise and I went with him for the first night, and we stayed in cozy cabin #8 at Vega Lodge. (We were first given cabin #1, but we opted to switch after we realized the cabin didn't have any heat!)

The Monument

I took mom and Aunt Lona for an hour drive through Colorado National Monument. This amazing landscape is just outside of Grand Junction. It's so beautiful! And I was very proud of myself for keeping cool while driving along the winding roads that certainly do not have enough guard rails!

Week 3

Week 3 in Grand Junction was especially fun because of our special visitors!

My mom and Aunt Lona made the long trek west via Amtrak. Thanks for making the long trip out to see us! One highlight from the visit was a trip to Carlson Vineyard in Palisade during the wine fest weekend.

Another favorite event was dinner out at the Ale House. The food was excellent and the girls (including Nana) loved running around on the lawn after eating!

Arches National Park

On Saturday we went to Utah to see Arches Nat'l Park and the town of Moab. It was really gorgeous. Have a look...

Ice Cream

Telluride

Last weekend we traveled three hours to Telluride to watch my brother Carson finish the Imogene Pass Run. It was a 17 mile race that started in Ouray and ended in Telluride, cutting through the San Juan mountains. The Imogene Pass itself is at an elevation over 13,000 ft!

Telluride is a GORGEOUS mountain town.

Carson's three little cheerleaders patiently waited for his arrival.

Carson finished in 3 hours and 47 minutes! Way to go Uncle Carson!!!

Strolling around town

We took the gondola up the ski hill to enjoy the views. It was so amazing! That's Telluride down below. I think Toby's ready to plan a ski trip for the winter.

One sprout?

Or two?

Our Grand Junction Home

This is a picture of Elise and Avery in one of our living rooms in our new house. The house is a large ranch style home just a block away from the hospital and a short bike ride to the clinic. We're very happy to have such an inexpensive place to stay with so much room, but we've definitely gotten a kick out of the layout and design of the house.

Rewind

I have to rewind a bit. Before we left for Colorado we had a great weekend with our good friends the Tilletts. Wes and Toby's friendship began in '96 at WMU. Now - with wives and kids - their reunions are a whole lot of fun for everybody. Thanks for visiting Tilletts! We loved our time together.

Wes & Rita with their adorable son Tobias.

The Longs

The Tilletts take in the views of Lake Superior from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.

That skillful diver is Wes. He's showing all the locals how to make a splash from Black Rocks. I'm happy to say we all took the leap into the lake, although none of us looked even a fraction as graceful as Wes!

Toby and Wes took our sailboat out a couple of times on the big lake. They had a ton of fun, despite the big waves and gusty winds.

Although Elise spent most of her weekend swatting at sweet innocent Tobias, in this moment they shared a little love. :)

We made it to Grand Junction!

We arrived in Grand Junction on Friday and have enjoyed our weekend with Carson, Carol, and their girls. The drive was long of course, but Elise did great!

Our little cookie monster enjoyed lots of treats and new toys along the way.

The Colorado Rockies coming into view.

A stop at Twin Lakes just before crossing Independence pass at over 12,000 ft. This teepee was on the grounds of a gorgeous lodge we considered staying at. It would have been fun to stay one night in the Rockies, but it also felt good to keep driving and make it to our final destination by Friday.

Avery, Linnea, and Elise getting reacquainted. I don't have a lot of good pictures of all three girls yet, but I will.

Toby starts his rotation tomorrow! We'll let you know how it goes!