The Train that Could

First of all, I just want to say that I am sorry. I have failed terribly in blogging lately. It is not all my fault. Our Internet has been down and it was taking to long for my pictures to upload, and my words don't mean as much without pictures. So here we go...

This was taking half way up to Pike's Peak in Colorado. The road was closed up on top, so this was as far as we could go. The snow was beautiful. We hated that we could not go any farther.


The big highlight for the day was the Royal Gorge. It is a train ride that goes along the Arkansas River. This was the train depot.

This was the car that we rode on. Adam had bought tickets in the Dome Car so we had refreshments served and got to sit on top and look through these windows.

This is a picture of the Royal Gorge Bridge taken from our train ride. The scenery was remarkable. The train went through these rocks and at some points we could have reached out and touched the rock. The tickets that Adam bought included the Royal Gorge bridge. More of that to come.

That is right, the river is 1,053 feet below where are standing. I wasn't sure what suspension meant when Adam was telling me about this. To everyone that doesn't know. That means the bridge is hanging from CABLES! Call me silly, but I don't put two and two together that quick. We walked across the bridge and you could feel it swaying in the wind. Crazy. There were people that couldn't do it and had to turn around. Not only could you walk across, but you could also drive across. That was too much for me to handle.

This was looking across the bridge. The bridge amazed me.

You could also ride this car down a 45 degree angle and look up at the bridge and get a closer look at the river. It was a pulley system, when one car went down the other went up. This was the only way to get down and get back up. There was also a weight limit. My whole thought process while I was riding the car down, was what happens if a bunch of kids decide to come down next and can't pull the weight back up the hill?

This was down at the bottom looking back up.

There was this couple that lived in St. Louis that struck up a conversation with Adam, seeing that he had a Cardinals' shirt on. So we asked them to take our picture.

Here are the big finales. Pictures from the bridge looking down and looking out. That is the Arkansas River that we rode next to in the train. The bridge didn't look that high when we were below. Pretty Amazing right?

XOXO - Sandi

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In the Garden of God

We traveled to Colorado Springs today and came to the Garden of the Gods. It is a drive thru (for the most part) of red rock formations. It is pretty amazing.
This was the first rock formation that you came to when you came into the garden. It is called "Kissing Camels". If you look at the top left hand of the rock formation you can see why. We were walking the trails to get pictures of it and all these school kids were getting nature lessons and here is what was being said.
Nature Guide - "How do you think the Kissing Camels got formed like that? Do you think somebody carved it out of the rock?"
Little Boy - "NO! That is how God made it"
*sniff, sniff* Precious. So glad to hear that God still reigns!


Just the run of the mill picture of the two of us. Cute aren't we?

This next rock formation is called the "Balanced Rock". Adam is convinced that the bottom of it is set in concrete so that it will always be the "Balanced Rock" although in the next breathe he said (laughing) "If it fell, would it be the "Unbalanced Rock" then?" ha ha.

Now the weak of stomach need not to look at the next picture. I have your attention don't I? What could it be? You just can't resist can you? Go ahead, but just don't say I didn't warn you.

Wasn't that bad was it?? So sweet! Just to let you guys know that we do love each other and there are romantic moments between us as well as spats.

These next couple of pictures we had to hike (yes I said hike) not very far and without my purse, although once again didn't know this was what we were going to do, so I had black ballerina shoes on. Fashionable? yes. Practical? no. But like I said earlier, it was suppose to be a drive thru.

It is called "The Siamese Twins". The hike wasn't bad, and the view from the top was indescribable. Here is Adam looking at the scene.

This is Adam in front of the hole that you can look through to see Pikes Peak, which by the way we were going to drive up to, but the snow has closed that down as well.

And these are the twins.

Here is the view of the mountains. Gorgeous huh? Made the hike all well worth it, even in my fashionable black ballerina shoes. We are heading to the Royal Gorge tomorrow and onto a train ride. I am excited! It is a 2 hour ride. We will also be having lunch on the train. So more to post tomorrow.

XOXO - Sandi

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Here's Your Sign

Greetings from Estes Park: Because of the snow and such the roads are still closed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Luckily we did not receive any of the snow. So since the mountains are off limits, we packed up and traveled about 30 miles to Loveland and did some shopping. I was on a mission for Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD, just released yesterday. I'm beginning to think that we are not part of Bible Belt anymore, I have looked in three different stores and out of those three stores I have only seen 4 Steven Curtis Chapman Cd's and none are the new release. But we did find a Barnes and Noble so we were set. Since not such sightseeing was done today I thought I would share some signs that we have came across since being in here. Humor me, some of them are funny.

The first picture is personally my favorite.

That was a sign from Downtown Estes Park and it spoke to my heart.

The rest of these are signs from our house. I'm sure that the owners want to reserve on the side of caution, but apparently they do not have many Missourians that come through here that come from homes that do not work properly.

Case in Point: Sign #1 - posted strategically on the back of the toilet.

Sign #2 - Makes you wonder how many washes the machine did before a sign was posted on it, Doesn't it?

Sign #3 - This one comes with more instructions, but here is a snip it. I have problems with Adam taking the trash out for trash day at home. Maybe I should make a sign.

Sign #4 - We received this when we put a deposit on the house, and being efficient like I am, I had printed it off and brought it with us. But really there was no need for it, since there were a couple of copies here. Let me summarize what it says.

1. Welcome to our home - Here are our numbers in case you need something (although we called last night and there was no answer)
2. Second paragraph tells how to start a fire (Adam found that useful the other night)
3. Thirds describes how to start the grill and where to find propane (once again we needed last night and not helpful)
4. Fourth warns to avoid the cactus outside to prevent ouchies!
5. Describes how to bundle the trash and where to find the trashcans
6. Tells us to observe the Deck Umbrella Instructions
7. Asks to please refill the hummingbird feeder if empty
8. Water the flowers out front
9. Before departing wash dishes, start dishwasher, start towels in washer, and strip the beds

All those instructions put on one sheet of paper.

Sign #5 - Is to instruct us on how to put the Deck Umbrella up. Thankfully it has been to cold for us to eat outside. I would hate to mess that up, to quote "Newly installed at some expense in May of 2006". I don't want to be responsible for the fall the deck umbrella.



Sign #6 - A new twist on No Smoking. Put it in a pretty frame so at a quick glance you think there will be picture, but nope, another instruction.



Sign #7 - I think this sign could use some work, it is just on a post it. Not that creative and it is not even taped down.


Sign #8 - Just a half page of instructions of how to use the DVD player. No big deal really. Even thought the movie library is mostly VHS.

Sign #9 - Take this last sign as it states. I'm still trying to figure it out.

We are off tomorrow to head to Colorado Springs. Check out time is 10:00, so I better get to bed so I can get everything accomplished in the morning per the sign.

XOXO - Sandi

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Home Sweet Home

We ventured out this morning into the wilderness only to be turned back around by a "Road Closed" sign. We did snap a couple of pictures of us and nature, but I thought this blog I would focus on our Home for the days that we are here. This is a picture of the front of the house. Quint isn't it. This is a picture of our view from the front yard.

Same as this.

This is our neighbor on the right hand side.

Neighbor on the back.

Once you look past the little green barn and move the camera over about 50 feet you can see the mountains.

This is our neighbor on the left hand side. They have gotten Adam captivated. He watches them in passing and notices who is there, like the heating truck yesterday morning.

This is the back of the house.

Ok, enough of running around the outside with carpis on in 40 degree weather. Let's move in.

This is our dinning room.

This is the master bedroom. If you are wondering, those are all my clothes on the bed. I had a moment this morning where I couldn't figure out what to wear, but like all moments, it passed by quickly.

This is the master bath. Two serious problems with this bathroom. One is: Shower is too small to possibly shave and shower at the same time. Two: Not enough outlets to plug in my straightener and hair dryer. IF you didn't catch it before , then think about what I said and look again.

Here is the kitchen. The word vintage comes to mind.

Here is the living room. It is nice, especially with the updated TV that Adam gets use of and the fireplace. Here he is just awoken from a nap and ready to go.

This is the spare bedroom. Personally I thought two rooms was wonderful, that way I could have the master and Adam could have the spare. Since I have more stuff that makes more sense. "To have and to hold" then comes to mind and we are then once again sharing a room.

This is the family (maybe living?) room. I can never get the two rooms straight. But it does have another fireplace and this is where our Internet connection is so we spend lots of time as a "Family" "Living" in this room? See the confusion.

Here is our table with the computer and Adam checking the weather. Not good! More of that to come.

Since we ate out at lunch and dinner last night, we decided to stay in tonight and grill. We had brought some steaks from home and Adam was on a mission. He was so proud that he got the grill going and that the temperature was at 500 degrees. The steaks were grilling nicely and all was well. I had baked the potatoes and toasted the garlic bread. Then this happens.

About 10 minutes left on the steaks and the propane tank goes out. Adam was fuming, and then I reminded him that there is a spare in the garage and he calmed down went and checked and then fumed again when it was out as well. So he found this George Foreman grill and put the steaks on it to finish. He thought it was funny that one steak took up the whole grill, so I snapped a picture. Dinner was still wonderful!

This is Adam's "I'm not impressed look" If I even need to explain it.

We did stop in town this afternoon before coming home and Adam picked me up a surprise. I love him for this. Wipe the drool from your mouths and imagine biting into one and I know the jealous thoughts that are running your minds right now.

Ok, here is my weather forecast. Tomorrow we are suppose to receive 1 to 3 inches and then another possible 1 to 3 inches tomorrow night. Possible more with elevations above 7000 feet and Estes Park is 7522. So who knows what we will get. We have not been able to go way up in the mountains because of the snow, so we are little disappointed with the news. We will deal with what God gives us, but be thinking of us.

XOXO - Sandi

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