Up and over.........

Finally, we have decent internet.    If it holds, I will try and update most days with our journeys in the Wild West.      

 We left Denver on Tuesday and headed west on I-70....as we climbed out of the plains, the mountains were obscured by haze and clouds but it's always breathtaking to see them for the first time.   We climbed up to 11,013 ft

to Eisenhower Tunnel without much difficulty.    We even passed some trucks.   At times, the weather on the other side can be the complete opposite.....today it was nice and clear and the steep descent was much more intense then going up.     I've always liked this view 

coming into Copper Mountain Ski Area and Village, just around the corner.   

 Next stop was Vail Pass at 10,662 ft.    It was chilly with snow in the shadows but the bikers were out in force.    There is a bike trail from Vail to Breckenridge.....we've done the part from Breckenridge to Copper Mtn and it is very pretty, following a stream.    But at 9,000 ft, we didn't always go very fast.

 After Vail, it levels out and starts looking western and brown.    And then there is the amazing

 Glenwood Canyon.   An engineering marvel,the highway  winds thru the Canyon, making as small a footprint as possible.    On the river there were rafters and it looked very rough.

We made it to a State Park outside of Grand Junction and met up with Rae (Andy and Mason's other favorite grandmother) and she took us to the beautiful Colorado National Monument.   Spectacular canyons cut into the sandstone and carve out beautiful rock formations.     We thoroughly enjoyed the drive and the wildlife and flowers.

 We saw many of these lizards scampering about....some in different shades of green.

 This is the beautiful Scarlet Globemallow.

 These rock formations are the Kissing Couple on the left and Praying hands in the middle.

 The pinion pines bend with the wind and form lovely striations on their trunks.

AND, as we were about to leave the area, this stunning mother Big Horn Sheep

 appeared on the rocks above.   She did not seem disturbed by our presence and I have many many pictures of her.     Off to the side was her little kid....almost hidden.

Here's Paul and Rae on an overlook in the bright sunny day.   

We had a great dinner and NO pictures that evening with Andy and Mason's great grandmother and their Uncle Chris and Aunt Susan and grandmother Rae at a favorite Mexican restaurant.  

And so, the next morning, we headed West again.....stay tuned.