Colorado

A few months ago, we took a trip to visit my Aunt Kim who lives is Denver, Colorado. Dad bought a nice little trailer a while back, so we reserved a spot at Chatfield State Park, about 30 minutes outside the city.

The park was lovely, very clean and quiet. Of course we were there during the week, so when the weekend did roll around, families started pouring in. But it was nice to sit in our fold up chairs watching the little kids driving their child-size ATVs around and riding their bikes.

We brought Scout along and he had a lot of fun walking and sitting with us during the day in the shade of the trailer's awning. We were there the week of Mother's day weekend, so on that day we attended a "bird banding" at the Audubon Center. The event planners had laid out breakfast foods for attendees and after we ate, the tour guide took us down a path and into the woods where the banding was took place.

The lady doing the banding took small wild birds native to the area out of tiny cloth bags where the birds were secured so they could band their little legs and monitor their migratory habits and all sorts of other things. Bird banding is very important for many scientific reasons, so it was wonderful to watch the process and have it explained to us so thoroughly. It was Aunt Kim's idea to take Mom, and let me tell you, it was a hit! Mom loves birds so we knew she would love this little outing. Aunt Kim really scored this time.

A few days before, we drove up to Echo Lake which is nestled not quite in the Rockies, but almost. You could see the jagged Rockies in the distance, their white capped summits peering over the lower hills. We took a little hike and ate sandwiches we bought in town. Although we didn't get to drive far into the mountains for lack of time, we did get to take a few nice little outings.

Trailering is hard work, and we have discovered that if you are going to drive that far, you need to plan to only drive a few hours each day and hook up the trailer somewhere each night to rest. The wind was pretty heavy during parts of our drive, so that made it difficult also. Needless to say, when we got home we were pretty tuckered out. Dad worked so hard to make sure everything went right for the trip, and it did. There are all sorts of plugins, etc on a trailer that have to work correctly, so making sure that happens can be nerve racking.

I did enjoy driving through the panhandle of Texas, through New Mexico, and on into Colorado. Texas is so big that when you drive clear through another state, you don't realize how small they are compared to your own state. You get through each one fairly fast, but in Texas, it takes FOREVER to make it from one side to the next. And there's not a whole lot in between, depending on where you are going and what route you take.

We did enjoy spending time with Aunt Kim, which is always fun. I know she likes to have visitors.

I will be going to see her in a few months and we will enjoy the fall colors in Rocky Mountain National Park together, where we will stay in a cozy cabin in the mountains. The reviews of Machin's Cabins say there is all kinds of wildlife right outside your door, and hiking trails that lead right up into the park. I am very much looking forward to walking there and enjoying the scenery.

I have been taking my camera on all of the trips I've been on lately, except for my semester in Washington, DC, which I regret very much. I don't know why I didn't think to take it with me. I guess I just felt nervous about taking such an expensive piece of equipment. I also did not realize that as a multimedia journalist, you should take your own photos of events. Thankfully, Penny was there to take excellent photos for me. She is a gem and I adore my new friend to pieces.

This time, I will be taking my camera back to Colorado and be snapping pictures of everything we see. I don't feel very artsy when I use it, but I need to look at the manual and see how to do it exactly. I also thought about taking a class at Fort Worth Camera if they are offered there.