bobJuan & Catalina Go On Vacation - Colorado - Summer, 2003!

We headed to the mountains, got outta the heat, headed to a place that could not be beat.  

Just before Colorado, we had to stop and take care of some business in the desert.  Cathy is ready to get back in the car!

Mancos

At Kerry & Mary's we got ourselves broke into the Colorado scene.  Cooled off, and started our way to relaxation.  One thing they got going there is some cool birds; TDay and Gertrude.    Now, TDay and I got pretty close and Mary was interested in how to calm the sweet girl since there is going to come a day when TDay is (be)heading for some thankful cause. 

We took a drive up the road from their soon-to-be-house and saw some pretty nice stuff in them there hills.    One of the craziest things we saw was this bull. Now, look closely at this guy, he walked over an aspen tree that was about 7 foot tall in order to do some scratching I guess.    He stood there for quite a while, in fact was still scratching himself after we left.    Oh, to spend your days with no inhibitions, no shame.  

Kerry & Mary are living their dream in Mancos, we're happy to be able to get in on some of it when we can.

Ouray

Now, we're onto some of the most beautiful stuff in the world.  We left Mancos and headed up through Delores, Telluride, Placerville and Ridgeway to Ouray.  This is the without a doubt the most beautiful drive I have ever been on.   It's kind of like Maui, once you've been there you understand.  Our room at the River's Edge Hotel was right on the Umcompraghe River .    From our deck you could only see beauty .    No, really .  We did some cooking and took a jeep ride up to a place called Yankee Boy Basin:  Here's some shots.  Warning, there is no way in the world that any kind of photography can touch what God has done in Colorado!:            .  What can anyone say about this?  We had a cool tour guide named Cap'n Joe.  Next time we'll rent our own jeep and get to stay longer in them hills.

Colorado Springs

Now, we're on our way to the family. We spent a couple of nites with Jamie and Denise where we got to see our nephew/niece John and Shannon .  We also got to take a ride on Jamie's motorcycle through the neighborhood .  It was here in the Springs that we switched our focus from scenery, beauty, cool weather, etc., to food.  There's something about chow time that keeps a family together every 3 or 4 hours.

Lake Isabel Colorado

From there, we headed up to the mountains outside of Westcliffe, Colorado for a family picnic where we go to see Jeff and Sandy and took some more full-size family photos:  Cathy took this one of the gang:  and Denise got this one: .  

Florence, Colorado

That evening we headed over to Jeff and Sandy's for a few nites.  One of the cool things we did there was head out to the lake with Mom, Dad and Jeff on Sunday.  Here's some shots:  (caution, full-frontal nudity!) .  The meal-time experiences reached an all-time peak here in Florence.  I think Cathy ate 1/2 of a Carrot Cake in two days while we were there.

Coming Home

We left Florence and spent a nite in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Sorry, no cool photos.  From here we headed into Arizona and we stopped in Greer, Arizona for a nite.  Now, this is Arizona!  .  Greer is to Arizona as Ouray is to Colorado in our opinion.

We stopped in Pinetop to visit Dad & Carri (El Jeffe, AKA St. Nickski and Merry Carri).  Then, down that hill, that hill from Payson to Phoenix, the one that brings back the full-blown realization that home is darn hot!  But, it's home and we're glad to be here. 

Warmest regards and love to you all.

bobJuan & Catalina.