GMRT: Rocky Mountain National Park

We were able to make it to our site and set it up before dark, while the kids busied themselves with a rousing game of "pinecone baseball."


It got pretty chilly at night, but we were well prepared and managed pretty comfortably. In the morning, after hot chocolate and warming by the fire, we decided to spend the cool morning on a scenic car trip to the highest peak of the park. The drive up was beautiful...


...but I don't think we were prepared for just how cold it would be at the peak. Snow? In August?!


Although the mornings were cold, the afternoon weather was perfect. We spent the afternoons hiking, playing baseball at our campsite, reading, and enjoying the sunshine. It was such a wonderful, relaxing few days.

GMRT: Estes Park, CO

From Colorado Springs, we continued our trek north up to Estes Park. We didn't have too much time to explore the town because we wanted to make sure to get to our campsite before dark, but we did allot enough time to take the aerial tramway to get a fabulous view of the town.

GMRT: Colorado Springs

From Santa Fe, we headed north to Colorado Springs. We weren't that impressed with Colorado Springs as a city (which couldn't have been helped by the icky, old hotel we stayed in), but they sure did have a handful of fantastic attractions!

Our first adventure was to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox ballpark. While some of us were underwhelmed...
...the rest of us had a blast!

We were especially entertained by the antics of the Sky Sox mascot and the guest Louisville mascot. They sure put our local mascot, Spike, to shame.


The next morning, we got up early to take the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak.

The views out our windows were incredible as we made the chilly climb to the top of the mountain.


But the view from the top was beyond compare.


And cold. Veeeeeery cold.


After Pikes Peak, we made our way over to the Garden of the Gods. Wow, was that place incredible!

Then, on a whim on our way out of town, we decided to stop and check out the Air Force Academy. I didn't expect to be very impressed, but I was blown away by the beauty of the campus.

And the chapel was absolutely breathtaking.

GMRT: Santa Fe

Our next stop was Santa Fe. My great aunt and uncle have a vacation home in Santa Fe, and they were generous enough to let us stay with them in their gorgeous house, just minutes from historic downtown.

After spending a relaxing evening and night (sleeping with the windows open in late August!), we headed out early to explore.


Our first stop was St. Francis Cathedral, a beautiful 400 year old Catholic church in downtown Santa Fe.

We admired the statues in the courtyard outside, the kids walked the labyrinth, and then we went inside to see the cathedral.

From the church, we wandered towards the town square, admiring the adobe architecture and outdoor art we passed.


We did some shopping for Native American wares at the Palace of the Governors, ate some lunch at The Shed, and wandered through countless cute little artsy shops.


The last stop on our Santa Fe tour was the New Mexico state capitol buiding.


As everything else in Santa Fe, it was decorated with really neat, unique art work. Our favorite was a buffalo head, made from found objects.

GMRT: Bandelier National Monument

We drove straight through Texas and arrived in Clovis, NM the first evening. We swam a bit at our hotel pool, then went to bed early so we'd be ready to get started first thing in the morning. We left Clovis early, and arrived at Bandelier National Monument at around lunchtime. We spent the afternoon exploring the cave dwellings and enjoying the beautiful weather.

The Great Mountain Road Trip

Thankfully, losing beloved pets isn't the only thing we've done in the past month or so. We also went on a fabulous road trip to New Mexico and Colorado! We took two weeks to explore the two states and enjoy the gorgeous weather. The kids were wonderful travelers, as always, even for the 17-hour-straight drive back home. I'm so glad they inherited our love of travel!

Remembering sweet Jasper (December 2003-September 2010)

A few weeks ago, we noticed that Jasper was feeling a little under the weather. He had been throwing up a couple of times a week and seemed to be slowing down a bit. Over the weekend, he got markedly more lethargic, so we took him to the vet first thing Monday. The vet wasn't sure what was wrong with him, so she decided to treat the symptoms and give him some antibiotics, in hopes that it was just a little bug that we could knock out. By Tuesday night, it was clear that he was feeling worse and was having trouble keeping down the chicken and rice that we were making for him . We headed back to the vet first thing Wednesday morning. Our vet took one look and him and decided he needed some more diagnostics and that we should go to a clinic that could do an ultrasound and bloodwork on site. They referred us to Oak Springs Veterinary Diagnostic Clinic in Oak Hill, and we made an appointment for a few hours later.

By the time we got to our appointment, Jasper had gone downhill. He was barely able to get up, and I had to help him walk into the clinic. We got in to see Dr. Donup right away, and he started the diagnostics. After an x-ray, bloodwork, and an ultrasound, it was determined that he had pancreatitis and was in kidney failure. Dr. Donup wasn't sure which problem came first (the kidneys or the pancreas). He was concerned about Jasper's kidneys possibly being a congenital problem, since they appeared shrunken and thick, but there wasn't any way to know since he'd never had any previous blood work. Dr. Donup recommended treatment of fluid therapy and strong antibiotics. He sent off more tests, hoping that we could pinpoint the exact cause.

Jasper spent Wednesday night at the animal hospital, and the kids and I went to see him on Thursday. We were so sad when we saw him. He wasn't improved at all and his only acknowledgement that we were there was when he inched his head over to rest it on my hand. He only lifted his head when he realized we were leaving. The vet assured us that it was too early to know whether or not the treatment would be unsuccessful, but I just knew that he wasn't going to improve. I called Bill at work and told him he should go visit Jasper. He did, and he had the same impression I had. We were bracing ourselves for the worst.

On Friday morning, I called to check on Jasper. The vet told me that Jasper was no better clinically, and in fact he'd started vomiting again. His bloodwork showed miniscule improvement, but his kidney levels were still off the charts. He was still just as lethargic and felt miserable. It was clear to us that he wasn't going to improve and we were just prolonging the inevitable while making him suffer. We talked as a family and decided the best thing for Jasper would be to let him go.

We were all heartbroken at the loss of Jasper. He was the most patient and loving dog anyone could have wished for. We miss him every day.