Thursday, August 5, 2010

Thank you Mr. Charlie Vail



What a great day! Finally, a much deserved easy drive from Limon to Vail. We set off at 8a this morning with coffee in hand, anticipating the moment when the majestic Rockies would appear on the horizon. About 50 Miles from Denver, there they were. Mom was having nostalgia while I just stared in awe... "if they are this big now.... geepers."

We went straight threw Denver hardly realizing it existed (much like Topeka), then up up up the Mini went. Boy did my car not enjoy this. At 6RPMs I realized I had packed to many shoes. There was no turning back now though and only a dozen more 6% inclines to go not to mention the Route 6 pass we planned on climbing. Crap. (Even if I had thought about it, the shoes were worth it). I got smart and dropped it into a lower gear, problem solved. Oh and we stopped at the first Starbucks we have seen since West Virginia, situated in the quaint little town of Idaho Springs. Thank you Meliss and Jon for funding our caffeine addictions.

Loveland Pass. Woah Mama. Such a worthwhile detour. At 11,900 ft, it's definitely the highest point I've ever been too and I could feel it in my chest as I exited the car. "Feeling faint? Lets go for a hike." We headed up the hill and one hour and 1,000 feet later we were at the second highest summit. After taking it all in, we then realized we both had to pee (thank you Starbucks) so we did so on hopefully what is a very ancient and sacred rock formation. I am sorry Continental Divide Gods but right before that those same Gods hailed on us, yes hailed- So take that.

After frolicking down the mountain, we popped in the car and zipped around the winding road passing what would be a hustling ski world if we were under 6 feet of snow. I had to use my imagination. Before we knew it Vail was among us. We checked into Kevin's amazing condo and regrouped. Since we hadn't eaten and worked up quite an appetite we headed to Vail Village for a little stroll. We couldn't get over the amazing flower arrangements and dutch style architecture . The village was adorable and even better when we avoided the clouds that were quite ominous. Not until we got back did the clouds open up. It was perfect, just as this day has been.

As you can imagine I have a million, trillion photos from today. Ill be making an album later for Facebook. You'll just have to hold tight until those are up. I hope no one loses any sleep. Oh and Charlie Vail, as referenced in my title, was the engineer of Route 6 and Vail was named after him because he was such a rockstar. Just wait, in 20 years Mollie, CO will exist (Parker is taken).








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