Day 1 and Day 2: Traveling to Colorado

Day one and two were mostly about driving. I was the only one who had ever driven past the middle of Missouri, so the later part of the day was the most interesting for Kevin and Camden. (Austin had his nose in a book or computer game most of the ride).

We decided to divide the driving into a 10-hour day and a 7-hour day. Kevin got home from work at 8am on Tuesday, but decided he felt well enough to take off. This way we could get to the hotel and unwind a bit the first night, instead of just plopping on a pillow and getting up and going the next day. We drove to Salina, KS the first night. We pricelined a hotel and ended up with a fairly run-down place. We weren't very pleased with it, but it met our needs and the kids and Kevin got to swim a bit while I went out and got some dinner. Then we relaxed in the room that evening, watching some TV and being entertained by a very active Camden.

Camden did so well on the trip. She was very content to read books (especially Barney on her storybook reader), watch a few "baby" videos on the laptop, and see cows, windmills, and other sites along the road.

Day two was broken up by a really nice pit stop near the Colorado border. It had a great playground and lots of food options, so we were able to stretch our legs and get a bite of lunch.

Not sure what the gorilla was all about, but Camden enjoyed climbing and sitting on it.

We arrived at our friend Lora's place about 3pm and relaxed and unpacked while Camden played with Lora's two dogs Major and Georgia for a bit. We then headed out to Lora's brothers house for a cookout. He lives just south of Denver in a beautiful house he built in the foothills. What a view from your back yard!

We loved spotting the deer off the back deck. We saw lots of mule deer, including several babies.

Camden was still active as ever and was constantly in and out of the house. She really enjoyed climbing the flower garden mound in the middle of their rock driveway (the girl loves dirt!) and watching all the planes fly overhead. She also liked hanging out with the men by the grill.

Lora had told us to bring a jacket because it can get quite cool in the evenings. I was glad we did, because after a 15-minute downpour, the temperature dropped into the 50's.

We were so grateful to finally be in Colorado and have such great hospitality from Lora and her family.