Day 21, July 20, 2011

Today was the day of our big outing.  We headed out toward Glenwood Springs where we stopped to enjoy the lovely canyon as well as the white water rafters just taking off.  Joel, tired of smiling for the cameras, gave us a goofy look instead.

From there, we drove over to Aspen where one must leave his or her car and take a bus into the park.  We were so fortunate that our bus driver was an experienced guide and taught us so much on our way up. 

We went to hike at Maroon Bells and enjoyed gorgeous weather made to order.  As Kim so aptly put it, it was like being in the middle of a picture postcard.

The hike went around the Maroon Lake, then up into a waterfall area.  As you can see, Colorado has not been suffering from the drought hitting New Mexico and Texas. 

We tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid the many stinging nettle plants, but the lush fields of wild flowers (highlighted by the Colorado state flower: the columbine) made it all worthwhile.  Nancy was in her element, remembering all the names of the wildflowers we saw. 

This is Corita with the "Forget-Me-Not" flower her mom dedicated to her as a girl.

Driving through the city of Aspen was fun as well.  We enjoyed the relaxed environment there and were impressed with the range of cultural events on the schedule.

If that weren’t enough excitement for one day, from Aspen we drove over the Continental Divide at Independence Pass.  It was Joel’s first time to play in the snow and Raquel’s first time within her working memory.  Such fun!  They had snowball fights, made snow angels, and even made a snow bear.

We got a bit sleepy on our drive back, but waited till home to make our pesto dinner, with a sauce already prepared by Deepa (Corita’s brother Larry’s partner from Colorado Springs…remember her?)…thanks again, Deepa…it was delicious!