Vernal Temple

I made one last stop on my way home from Colorado, so see the Vernal Temple. I never get to Vernal, so this is the first time I'd seen the renovated tabernacle-turned-temple. I loved the historic feel of this temple.

On The Tundra

On my drive home from Estes, I drove up through RMNP on a road that took me up to the highest part of the park- the Tundra. Up where the there are still glaciers, even in August. Where there are not a lot of trees, but lots of hardy plants.

 At it's highest point, the road took me to 13,000 feet. It was 48 windy degrees- mighty chilly for the summer! I saw this marmot- basically a giant squirrel. He was bigger than Xena, but just as chubby!

There were also elk that high, feeding on those hardy plants! I spotted this massive set of antlers behind a ridge and waited a while until this big fella got a little closer.

And always the mountains, with glacier-fed lakes.

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills...

Every day when the horse show was done in Estes Park, I escaped up into Rocky Mountain Mountain National Park to explore. What a beautiful place! I went on a few hikes that took me to some beautiful lakes.

 But there were always mountains surrounding me- so amazing!

 I loved this park.

A River Runs Under It

Have you ever stayed in a haunted house? No, really. A place that was so old that you start thinking about all of the events that have happened there over the years?

I stayed in a place just like that in Colorado while at the horse show. It was a cabin, built in the 1890's, and the first of 17 cabins built as part of the Loveland Heights Cottages. They are in the canyon that leads up to Estes next to the Big Thompson River.

Please tell me you love this super cool retro sign.

This is what my 1890's cabin looked like. It had elk antlers.

None of the doors or wooden window panes were square. The floors were a bit tilted from being added on to. And there were plenty of cobwebs. Here's the sitting room and kitchen:. I'm not sure if the pictures of the man and woman were the original owners of the cabin, but I liked to think that they were.

 Over by the TV was an awesome picture of Abraham Lincoln's family.

 This inspiring portrait hung over my bed:

 The bathroom was...compact. The biggest travesty: the toilet roll holder, screwed into the 1890's wood.

 Now, I realize I'm being pretty negative about this cabin. Cobwebs, crazy floors, doors that won't shut, somewhat creepy pictures on the walls tend to do that to me. But there was one thing about this cabin that redeemed it and made it wonderful. The river.

 My deck hung over the river. I opened all of the windows on that side of the cabin and listened to the water rush by. It was the most relaxing sound in the world and I miss waking up in the night and hearing it. One evening a fly fisherman fished right below my deck. I emailed my sisters and told them that I wanted him to either catch a fish or loose his footing and fall over. Neither happened.

The river was wonderful.

Estes Park Horse Show

I spent most of last week in Estes Park, Colorado- one of the most beautiful town in the US- taking pictures of some girls from our barn who were there for a horse show. Oh, how I wish the backgrounds at our horse shows in Utah looked like these:

 It was, by far, the most relaxing horse show I'd ever been to. After all, I didn't have my precious daughter and precious- or is that precocious- horse to look after. No stress. Just showing up when the show was set to start, taking pictures till the early afternoon, then escaping to do whatever I wanted. Lovely. Well, there was that one time when I had to tell off those obnoxious rich ladies, but other than that, it was wonderful!

Estes Park is a fun little resort town. Kind of like a very low key Park City. Their downtown has fun shops and a riverwalk.

 They also have the famous Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for Steven King's The Shining. Super creepy.