colorado time

We arrived in Colorado to a warm welcome from the Shaffers. We spent a comfortable night and were treated to an impromptu concert in the morning on violin, cello, and then piano from three of the kids (no piano picture, I don’t think she would’ve let me take a picture of her at that point!).

We went four wheeling up La Playa Canyon, stopping by a waterfall where I stood out on a narrow ledge:

I took a photo of the waterfall from that ledge and shot back up at the Shaffers:

We were taken up to the furthest point where the road was plowed – it was gorgeous looking back down the canyon.

On the way back down, we stopped by the creek and the kids had a good time throwing and skipping rocks in the water.

In the afternoon we went to a Trials Bike Competition at a park on the Colorado River. Those guys were amazing to watch balancing and bouncing their bikes around, sometimes at the very edge of the river. It was also fun to watching people on the river riding rafts, kayaks, inner tubes, and even a boogie board. It was especially cool to see some playboaters in the standing waves, though even they stopped to watch the bikes sometimes!

We took off after a late lunch/ early supper and made it past Albuquerque to Moriarty, NM. On the way, we were surprised to be stopped on a 70 mph stretch of highway in NM. It turned out to be a cattle drive crossing the highway!

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Sand Springs, OK. Some highlights were the long flat NOTHING in the Texas panhandle,

the Cadillacs stuck in the ground just West of Amarillo (didn't get a picture but you can see a couple here), and proof that EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas – this cross is 190 feet tall!!

We battled the heat with a makeshift sunshade,

and ended up in the rolling green hills of Oklahoma!