Home Sweet Home!!!

    Yes, I know, you are wondering where the rest our vacation pictures are!  We arrived home Saturday evening to pouring rain. It looked like we received a LOT while we were gone!  Maybe we should leave more often!  After a day of worship, rest and unpacking; it was back to reality on Monday, and we hit the floor running!  It's been nonstop since!

    I (Kara) will be working on posting the remainder of our amazing time in CO once we get past another crazy weekend.... and I can locate all of the pictures.  We had 4 cameras and 3 other devices with cameras between all of us, so it's complicated trying to consolidate all of the pictures.  It sure beats the old-fashioned film cameras though! ;-)
    We had an amazing time in CO and wore ourselves out!  Not the most RELAXing vacation, but still refreshing as we enjoyed creation and some good family time.  We had a lot of very late nights too.  We just had a hard time pulling ourselves away from God's majestic handiwork!  We would finally head home every evening when it got too dark to see.

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Now, about the quiz question posted earlier... here's a hint.

Wednesday

Royal Gorge Raft Trip:

Ryan, Kara, Trevor, Bethamy, Matthew, Mark

The water level was much lower than usual do to the drought, so there weren't as many large rapids this year.  It was still very exciting, as we had a lot of navigating around rocks and boulders!

This rapid was the most difficult one (a level 4) and
we made it through perfectly!

Our guide was awesome, and we had a blast challenging ourselves to make it through tough spots without getting stuck or dumped. :-)

We caught on to the technic pretty quickly and were already having a blast at the very beginning!  Our guide informed us that we were ready for the BIG rapids. :-)  We hope to have the opportunity to go again sometime during the peak season (when the water levels are the highest).

A paddle high-five after completing our first big rapid successfully.

Bighorn Sheep Canyon Raft Trip:

Dad, Mom, Ashley, Josiah, Emily & John

John wasn't so sure about rafting, but we were able to talk him into going on a less difficult rafting trip.  He ended up enjoying it more than expected, and he even jumped in for a swim midpoint!!

Tuesday

::Royal Gorge::

Posing next to our state flag on the bridge
Where's that KS wind to wave our flag?

View from the bridge
If you click on the picture and look closely, you can see some rafters on the river.

The Arial Tram across the gorge

The view from the Arial Tram

Panning for gold

Riding the Incline Railway to the bottom of the gorge

At the bottom of the gorge.
The remains of the pipeline that carried water to Canon City in the early 1900's.
It was built by hand by prisoners.

Looking down as we went back up

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Quiz Time ;-)

Anybody know what this is?

Monday

It rained off and on throughout the day... and of all days for most of us to forget to grab our jackets!  Thankfully we did at least have ponchos, so we survived.

::Bishop Castle::

Ryan & Bethany at the highest point

A pretty incredible view from the top - NOT for those afraid of heights!

What do you do when you forget half of the lunch, which includes the spoons to eat the part we remembered?
That's what God gave you fingers for! :-D

::San Isabelle Lake & Forest::

It was really beautiful - pictures just don't do justice.

We had an opportunity to surround a herd of unsuspecting deer.  Even John got 4 yards from a deer running full speed toward him... and needless to say the deer AND John were rather surprised!

Have you noticed that Josiah tends to be the guinea pig. ;-)  

We hiked a trail that led to an old abandoned mine that some of the guys went to with Grandpa & Grandma Bergen several years ago.  Needless to say it was much further than anticipated, so some stopped to relax at a spot sheltered from the rain while the rest hiked on up to the mine.

It was quite a hike - but they said it was well worth it.

Sunday

Yes, we are in Colorado this week!

Family Worship Time

Or as we like to call it "God's Garden" :-)

::A new adventure - Rock Climbing:: 

Justin did a very good job of making everything safe and explaining all of the rules of climbing... good communication between climber and belayer is critical.

John and Braxton doing a little climbing of their own

Hmm, should I let the monkey loose?

Ryan

Mark

Justin belaying - the climbers' lives are in his hands!

Trevor

Snack time for John and Braxton

Josiah

Matthew

Bethany

Bethany

Yes, "what goes up must come down"! ;-)  The repelling back down was the scariest part.  You have to completely trust the belayer and let gravity work!  Justin said that Josiah and the girls were the best at repelling, but the boys were by far the fastest climbers.

Kara harnessing up

Enjoying the incredible view from the top

Dad

Laura

John & Josiah with their permits

Grandpa & Braxton

View from the parking lot

 After climbing, we went to Justin & Laura's for dinner.

Our dinner
That is one big pizza!!!!
We had worked up quiet the appetites, so a 26" pizza was in order! ;-)

The guys enjoying the pool table in the basement