August 12, 2013

  • Our Mountain West Trip - Stage One

    When we left on our Mountain West trip, we had a couple of main objectives in mind, but that didn't stop us from packing in as much as we could.  We arrived in St. Louis just in time to see part of the July 4th celebration over the Gateway Arch.  Airplanes were drawing smoke arches in the air and the area around the arch was packed with people.  We drove on past though and settled in our motel knowing that we would spent time there the next day.  Little did we know that half a million people attend the July 4th celebration at the arch and our plans would be somewhat hindered by the aftermath of the celebration.

     

    We still managed to get on the first tram ride to the top the next morning.  We crammed ourselves into what seems a awful lot like a dryer with five seats inside.  Not everyone was comfortable with the ride, but the boys all managed to pull out a smile once they had peeked out the windows.  

     

    We wandered through the museum and watched a movie about Lewis and Clark before we left the area.  We had hoped to take a paddleboat ride, but there were barriers up all around the arch and we just scrapped the idea and went to plan B for the rest of the day.

    Out next stop was north of Denver where we spent a day driving through Rocky Mountain National Park.  I've been in the Rockies before, but I had forgotten how spectacular they are.  I had also forgotten how easy it is for me to get carsick on those roads.

    When JJ saw the snow, he was determined that he was going to throw some snowballs, but as soon as he stepped onto the snowbank, he sank in up to his knees and forgot all about throwing snow in July.  Even though it was summertime, the snow was still as cold and he hightailed it back to the van.

    We stopped at an lookout that was near 12,000 feet in elevation and the boys were struck by how cold the air was.  They were also impressed by how puffy their bag of chips got as we drove higher and higher.  As soon as the boys left this bench, it was claimed by an older woman who was walking with a cane.  She looked at me and said, "I should have brought my oxygen tank."  The air's pretty thin that high up.

     

    The next day we discovered the Leanin' Tree Museum and Sculpture Garden in Boulder.  Jeremy came face to face with a mountain lion,

     

    Justin rode an invisible horse,

      

    and JJ trotted off on a bronze donkey.  These were the only sculptures that were touchable.

       

    We loved all the artwork and I saw several paintings which reminded me of my childhood.  None of us could decide which picture of sculpture we like the best and all three boys took dozen of pictures of their favorites.  After having a perfectly enjoyable time drinking in the art, we headed to the Dushanbe Tea House where we all tried a different kind of tea along with a light lunch.

    We had already had a great time and we hadn't arrived at our main objective yet.  More on that later.

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