Hikes in Red Rock Canyon

This last week, Sean and I went on a hike in the Red Rock Canyon.  Little did we know that there is this sweet place to walk, ride your bike or take a dog to this park. 

We had a fun time scaling this rock.

And at the top, we found a cave.

The best part of this hike is that there is nothing around you!  We were only a mile or two south of the highway, but there are not any developments or buildings.  Its nice to be in the city, but not feel like you are.  There was a little water hole down at the bottom of this cliff to my left in this picture, but I didn't get a picture of it.

We are so lucky to get to have this "vacation" this summer.

The Incline

This was the day that I had been preparing myself (only mentally) for the last 4 weeks.  The day that I conquered The Incline.  I figured if my friend could do it at 34 weeks pregnant, then I was good to go.  I guess I wasn't realizing that she is the most fit person I have ever met.  She does a 13 mile run every week "just to keep in shape."  I don't think that I could run for more than 2 miles without losing consciousness.  So my thought that I was good to go were a little... um... naive.

Anyways!  Aaron and Alison, our amazing mountaineer friends who lead us on our last camping adventure, made the trip down to Colorado Springs.  We started the morning off by, of course, gorging ourselves with huge 10 inch maple bars and coffee.  Carb loading duh!

We waddled over to the Garden of the Gods and had a good time showing the Rogstad's the park.  Aaron was pointing at various rock structures telling us that he could scale them all with an arm tied behind his back.  He was drooling looking at the other climbers, wishing that he could be up there.  Maybe next week buddy.  Today, I have to heave myself up 2,000 feet!

Hmm, comforting

Oh and there was a small, athletic, Brazilian man at the beginning of the trail who told us that the trail is still illegal to go up.  Awesome.

About 1/8 of the way up the hill. Did I mention that it is 2,000 feet elevation gain in just less that 1 mile.

Looking down.  This is just at the beginning. Rather steep

About 3/4 of the way up.  I was feeling rather dizzy and fatigued.  Alison said at one point while we were resting, "I am gonna keep heading up cause I feel better when I keep moving."  Uhh, okay crazy lady.  I am gonna sit here for at least 5 minutes and attempt to get my heart rate beneath 100. Oh yeah and that Brazilian man, he ran past me 10 minutes earlier. Yes, ran.

This is almost at the top.  It started to rain, which was rather refreshing.  Little did we know that we were about to be pounded by hail.

About 20 steps from the top, the hail started.  So while we were super happy that we made it, we also were starting to get a little worried that we were going to be struck off the side of the mountain by lighting.  Unfortunately, the visibility was limited by this time and it was tough to enjoy the view.  But it was an amazing one!

 This tree wasn't really doing much for us as far as protection goes. 

We were standing there for about 3 minutes and figuring that the storm wasn't going to let up, so we decided to make a run for it back down the Barr trail.  This is about a 3 mile winding trail down the mountain.  The hail was pelting us and each time we would stop under a tree for a breather, we would scrape the ice off of our shoulders.  Eventually we had dropped in elevation enough that it turned to rain.  The thunder and lighting made it pretty interesting too.  There is a statistic somewhere that says that Colorado is #2 in lighting strike deaths.  I believe that Alison yelled that to me as we were about 1/2 way down the Barr trail. Great timing :) 

What a fun day though.  I am glad we have a good story to tell about our first time doing the Incline.   Thank you good friends for being so encouraging when my lazy bones didn't want to get up the mountain.

Memorial Day Camping Trip

On Memorial Day weekend we went camping/hiking with the Rogstad's who live in Broomfield, CO (just north of Denver).  We are fortunate to be so close to great friends who also have great knowledge of the ways of the wild.

We headed up to their abode on Friday night, so we could start at dawn on Saturday.  I didn't wake til 8:30, so that plan was shot.  Sean and I proved to be most ignorant in the ways of mountaineering.  Fortunately the patient kindness of the Rogstad's was proved as they gently shepherded us.  The St. Vrain trailhead is about a 15 minute drive outside of the sleepy mountain town of Jamestown, CO, which is just northwest of Boulder.  The Lord Almighty smiled upon us and permitted us to have great weather!  We parked and hiked in only about 15 min and we found our perfect campsite right alongside a crystal clear stream.  While there were lots of cars at the trailhead, we didn't have to compete with too many campers.  It was nice and quiet and just what we all needed.

Catching some rays before our hike

The fallen logs made it easy to get across the stream

After about a 3 mile hike, we made it to the top of the trail.  Great views!

Our mountaineers

When we set up camp, we didn't see that this branch was barely hanging on.  Instead of uprooting our tent spikes (which would've been much easier), we sent the boys up to machete the branch down so we wouldn't be smashed in the middle of the night.  This made for an interesting 30 minutes. 

Aaron held back the branch while Sean chopped at it.  In the end, Aaron used his mountain muscles and brought the beast of a branch down so Sean and I wouldn't be smunched in the night.

We enjoyed a delicious feast of steak fajitas for dinner at our campsite using Mr. and Mrs. REI's campstove and equipment. Our breakfast was hot coffee (thanks to Starbucks' delicious VIA instant coffee), oatmeal and granola bars.  Alison proceeded to filter (using a pump) our water from the gentle stream to keep us all from getting giardia.  I told her that I am a farm girl and no parasite could infect me.  She cautioned me as a wise mountain woman would, that lest I have diarrhea on the ride home, I should drink her purified water.  Ah, the old wisdom from such a young lass.  The water was like drinking straight from the streams of the Gods.  Fortunately, no bouts of stomach illness arose.

Yes, friends.... I did wear ankle high hiking boots with capri stretch pants. It was only fitting because of my greasy locks that were but only hours from becoming dreds. I told Alison that I would look more like a local if she and I held hands.  If you understand the Boulder population, this will make sense.

We headed to Estes Park, CO to get some delicious treats and more coffee.  While we didn't die in our sleep from a falling branch, the rocks beneath our sleeping pads, made for a disrupted slumber.  Our expedition leader, Aaron "The Grizzly" Rogstad, needed multiple cups to keep his 'bear like' demeanor under control.  This is but a compliment my friends!  He is part Bear Grylls, MacGyver, and Chuck Norris all in one man.  To keep that kind of energy at a slow boil must be exhausting.  We could not have fared as well as we did on our expedition if it was not for his fearless guidance.  The coffee was but a small price to pay for such excellence.

This is the famous Stanley Hotel.  The book, 'The Shining' by Stephen King, was inspired by this haunted hotel.  While it was gorgeous, it did have an air of creepiness about it.  

I don't think the ominous thunder clouds helped with this scene.

Beautiful!

Her fear was all a rouse.  She, like her spouse, is a fearless creature.

The hotel does provide psychic readings. Phew!  That makes 

staying in a haunted room sound much more inviting!

The view of Long's Peak and other surrounding mountains.

"The Grizzly" doesn't use a compass to orient himself.  He uses the ways of his ancestors.  This device on the other hand, shows you which mountain you are looking at.  Aaron typically just bent his ear to the ground to hear which mountain spoke to him.  He used this rudimentary device to show us laymen how to navigate the treacherous Rocky Mountains.

Aaron and Alison, enjoying a moment alone.

Sean stunned this ram with his good looks.  It instantly turned to stone.

All good hippies love some glass blowing.

A nice stroll around the bustling mountain town. Beautiful way to end our trip to the mountains.

We are so thankful to be living the Springs!  We are close to good friends and amazing nature adventures.  We are also thankful for our guides, who put up with our ignorance. :)

Next weekend, we will tackle "The Manitou Incline" in Manitou Springs, CO, which is just outside Colorado Springs.  It will be a test of endurance, skill and above all perseverance in the face of fear!

Colorado Observations

 

We have now been in the Springs for a week and a half and there are few things that I have observed about the area, and the changes that I have enjoyed in myself because of our location.

1. The weather is extremely ADD.  87 degrees, sunny and then quickly followed by grey skies and thunderstorms. Very wonderful! :)  Just when you think it's getting too hot, you are surprised by the beautiful and refreshing rain.

2. I don't wear a lot of makeup, nor do the women of the Springs.  I have never felt very comfortable going to the store wearing athletic shorts, a tank top, hair in a pony tail, with a clean face.  It's so refreshing to know that there is an area in the country where people...just... are.

3. I have been loving my Chacos and the lack of toe nail polish.

4. I have a desire to want to be outside.

5. People cannot drive here... at least on the freeways.  I traveled to the Denver area to see a friend and while it was a lovely drive, it was so frustrating!  I was coming down a hill and noticed that everyone was in the left lane trying to pass one truck with a trailer.  At least 20 cars trying to pass one car.  The speed limit is 75, so people go at least 80.  The person leading the passing train is going 78 which allows for them to pass the truck who is going 76, but at a very slow rate.  Does this sound like a physics question yet?  Well it should!  The answer is quite easy.  Increase your speed to quickly and efficiently to pass the truck, then proceed to return to the right lane of travel so others may also quickly pass you.  I promise it is as easy as that.  I might've actually been speaking loudly, otherwise known as yelling, and putting both hands, yes both, on my head in frustration.  Alas, I did arrive at my location, but it was not as enjoyable as a drive in the mountains should be.

6. I think just living here is making me eat healthier.

7. My thoughts often drift towards the idea of living outdoors and having few possessions.

8. While people live in nice big houses and drive nice cars, people are not as pretentious here.  While this is probably just my limited world view at this time, I have enjoyed seeing this welcome change to the Dallas mentality.  I saw a Porsche with a bike rack on it.  It made me laugh cause I don't think I would put my bike on a $90,000 car.  Dallas folk believe that: I may only make $30,000 a year, but I will appear to be more wealthy cause I will drive a brand new red Mercedes and have a $800 purse and eat out frequently at ritzy joints even if that means living in an apartment and being $20,000 in debt. 

I am sure there are many more little things that I have seen since being here, but they have slipped my mind at this time.

I am super excited for this weekend.  Sean and I will be going camping with some friends who live north of Denver.  It's going to be awesome!!! Can you believe that this is the first time that Sean and I have gone camping as a married couple. Can't wait.  And we are going to have wonderful company with Alison and Aaron Rogstad.  They are practically REI representatives.

Pictures to come next week.

Summer Opportunity

WARNING: SUPER LONG POST :)

Earlier this last fall, one of Sean's professors told him about an opportunity in Colorado Springs for an internship with the Navigators.  We talked about it and prayed about it and decided to start the process and see what came about.  Later in January, Sean had a Skype interview with David Brown.  He is a former graduate of DTS's Biblical Counseling program and he wanted to bring students up for an opportunity to pick up more face-to-face counseling  hours.  David works with the People Resources Team (PRT) and provides counseling for staff at the Navigators headquarters as well as counseling for returning missionaries.

The interview went well, but we were going to have to wait a while to see if he was offered the position.  We continued to pray about it because it would mean a 2 month temporary move for both of us.  I would have to quit my job, find someone to sublease our apartment at DTS and then see if we could afford to live in Colorado Springs for the summer.

Sean found out that he was chosen to go to Colorado Springs!  Out of all the DTS counseling student applicants, Sean was offered the position.  We wer thrilled that we were going to be able to start this amazing journey!

There were so many wonderful things that God did to prepare the way for us.  First of all, I have been working at my job for almost 2 years and after the first 6 months, I started to realize that it was not a good fit for me.  While I loved the patient population (cardiac patients, open heart surgery, lung surgery), I was not blending well with the management on the floor. Our original assistant nurse manager left to go to a different floor, so that changed things drastically.  I really did like working with a few of the nurses, but there were some teamwork problems and it wasn't a healthy environment for me.  I applied for an ICU job in December, but I had to preface my interview with the nurse manager with the information that I could be taking a 2 month leave of absence about 2 months after starting the job. Needless to say, she wasn't really thrilled that I even bothered to apply for the job.  Anyways, if you would like more juicy details about my work situation and the emotional roller coaster that it put me on for the last year and a half and especially the last 9 months, email me. 
After I realized that I would be able to leave my job, and then come back in the fall and apply for a new one, I was on board!  I also had some great contacts with some travel nurse agencies and that looked like a promising option for a job.
Sean was also informed by David, that we would be staying at their house, rent free and they would be paying for our food while we were there as well.  Things were starting to really look up.
We found someone to sublease our apartment for the summer as well.

By this point, we knew it was a must go and that every little detail would be taken care of beautifully.

We said our fair wells this last Thursday and took off Friday morning.  We decided to turn the 13 hour drive into two days that way we could be relaxed by the time we arrived.  We headed to Amarillo and got there safely.  We went to Palo Duro Canyon the next morning before taking off to Colorado Springs.

I love road trips for this reason alone.  You get to appreciate God's beauty all around our country.  His fingerprints are so evident in all of creation.  Even the flat "boring" terrain of west Texas has it's beauty and the people who live there are thankful for the land's ability to sustain agriculture and animals.

The canyon is the 2nd largest in the US, obviously second to the Grand Canyon.  We had a nice little walk around the upper part of the park and then headed on the road to gain 3000 ft in elevation.  Dallas is roughly 400 ft above sea level, Amarillo is 3000 ft (can you believe that?) and Colorado Springs is 6,200 ft.

 We were able to get into town on Saturday evening and we sat down to a wonderful home cooked meal with David and Jill.  We realized that we clicked instantly, and that it was another God thing, that we were going to have a great relationship with this couple.

We went to church with them on Sunday, met their amazing bible study/small group friends and got a little feel of the area.  We were able to walk around that evening and get to really appreciate the sweet little neighborhood that we live in.  All the houses in this part of Colorado Springs are part of the "Old Colorado City."  Lots of early 1900's homes and Victorian style.  Basically I am obsessed with the homes. David and Jill live in a sweet little brick house with lots of great architecture.

Monday, Sean had his first day at the Navigators headquarters and I took him there in the morning.  I decided that I would really initiate myself well by taking a brisk walk/jog in the Garden of the Gods.  UM AWESOME!!!  Sean really has a tough location.  He is literally 500 feet away from the park.  I was able to go into the park and find a place to park the car.  I was out walking the trails with all the early morning locals. It was so wonderful.  I felt such peace as I walked around the trails.  I know that we are supposed to be here!

I took this photo on my walk.  I was able to see Pikes Peak in between the rock formations.  So beautiful.

I filled out a few job applications for some local work at day surgery facilities, travel nursing companies and a local hospital.  I was also able to make a few phone calls with some connections from people back home.  The job is in the works.  Continue to pray that the right job will come along.  We know that God is taking care of us financially, so we are leaving it up to the big guy.

On Tuesday, David suggested that Sean and I just take the day off to explore the town a little and to just really rest and relax.  We slept in and I had a brief interview with a travel nurse agency.  Afterwards we traveled to some near by parks and decided that we better see the Garden of the Gods together.

We are so lucky to get to be in such a gorgeous part of the country for the next 2 months.  We are really learning a lot about being still and enjoying the simpler things in life.  David and Jill don't have a TV, so that will be nice to train ourselves to not be dependent on that stimulation.  I have already noticed that I am being still more and learning to quiet my heart.

Sean is still loving his job and is really encouraged by the positive feedback he is getting from David and his clients.  Pray that God does something big in him this summer and that he will learn a lot from this opportunity.

We are excited to get to be in Colorado this summer and we are hoping to get to be pretty outdoorsy and climb some mountains and do some hiking.  First thing though, need a couple weeks to build up some hemoglobin so I don't get altitude sickness :)