Wedding Reception (Old Colorado City)

The shot above was taken of the wall art located in Old Colorado City. A fun place to shop and eat and not far from Manitou Springs either. This is where Josh and I met up with crew after coming back down Pikes Peak Road. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out on our balcony while enjoying the sunset and watching the deer wander through the neighborhood.

I’d like to thank everyone who made it out to attend. We had an amazing time and really hope that everyone that visited did as well. It was great seeing family and old friends especially those of the old OTI crew.

Anyway, thanks again to all those who attended. I just wish it could have lasted longer.

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Protected: Wedding Reception (Pikes Peak Road)

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Protected: Wedding Reception (Garden of the Gods)

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Elopement (Back Home)

Having arrived at the Chipeta Sun Lodge on Thursday, today was our last day. We packed up our stuff and took an easy ride back home going through Montrose, Poncho Springs, Bueno Vista, Woodland Park, and finally Colorado Springs. Here are few pictures:

(click to view)

The first picture is from the Black Canyon of Gunnison and the last picture is back home in the driveway. We bumped into a few people along the way home that liked Kate’s little sign taped on the back of the top case.

As for wedding pictures, well, they are being developed. We had a professional photographer come out yesterday to shoot photos but won’t have them in hand until they are fully developed in about four weeks or more.

All-in-all the trip was excellent. We could have stayed longer, of course, but all turned out well. BTW, if you ever need to have an event coordinated at the Chipeta Sun Lodge, talk to Jessica Bresett. She did an outstanding job. I would also recommend the Chipeta Sun Lodge as a great place to stay. Will definitely be thinking about returning some day.

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Protected: Elopement (Jeep Tours #2)

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Elopement (Jeep Tours #1)

We awoke early to drive into Ouray and catch the San Juan Jeep Tour (half-day). Greg, who was our driver as well as the hotel owner (along with this wife), was a lot of fun. The guy had endless stories, and was quite a talker. Here are the pictures from the tour of Red Mountain #3 (which is located a short way South on Highway 550 outside of Ouray). The elevation was roughly 12,000 feet at the top.

(click to view)

The last of the pictures are views of old mines and ghost towns as we wound down the base of the mountain and back into the little town of Ouray.

A couple of notes. We started the tour around 9am and got back into town around 1pm. Kate had done a tour like this before, but for me this was the first time. I enjoyed it but couldn’t help but think how I could ride the motorcycle up this road. I think that if I dropped a bunch of weight, thew on some knobby tires, I could maybe do it. Maybe. Of course, I’m not sure Kate would ride with me if I did that. Oh, and for those interested in taking a tour over the mountains into Telliride, there are two main routes and they take all day to do. From what I understand, those tours are only for the most adventurous.

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Protected: Elopement (Million Dollar Highway #2)

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Elopement (Million Dollar Highway #1)

The following photos are from the Million Dollar Highway which is Highway 550 that runs from Durango to Ouray, Colorado:

(click to view)

We didn’t take a lot of photos as we were enjoying the ride too much. As you view the photos, pay attention to the footer notes as they will help explain where we were (roughly). BTW, more photos of Molas Pass (where Kate and I are relaxing in the picture above) can be found here.

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Elopement (Chimney Rock #2)

After leaving Treasure Falls and stopping in Pagosa Springs for lunch we headed about 17 miles West of town to the Chimney Rock Archaeological Area. We needed to catch the last tour for the day which left at 2pm. We managed to setup camp in the Ute Campgrounds (less than half a mile up the road) and make it for the 2pm tour with five minutes to spare. It was worth it:

(click to view)

There are a couple of interesting things to note about the Chimney Rock area. The first is that it is part of the Chaco Culture that makes up part of lower Colorado and Northern New Mexico. It was a major trading route that existed around 1000A.D. We learned that when standing from the top of the Chimney Rock area, you can see a plateau about 60 miles to the South. Apparently, back in the day, you could light signal fires from Chimney Rock to that plateau. The plateau could then be used to signal the Chaco Culture even further to the South. Makes me wish I could have spent more time camping at the Chaco Culture earlier this year. I plan to return.

The other interesting thing to note is that during that day in age, the people of this period would have witnessed a few major events. One is the explosion of the Sunset Volcano (now known as Sunset Crater in Northern Arizona), the other is Haley’s Comet, and the last is the bright light of the Crab Nebula super nova (if I have my facts right) which lasted for many days (even in sunlight). Pretty cool time to be alive despite that you started having a family at roughly the age of 12 and were probably dead by 25 or 30 due to tuberculous.

I mentioned that we camped in the Ute Campgrounds just up the road at the start of this post. Not a bad area with plenty of trees. My only complaint is that it is not far from the road so you do get some traffic noise. It was convenient though and, in this case, worth it.

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Protected: Elopement (Chimney Rock #1)

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