Autumn out West
Summit ended on August 30, and my family picked me up from the hotel. From there, we drove up to Pikes Peak, known as 'America's Mountain,' so named because the views from the top inspired Katherine Lee Bates to write the song 'America the Beautiful.' Pikes Peak is also one of Colorado's fourteeners-- mountains over 14,000 feet. Because of the elevation, we experienced some altitude sickness at the top, but not so bad that we weren't able to still walk around and take in the sprawling views of the landscape below.
Our chip bag puffed up from the elevation gain 😂
On the drive up Pikes Peak...
🎵O beautiful for spacious skies...🎵
There's a cog railway that takes you up to the top of Pikes Peak. We drove our truck up, but the railway looked pretty cool as well. It was built by a man named Zalmon Simmons, and it opened in 1891.
The gang's back together 😉
The next day we moved to a campground in southwestern Colorado, near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. During our week here we visited the national park and drove the Million Dollar Highway in Ouray.
3D topographcal map of Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This canyon gets as deep as 2,722 feet!
The Million Dollar Highway winds through the San Juan Mountains. This highway is a paved-over wagon road that was created back in the region's mining days.
Overlook of Ouray, aka 'America's Switzerland.'
The Million Dollar Highway is one of the prettiest scenic drives we have done in a while.
Between Ouray and Silverton on the Million Dollar Highway is the former Red Mountain Mining District. Between the mid-1800s and early 1900s, mining was a popular enterprise here. We passed several of these abandoned mines along the drive, and it was so cool to see the wooden mine shafts still standing.
These houses, bought by the Idarado Mine company from another mining town called Eureka; were transported to this location across a dirt road in 1948. The ten houses (four of which still remain today) provided housing for miners, an infirmary, and offices.
This old picture shows one of the Idarado houses being transported down the dirt road in 1948.
Miners and their families lived in the Idarado houses, including the little girl above, who is waiting for the school bus to Ouray.
Prospectors discovered gold and silver along the Animas River in 1860, but they didn't stay to mine it. About ten years later, after the American Civil War, almost a thousand prospectors came back to the area. In 1874, the townsite of Silverton was laid out--with the Animas River running through it. Numerous mining camps set up in Silverton, and in 1882 the railroad pulled into town. Just nine years after the townsite was laid out, Silverton had a population of 2000 people. Over 400 buildings--twenty-nine of which were saloons-- made the town a bustling spot.
Silverton --a town with a view!
This building in downtown Silverton reminded me of the colorful houses on Creek Street in Ketchikan, Alaska!
This old photo shows Silverton in the 1880s.
Downtown Silverton today looks very different than it did in the 1880s.
After we left Silverton, we headed to the charming ski town of Telluride! The free gondola here offers incredible views of Telluride nestled in the valley, as well as access to the adorable Mountain Village.
San Sophia Village is the highest stop on the gondola, and it's definitely worth hopping off here to take in the views!
I told my mom I was taking a photo of her and she started posing. 😆
We spent the second week of September at a campground just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the country's most popular national parks. We also got to rendezvous with some friends we met on the road, and it was so good to see them.
Our first hike in the park--Glacier Gorge to Sky Pond! This was about 9 miles long, and it involved climbing up a waterfall! Definitely a fun trail.
Alberta Falls--not the one we climbed up, in case you were wondering. 😆
Loch Vale along the trail to Sky Pond was a peaceful stop, perfect to enjoy a snack and rest.
The pictures above and below are of the views from the top of the waterfall.
Lake of Glass, also above the waterfall.
My dad, jumping from a rock in the lake to the shoreline. 😅
Our end destination, Sky Pond (both above and below pictures).
We drove the park's popular Trail Ridge Road one day with our friends.
Aaaand a chipmunk!
We also drove a dirt road up to the Alpine Visitors Center one day, and along the way were some great views and fun stops like the waterfall pictured above.
A short trail to an alluvial fan. Alluvial fans are formed when water carries debris downhill, and when the terrain flattens out, the water and debris 'fan' out in all directions.
This landscape reminded me of The Princess Bride when Wesley is running across the plains of Gilda to save Buttercup.
We stopped for a coffee in the little town of Grand Lake (where I tried a flat white for the first time--it wasn't the most exciting coffee I've ever had), and we saw these pretty blossoms as we were walking around.
The aspens trees were starting to turn!
The alpine zone is a cold, windy area above the treeline where pikas and marmots (cute fuzzy mammals) roam.
Only the smallest and shortest of plants can survive in the alpine zone.
A marmot!
Besides exploring the national park, we had a girls day out in the town of Boulder, about an hour away; and we also checked out downtown Estes Park, a small town just outside of Rocky Mtn.
Grocery shopping at Costco
A girls day isn't complete without a stop at TJMaxx!
The drive to Boulder was lovely
Pizza one night with our friends!
This candy shop in downtown Estes Park has one of only 7 waffle cone machines in existence!
This taffy shop in Estes Park is also a popular stop; boasting the only taffy made in town.
We left Rocky Mountain National Park on September 14 and over the next three nights we made our way down to Arizona, stopping by Great Sand Dunes National Park and Mesa Verde National Park on the way.
Great Sand Dunes NP contains the tallest sand dunes in North America.
We happened to be visiting on the day the park was hosting some local Hispanic musicians and dancers to celebrate the region's culture, and we enjoyed watching these girls carry on the traditions of their culture.
That night we went to a ranger program underneath the stars, and it was a lot of fun. We sang campfire songs, looked at pictures on a projector screen; and at the end we got to touch a piece of the moon, a piece of Mars, and a bit of meteor with these beautiful green gems in it. Above is a picture of my mom holding the piece of Mars.
A bit of the moon!
Can you see the green gems in this bit of meteor?
Goodbye Great Sand Dunes; hello Mesa Verde!
Mesa Verde National Park is home to about 600 cliff dwellings built into niches in the canyon walls. Thousands of people lived here between about 550-1300 A.D.
Our first stop was the visitors center, which was very nice and modern.
A piece of artwork outside of the visitors center
Archaeologists found lots of pottery shards in the dwellings, some of which are on display at the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum.
Before the tribes in Mesa Verde built and moved into the cliff dwellings, they lived in pit houses on the Mesa top (Mesas are flat-topped mountains with steep sides. The cliff houses are built into the mesa slopes.) The smaller circular space off to the left was probably a storage room in the pithouse.
Fire Temple and New Fire House. The formation on the left, Fire Temple, was probably a communal spot for religious and social activities , hinted at by the open plaza in the center ,which is similar to plazas found in Puebloan communities today.
A big storm blew up as we were ending our day in the park, but we saw several rainbows as we were heading out, including this full one in the picture above!
A tribal sundial at the Sun Temple ruins. A stick would be stuck upright in the ground at the center of the circle, and depending on where the shadow fell, the people could interpret the time of day.
Hiking Petroglyph Point, one of the most popular trails in the park.
I thought this tiny stone arch looked cool!
Petroglyph Point trail had some awesome views. I highly recommend this trail if you ever visit Mesa Verde.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the park. As you can tell from the two tour groups, there are guided tours you can take of the dwelling. It looked neat, but we decided to tour a different dwelling called Balcony House.
Can you see the cliff dwelling at the center of the Mesa slope? Hint: look for the windows.
Balcony House was a bit more intensive than Cliff Palace. We climbed several ladders, crawled through a short passageway on our hands and knees, and walked along the side of the cliff, protected by wire fencing.
The first ladder we climbed brought us up to the Balcony House cliff dwelling.
Our tour guide with part of the dwelling ruins
This cistern-like hole is called a kiva, and it was used by the inhabitants for spiritual purposes.
Balcony House had a great view across the valley. It rained while we were taking the tour, but we stayed dry beneath the stone overhang.
Our tour guide said that they estimate only about twenty people--two families-- lived in the Balcony House at one time.
We spent two and a half weeks in Cottonwood, Arizona; and if you're a frequent reader of my blogs, you'll recall that we've stayed here a few times before. It's a lovely area in close proximity to Phoenix, Prescott, and Flagstaff. We enjoyed a lot of downtime here and settled into a nice daily routine. I started a free online course with Hillsdale College on our Western Heritage (I highly recommend Hillsdale's free courses, they teach on a variety of subjects including philosophy, history, religion, government, and the Bible); Mia and I played chess, my parents and I put together a couple of puzzles, and my mom and I took walks every night after dinner, which was a good opportunity for one-on-one chats. We also had a few days out; thrift shopping and eating at the new Chipotle that opened in Cottonwood (it was pretty popular). All-in-all I really enjoyed our time here.
Mia did some drawing of course.
My first pumpkin spice latte of the season! It was delicious.
From Cottonwood, we made our way south to New Mexico for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. We left Arizona on October 4, and over the next two days we got up ridiculously early to attend the festivities--but it was so worth it! This is definitely a bucket-list event, and I'm so glad I got to attend. We also met up with friends here, and the festival was even more fun to experience with them. 😊
Our first day we didn't get into the balloon park where the festival takes place because of traffic; but we still watched the balloons go up from outside the park. However, as we would find out the next morning, the experience of being on the field as the balloons ascend is much better than watching from the side of the road.
Our friends' mom had to work the first night and we missed her, but we got to all hang out together the next morning at the Mass Ascension after sunrise.
We made it into the park that afternoon and walked around with our friends, browsing the various food stalls and the gift shop. There was a woodcarving competition that day, and the carpenters were so talented.
The woodcarvers' past work was on display for purchase, and their talent was very evident in their handiwork.
That night, we explored the balloon park
Waiting on the big field for the evening events to begin
Grabbing dinner at the vendor booths
Let the evening festivities begin!
My friend Lydia and I were so excited 😄
After the balloons lit up for the evening glow; we watched the drone show, which was so neat and really well done.
The drones positioned themselves in the shape of different hot air balloons.
A dream catcher balloon
A bull ðŸ¤
Spicyyy 🌶
Route 66 runs through Albuquerque, and in 2026 the city will be celebrating its centennial anniversary with this historic route!
Day 2, we were up by 2:30 to watch another drone show and see the first balloons rise into the sky. Where last night's drone show had been themed around New Mexican culture and the balloon festival, this morning's show took us on a hot air balloon's trip around the world!
Happy we were, to see this balloon at the festival 😋
We had the best time at the balloon fiesta, and I so enjoyed being able to experience it with our sweet friends. This was a great last event before heading home to NC to spend the rest of the year and find a place to settle down for good.
We took it slow on our journey across the country to North Carolina--nearly the whole month of October. We stayed at campgrounds in Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina; along with a couple of overnight stays at Cracker Barrels.
Our first day in Texas we had a day out and watched a movie at the theater, went grocery shopping, and had lunch at Panera, I got a chai latte from Panera and some munchkin donut holes from the Dunkin Donuts next door--yummy!
We didn't do much activity- wise on our way home--but that was fine. The down time was nice and we got to enjoy some cozy autumn mornings.
There was this cute squirrel carved from a tree stump in the Texas campground.
We put together a puzzle at one of the campgrounds.
Homemade ramen for dinner 😋
Shopping on a girls' day out!
On our drive from Texas to Alabama we stopped at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas. This was such a cute and kitschy tourist spot!
And of course we stopped at Buc-ees on our drive! Buc-ees is the cleanest and biggest gas station/convenience store you've ever been to--it's a must-stop if you are taking a road trip through Texas or Alabama,
We made it home to North Carolina by the end of October with plans to put down roots in the state once again. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to travel anymore--my mom and Mia and I are flying to Europe on November 24 and will be gone for three weeks! Stay tuned to hear all about this amazing trip!
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