From Salida, we headed up the mountain to Sherry and Bruce’s home. I had forgotten how far up they lived and also how many homes were really around them.
Madison was still fighting her fever, so we pushed the girls through the shower and tucked them in bed before really spending any time talking. The first two nights here were a little rough – a lot of getting up for me with uncomfortable, scared kids – but it was fine.
We hung out at the cabin some. Sherry had broken her hand about two weeks prior, so we tried to help out as much as possible. Ellie helped mix up and make pancakes one morning.
Another day, the girls were busy baking cream cheese brownies and eating the caramel from the caramel rolls.
One day, Jeremy took them on short rides on the four wheeler.
We watched the hummingbirds, played ladderball and horseshoes, ate well, read, watched a movie, talked, and played with the dominos… endlessly!
Jeremy had to go to Aspen for another job site, so he left on Saturday morning to take a winding road over Independence Pass… kinda a harrowing experience from the sounds of it.
Sherry, the girls, and I took the time to tour around Alpine and go to St. Elmo, an old mining town. If you look close you can see marmots in the pictures with the white building.
There, we got to feed the chipmunks. They LOVE sunflower seeds. Madison fed them off her shoe, her leg, and her hand. Ellie stuck to her hand. I just fed them to keep them from crawling all over me.
The next day (Sunday), Jeremy and Bruce went out fly fishing. Jeremy had a blast and caught a few fish. Bruce did, too. Apparently, this brown trout was big and a great catch!
While they fished, we girls went up Alpine Tunnel hike. It is a fairly easy hike with the path following an old train track. It was where I took most of the flower pictures. We first stopped to see Ellie Bell mine.
We hiked for about 50 minutes – until we saw the Columbine flower – then we turned around and hit a little rain on the way to the car.
It was so good to see my aunt and uncle again. I think the last time they visited was in 2013. I had seen them when I had gone to Oklahoma for Grandpa’s funeral. But the girls didn’t know them at all. Sherry said it was good to get to know your kids. And I agree. That’s what family is – getting to know one another. Hopefully, they will make it out this way soon, and it will not be our last trip to Colorado. We are so thankful for the time they gave us while we were there and the memories we made.
