I am writing our vacation in two blogs. The first (this one) will cover our trips to AL, OK, and CO. The second will cover our trip to Idaho and the long trip home with our new babies.

Before we left I said goodbye to Hercules and Hebe, and from the giant hugs I think you can see that they understood I was leaving.

Our vacation started with a wedding in Montgomery, AL. We are thrilled for our friends Andrew and Emily, the new Mr. and Mrs. Sims! Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of the bride and groom but here is a picture of us with our wonderful friends who opened their home to us.

We left Montgomery at midnight and drove 13 hours to Oklahoma City. Yep, we are crazy. We spent the day with some good friends and their adorable kids. Adorable.

We literally spent the day with superheroes. It doesn’t get much better. After resting and a good nights sleep we left the following morning at 5 am for Estes Park, Colorado … Another 12 hours away. Yes, we know we are crazy.

Now, I have to tell you. We were not prepared for Estes Park. I have truly never seen anywhere as beautiful. This was the first sight we saw when entering the town.

And that picture is through my dingy car window. Wow.

We ate dinner at a neat little place called the Rock Inn. The trout was phenomenal. Then we went to bed. Yea, big partiers here. Ha. Seriously, we were asleep by 8pm mtn time.

The next morning we were bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for the day. (Ok, maybe not bushy tailed.) We ate breakfast at The Egg and I. We both had the Parisian Eggs Benedict. Unreal good.

I will find a way to replicate this with our fresh eggs.

Next we started the part of the day Justin was dreading. We had a 2 hour trail ride (yes, on horseback) scheduled for 10 am! Justin was so nervous. Here he is on Icicle:

I didn’t realize when I signed us up this was a pretty legit trail. Lots of rocks, hairpin turns, upward trails, a little slipping, but LOTS of scenery. Justin told me after we were done he was terrified at first. But after a while he settled in and ended up loving it. In fact, it’s all he’s talked about. He wants to start riding back home. Sombrero Ranch has amazing employees and our guide was phenomenal. We are thrilled we booked this activity. Here are some pictures.

My view for the day 🙂 Smoky!

Those are all the pictures I got. The terrain got rocky 🙂 and losing my phone would be tragic.

After our ride we went to eat lunch at Poppy’s Pizza. We ordered the Rocky Mountain Pizza. Oh. My. Word. Cream cheese, red onions, and ….trout! Yep, you read that right. Delish.

We have seen lots of wildlife which thrills Justin. He’s honestly like a child, which I love.

Big Horn Sheep

Elk

Mule deer

The rest of our afternoon was spent in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I literally have no words for the beauty we have seen today. I am in awe of God. His handiwork is amazing and I could feel him today. I could feel His might and His power. He made this. Made it.

I will leave you all with this:
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95:3-5

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. Psalm 65:5-8