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Howdy!
Been cruising around the Rockies and the Grand Canyon for the last couple of weeks and have been seeing and doing heaps of stuff.
Gerards Mum and Dad (Kaye and Joe) met us in Denver and we checked out the sites of the city. Weren't that impressed- at the end of the day, its just another US city.
Grabbed our hire car and headed towards Rocky Mountain National Park. Stayed at a really nice villa in Estes Park that backed onto a river and the boys enjoyed wetting a line even thought they had no luck. Went for a hike in the national park which was a very memorable experience. The walk was about a 7km round trip and we enjoyed a well deserved lunch halfway at Emerald Lake but as we started walking back the clouds descended and it went from raining to hailing (huge marble size) in minutes. Being the organised people we are, we had no wet weather gear and had to shelter under trees with strangers because that hail hurt! Have never seen anything like it. Lasted about 20 mins and by the time it finished it looked like it had snowed which was pretty special.
Was dragged to a Rodeo that was at some county fair near where we were staying. We were surrounded by red necks and although everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, I spent most of the time not watching and feeling sorry for the animals (esp the little calves been dragged by the neck). Give it 10 years and these types of rodeos will be illegal! Gerard didnt seem to mind it though. Hmmm. Having said this, the bull fighting was bearable. Speaking of bears, on the way home we saw a black bear in the bushes eating roadkill. Pretty cool.
Spent a few days driving around the Rockies. The Rockies are beautiful and we felt like we were in Switzerland or something. Stayed in Leadville which is the highest city in the states. Joe was pretty excited by the mining name. ??? Went to Aspen for lunch to spot all the celebs but no luck.
We then made our way to Mesa Verde which is a national park and is famous for a number of "cliff dwellings". These are ancient places where some Native American tribes used to live although there is a bit of a mystery because one day they just disappeared and everyone has their own theories about what happened to them. Was really impressive and we enjoyed getting an up close and personal look. From here we got back onto the road and drove via Monument Valley which looked just like the Wild West of the movies.
One of the best things that we have done this trip was to go to a place called Antelope Canyon which is just outside Page, Arizona. It's a photographers dream. No further description is needed - just check out the photos. Amazing!
Next stop was the Grand Canyon. Went on another hike (I know im a fitness junkie now haha) down the Bright Angel trial which goes basically from the top of the canyon to the bottom. However we only walked down for about 50 mins and this was fine until we turned back and had to start the ascent up. Now that was a pretty tough walk but well worth it.
Also had an action packed day white water rafting in the big GC on the Colorado River. Was an incredibly tiring day but was a fantastic experience. We had a very knowledgeable Native American guide who told us stories of his people and why the GC means so much to them. We were also lucky enough to get a helicopter ride back up to the top of the canyon! That was very fun and scenic! At the top of the canyon we checked out the new Skywalk. Pricey but worth it.
And now…..we head to Viva Las Vegas to win back some of the money we have blown on this trip…..or lose more……
Thanks for a great time Mum/Kaye and Dad/Joe!!!!
Hope you are all well
Catchya
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