This year’s family vacation took us to Vail, Colorado for a resort experience, thanks to a church member who had an extra week with their timeshare. We journeyed down last Saturday, via Rocky Mountain National Park, and arrived in our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite that evening, where Sarah immediately took advantage of the huge in-room Jacuzzi.

Sunday morning, we found the only LC-MS church in the area, got dressed up & headed to Edward, Co. When we arrived, there was a band on the lawn and Pastor said, “this must be their Spanish service”. Instead, it was their annual 4^th of July outdoor service, in which the pastor was in shorts and an untucked button down shirt. Now, I’m all for the occasional outdoor service, but when I’m 7 months pregnant, in a dress, at 90 degrees, I really don’t want to sit out on a blanket in the grass. Everybody else brought lawn chairs. We missed that memo. After a half hour musical concert, it appeared as if ‘church’ had begun. Forty minutes later, we were all sitting around, eating hot dogs and ice cream. It was an experience, to say the least.

Monday morning, we decided to explore a bit. Vail is a nice area, complete with 2 separate villages, both connected, with resorts and bike paths all throughout & on either end. Shops occupy most of the villages, with hanging flower pots and manicured gardens all along the paths. It is a tourist area, both in winter & in summer, and they know how to keep people coming back year after year. It was beautiful with all the flowers in bloom along the manicured paths.

Tuesday, we took a harrowing day drive to the west, up to a lake on a mountain. The dirt road was on the side of a cliff, switchbacks all the way up, and not frequently traveled. After 2+ hours at 15 mph, I was glad to get to the top for a secluded picnic lunch with the mosquitoes. Eden loved hiking with her new hiking boots.

Wednesday, we took in the 4^th of July parade, and then walked along the streets, listening to some of the musical entertainment. After naps and swimming, we went back for the fireworks. Waiting for darkness, Eden occupied herself with a family across the lawn, taking a young man’s hat on and off him for at least 20 minutes. By the time the show started, she was buried in the quilt, snuggled between us with her ‘kiki’ (blanket) and pacifier. She didn’t move until it was time to go! Vail’s fireworks were the best show either of us had seen since leaving St. Louis It was beautifully colorful, and well done by the pros. Definitely worth staying up for.

Thursday morning, we caught the shuttle for the Alpine Gardens in Ford Park.

We hiked through the gardens and took in all the waterfalls, natural hiking paths, and numerous plants growing among the rocks. It’s always amazing to me how roots can grow right out of a rock.

That evening, we loaded Eden into the backpack and took a ride up the gondola to the top of
Vail Mountain. Eden said, “wowww” over and over again, all the way up the mountain. In the summer, you can hike the trails up there, but the wind was so strong, we didn’t get very far. Eden wrapped her blanket around her like the Virgin Mary and said, “Cold” repeatedly.

Friday, we bummed around, went swimming and then out to eat at a Pizzaria called Pazzos in the village. It was great pizza, and Eden ate almost the whole loaf of “cheeesee” bread by herself! After supper, we walked along Streamside walk and enjoyed the river. Eden just wanted to play in the rocks.

Throughout the week, we biked the Gore Valley Trail, which went from our resort east, winding through playground areas, residential areas, shopping streets, into the woods, and out in the sun up into the mountains. Being as the air was so devoid of oxygen, we thoroughly enjoyed going downhill. Eden would scream “wheeeee” from her bike trailer. We also visited just about every playground in a 10 mile radius, prompted by Eden saying, “play”, of course. Sarah enjoyed the nearby 7-Eleven for frequent slurpies (very much missed from Michigan).

Saturday was the beginning of our trip home. As we did on the way down, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. This is quite possibly the favorite part of the trip (though the in-room Jacuzzi makes it a toss-up). Eden was a real trooper for the drive through the mountains, where we saw a herd of Elk, snow capped mountains, lakes & all the sites that God created. We took a short hike along the Colorado River in which it was very difficult to tear Eden away from the water. She kept putting her hands in the mud to get them dirty, then saying, “wash”, so we’d dunk her in the river. This would entail another 10 mintues of water play! After our picnic in the woods, we gathered up and headed out of the park for the 4 hour drive to Bridgeport.