We were so blessed to travel to Colorado to be a part of Keith and Katrina’s wedding! They are a great couple who met at our church three years ago. Keith was a student and football player at Amherst College, and Katrina a French major at Mt. Holyoke College. They are both from Denver, had friends in common, and even attended the same church for a while there, but never met until they came nearly 2000 miles “back east” to go to college!
After graduation last year, Keith went to work in New York City while Katrina went back home to work in Denver. This made pre-marital counseling kind of tricky, but they ended up doing each session via conference call! Robert wasn’t sure this would work so well, but it ended up being a real delight for all involved – probably due to the dedication and earnestness of this couple who did all of their homework and were ready each week with questions, real life scenarios they had already experienced together to draw from, and lots of authenticity. And of course, Robert is a pro at this wedding stuff – so his guidance made it all the more fruitful.
The ceremony was beautiful and Robert got many compliments on his sermon. The inspiration for this particular wedding sermon came from our time on the plane to Denver and the emergency instructions given prior to each take off…..oxygen mask will drop, lights will direct you to nearest exit….seat can be used as a flotation device…..etc. He pointed out that these two would be taking off on a flight that has a 50% crash rate….not good odds at all…..bad enough to make you reconsider the flight altogether….unless, of course, you can choose your Captain based on His crash rate. Thankfully, Keith and Katrina have chosen the Captain who already went down in the plane making a way for them to not have to. We pray that they will continue to seek Christ, the Captain, as their source and example for a lasting marriage.
It was a mid-morning wedding, so Robert reserved us two tickets to see the Denver Rockies play the Seattle Mariners that evening – our first Major League baseball game! Can you believe we’ve lived in Massachusetts 10 years now and have still never been to Fenway Park? Well, the game was great and as you can see, we had pretty good seats – in an upper deck, but right behind home plate. I love being at a baseball game! Takes me back to junior high watching friends Mike and Mike play and argue over who was the more important player – the pitcher or the catcher, attending high school games, and sneaking away (from high school on official newspaper business, of course) with journalism friends Wes, Mike, and Larry to see the Longhorns play in Austin!
Seventh inning stretch above. And we though the game might go into overtime as they were tied up close to the end, but the Rockies pulled it out for their 10th straight win. Very exciting!
The next morning, we headed north to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We set up camp (Katrina’s very sweet parents loaned us their camping gear!) and then went on a 6 mile hike from our campsite to a place called Cub Lake. Late that night we went out for dinner. We tried to make it to a restaurant called Mama Rose’s whose menu stated they would be happy to make any pasta dish gluten free by shredding zucchini to replace the pasta. We arrived in town too late though, and ended up eating Mexican food yet again! (Usually not a problem, but we had already eaten it A LOT !)
Monday morning, after making it through a rain storm in the tent that night, we cooked a yummy bacon and egg breakfast, packed lunch for the day’s hike and drove to the trail head of some higher elevation hikes in the area. Here we are one mile in at a beautiful waterfall called Alberta Falls.
It was a fun surprise to encounter lots of different wildlife along the way. This elk was just sunning and snacking in a pasture near our campsite.
A Stellar’s Jay and little ground squirrel vied for crumbs from our lunch. We actually had to “shoo” the little squirrel away when he put his head inside our bag of crackers!
Very cute, but very persistent!
3.5 miles of hiking brought us to Mills Lake and the scene depicted on the Colorado state quarter. A park ranger suggested this hike by pulling out the quarter and asking if we’d like to see THAT view. It was enought to convince us, and we were not disappointed. The lake and snowy mountain peaks around us were just beautiful. We even stopped for a minute to read some Psalms declaring the splendor and majesty of the Lord as seen in His creation.
The second part of the hike that day took us a mile further and 1000 ft. higher! This was definitely a more difficult hike: steep, narrow, rocky path and then SNOW! We were not as prepared as other hikers for the snow, and did quite a bit of slipping. Robert found a makeshift hiking pole here in order to traverse the slippery terrain!
And 7 miles into the hike was our final destination – the Loch – elevation 10,180 ft. This is where we had lunch and fought with the animals to keep it to ourselves – right there beside that rock. It was very cold and windy here, so before dessert – a dark chocolate bar – we headed for a cleft in a rock to get out of the chilly weather. The chocolate was fuel for the 2 mile hike back to the trail head!
What a wonderful time! We didn’t want to leave the beauty, solitude, and crisp mountain air, but it was great encouragement and refreshment, and we are so thankful for the creative and abundant ways the Lord provides for us to have these times together. He is so good to us.
This is a lovely post – the pictures really flesh out the numbers! I really like the one of you two on the rock. Miss you!
Colorado air is so good for the soul 🙂
I love Cub Lake! And we've taken pictures on that very rock [smile].
~Luke
Wow, what a terrific trip! Your photos are wonderful. I would love to see that waterfall. I'm so glad you had that special time together. 🙂
Shirley
sounds like an amazing trip…I am so glad you got some time away with your hubby!
Wow, I started out looking for a specific kind of hiking picture today for something I'm working on with a friend–"Massachusetts Treasure Hikers" and I stumbled on your blog. I studied French at Mt. Holyoke and teach French now; I am a Christian living in Mass.; I love to hike and love nature; I feel connected to you and have never met you! I do not eat gluten-free, but find some of this a bit inspiring however! I do have students who need gf diets. Nice to meet you by blog!
Thanks, everyone! It was a great time. Luke…great to "meet" you and look at your blog and find that you write for Sonlight. Hope the adoption process is moving forward smoothly. And to my new Mt. Holyoke Alum friend in Mass….hi! Thanks for commenting!