For now here is a little sneak preview …

LONDON

PARIS

ASSISI

ROME

Day 1:

Our first stop was FAO Schwarz which is probably the most amazing toy store I have ever been in. The place is HUGE!! We made our way through the masses to the back of the first floor, past the stuffed animals, past the candy and there it was….The Muppet What Not Workshop!!! Think Build A Bear but The Muppets! They gave you an activity sheet of stickers so you could build your Muppet while you waited in line then they built it right there in front of you. This was no stuffed animal either it was an actual working puppet! I wanted to make one so bad until I found out they were $130 and then I remembered I was an adult and didn’t need a $130 puppet.

So after some serious arm pulling I was off to the next floor. We stepped off the elevator into a little girls dream land. There was a huge section of Barbies with a runway fashion show and little outfits. Past the Barbies they had a ton of doll houses and thousands of little accessories for them. It was just toy after toy after toy. I’m pretty sure I forgot for a while I was an adult and didn’t need any of the stuff in there. It was fun to look though!

After we left FAO we headed across the street to Central Park. Because it had been pouring all morning we weren’t real optimistic on being able to go to the park but to my surprise, the sun started to come out and the clouds cleared to leave a beautiful blue sky. We started our walk through the park by the small pond and the arched concrete bridge that you see in the Sprint commercials. It was such a unique sight to see such beautiful landscape with the tall buildings of Manhattan in the background.

A little further down the path we saw this bird fly overhead which I know, outside in a park is not all that unusual. It’s not every day though that I see a hawk with a dead squirrel in it’s beak fly past and land right next to a crowd of people to eat it’s snack. It just hung out on the branch staring down at everyone chomping away while a whole crowd of people took it’s picture. This is your fair warning the following 2 pictures are nature at it’s best…it’s really not that bad but if you don’t want to see it, keep scrolling.

After a while the bird dropped it’s lunch and flew away so off we went as well in search of the Arcade. We weren’t quite sure where we were going even after looking at numerous maps as well as getting directions from a rickshaw driver but that was part of the fun of exploring. We passed the Tavern on the Green which was decorated with pretty lanterns and shrubbery shaped like tall animals. Even from way outside you could see the numerous chandeliers hanging on the ceilings of the restaurant. We really wanted to go inside the courtyard area to check it out but that meant cutting through the hostess area and seeing as how we were sopping wet from walking in the rain and not even remotely dressed appropriately we decided against it. Along the way we also saw the checkers/chess pavilion which was pretty cool as well as a fenced in area called Sheep Meadow. I guess back in the early 1900′s sheep could be found grazing there. Now it is just a quiet place for people to go relax.

Finally we made it to the Arcade. I am not really sure why I wanted to see this so badly. I guess there was just something cool about this structure in a park that you could go under and over and was decorated with beautiful mosaics and tiles inside and the archways and columns that made it appealing. The Arcade is also home to the weirdest public bathroom stalls I have ever seen. I was a little skeptical using this bathroom in the first place due to the shady characters hanging about outside but then it got weirder. The stalls were only about shoulder high so when you stood up you could see your neighbor in the stall right next to you. Can you say akwaaaaard?? I still don’t know the official reason behind these short stalls but my take is so you can tell if some sketchy person is hiding in there to get you. They don’t have much room to hide. If anyone knows the actual reason please share as I am curious to know.

In front of the Arcade there was a man playing the saxophone. I don’t know a whole lot about music but he was pretty good! I was not the only one who thought so because quite a large crowd had gathered up on top of the Arcade and around the fountain to listen. When he was done everyone starting throwing dollar bills down for him. I found this quite amusing because it was literally raining money!

It was starting to get late and Tom & Jodi were on their way into the city to meet us for dinner so we started to make our way back out of the park. We took a different route back out then we had taken in and found these amazing twisty trees. I am not sure what they are called but I want them at my house!

And what day in NYC wouldn’t be complete without stopping to have my picture taken with the Statue of Liberty…

Day 2

Since Saturday was dedicated to the Manhattan/Central Park area, Sunday I wanted to head out to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. To get to Battery Park from Hoboken the most logical way to arrive was on the Path Train into the World Trade Center subway station. As I mentioned, this is the first time I have been to NYC in over 15 years. In fact last time I was there we actually walked through the lobby of the World Trade Center and saw the hall of flags. You could still go to the top of the Statue of Liberty as well so things are a bit different now. While Ground Zero should not be seen as a tourist attraction like Times Square or Central Park, it has become just that. Anyone I have talked to who has been there since 9/11 has mentioned the same thing…they just can’t get over the overwhelming large open area where the twin towers once stood. I apparently had the same reaction. I personally had no idea the station below the World Trade Center even still existed. I wanted to see Ground Zero while I was there but had no idea I would be taking the subway right through the construction area! You are in the dark tunnel then poof it’s suddenly bright and you realize holy crap that gaping hole in the ground next to me is Ground Zero. I’m pretty sure if the huge camera didn’t give it away that I was a tourist my jaw wide open and the comment “Holy S**t” coming out of my mouth gave it away! We got off the train and walked through the station which was lined with construction fencing and mesh that made it really hard to see through but was obviously there to keep the dust and debris out of the station area. 

The walls were decorated with quotes and this one caught my eye..

Outside the station to my delight we found one of Jeff Koons’ balloon sculptures Balloon Flower (Red).

It was so pretty and shiny I just had to take my picture in it…

After checking out the balloon sculpture we made our way up the street and along the construction fence. I really wanted to get a good view inside but wasn’t having much luck. I finally found a tear in the mesh and was able to smush my camera against it to get this view…

Then I found a better hole underneath at knee height…

And then a police officer was giving me funny looks so I kept moving. Because there was no sidewalk on the construction side everyone had to cross the street. Since we were already there why not take a detour through the church-yard at St Pauls right across the street from Ground Zero. It was built in 1766 10 years before the United States was even a country so needless to say it is very old! 

The majority of the tombstones are just about as old as the church it’s self. This one was so dirty and crumbled you can barely read the words and date on it.

This one you could read the date on though which read 1791 and age 76 which I’m sure was very unusual back then.

Just to give you an idea of how close St. Pauls was to The World Trade Center, all that separated them was the small grassy area out front with a few trees and the street.

On 9/11 St. Paul’s was covered with paperwork, computer monitors and various other debris but amazingly enough was left basically unharmed. They have placed small signs around the church-yard showing photos from that day. Here is one showing the ground completely covered.

We also walked around the back of St Paul’s which gave you a really cool view showing the juxtaposition between the old church steeple and the new modern skyscrapers (yep that’s right I’m actually using something I learned in college).

Finally after about a 5 minute walk down the street we found a building that had stairs out front and obviously gave you a view over the fences across the street. I could tell by the 50+ people standing up there holding camera’s up in that direction. There were so many people in fact that they actually had a security guard who’s job was to walk back and forth telling people to stay off the top of the wall where you had the best view. Needless to say the big green sign that I had to step over to climb up on the wall to take my picture wasn’t going to stop me! This view is only one side of the construction area just to give you an idea of how big it really is!

After I had my share of Ground Zero we continued on down the street towards Battery Park of course not before stopping to have my picture taken with some business man sculpture.

After a ridiculously long walk we finally made it to Battery Park where we found “The Sphere”. “The Sphere” is a sculpture that used to be in the plaza of The World Trade Center. After 9/11 it was moved to Battery Park where an eternal flame was added to remember all that were lost. As you can see there is a fairly large hole in the top as well as other dents from debris that fell. It’s a little hard to read but the sign tells you all about it.

After standing in line to buy our tickets we headed through security to board the ferries. Normally having to wait in a security line where I have to strip down and put your bags through the X-Ray on a day where it was freezing cold and rainy would have annoying, but quite frankly I was just happy to be inside a warm tent!! Due to the nasty weather the water was a bit rough that day but of course I still wanted to sit up top. Good idea until a bird pooped on me. Oh well, it was worth it to be able to take pictures of the city as we pulled away and the Statue of Liberty as we passed by.

After a windy ride we finally arrived at the Statue of Liberty. I was pretty disappointed that you aren’t allowed in it anymore but I guess security is more important that getting cool pictures. Since I had my picture taken with the impostor Statue of Liberty I figured I might as well have it taken with the real one!

And why not a photo with Manhattan in the background while we’re at it…As you can see I am bundled up tight but wishing I had more layers to put on!

While I do take my fair share of touristy pictures on vacations I like to try and take some that are different than your average snap shot so here is my attempt at the Statue of Liberty…

The sky was changing very quickly that day, one minute it was dark and cloudy and another the sun would start to peek out from the clouds. I really loved the warm glow over the city in this one against the dark sky..

Because of the weather we decided against going to the top of the Empire State Building but at least I got to see it…

This little guy stopped to take a break from the strong winds. Of course I took cover when he decided to fly away. I wasn’t getting pooped on twice in one day!

All day long people were asking us to take their picture…I guess they thought we were professionals carrying around our big cameras or something. Most people asked for the usual “Can you take my picture with the Statue of Liberty?” and of course we would. This one woman however was all alone carrying her NYC travel guide in one hand and a bag in the other. She barely spoke English but we understood what she was asking. First we took a few with Manhattan in the background then she gives us the wait a minute sign and starts digging into her bag. She pulled out a green rubber Statue of Liberty mask, put it on and threw up one arm like she was holding a torch. It took everything I had not to start laughing hysterically! I mean tell me you wouldn’t find this funny!! It was so unexpected it made my entire day!

After a few more shots of the city we hopped back onto a ferry and headed on over to Ellis Island. While I had been to the Statue of Liberty when I was younger I don’t remember ever having been to Ellis Island so that was one of the places I really wanted to see on my weekend visit to the city. My Great Grandfather on my mom’s side came through Ellis Island when he moved to the US from Italy on March 24th, 1913. I wasn’t able to find it while at the museum but once I came home I found the actual manifest record with his information on it such as location of departure, health status, who he was meeting in the US and a few other tidbits of information that are hard to read because of the scribbled hand writing. I also find it amusing two of the questions on the manifest are…”Are you a Polygamist” and “Are you an Anarchist?”. Thankfully both were marked no! They also have a photo of the ship he came over on which eerily looks just like the ship in the movie Titanic. Thankfully his didn’t sink until it was hit by a German submarine torpedo in 1919…yeah no joke. My Great Grandfather on my dad’s side also came through Ellis Island but I was unable to find his records. My Grandmom (my dad’s mom) was born in the United States but moved back to Italy when she was only a few years old. When she finally moved back she came through Ellis Island as well but as an American Citizen.

This is the same view they would have had as they arrived for the first time into the United States

Once inside the downstairs has a variety of displays featuring old luggage and a ton of colorful fun displays showing the ratios of immigrants from different countries, men vs women, young vs old etc etc.

Downstairs we also found a very cool art installation which was a combination of the American Flag and photos of a variety of different people. Depending on where you stand you either see the just American Flag, just the faces or a combination of both.

Next we headed upstairs to the large center tile covered room where passengers waited to be inspected for admission into the United States. Let’s just say it’s not the most warm and friendly place I have ever seen.

At least the room had huge arched windows with a view of Manhattan on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other.

Since we were short on time we kind of did our own thing rather than taking a guided tour. You walked into the back hallway which was even less inviting than the main room. I mean nothing says “Welcome to America” like sterile white tiled walls before you are about to get poked and prodded.

As you went through the rooms they started off with displays of more luggage and what the travel conditions were like to come here.

Each room progressed and described what immigrants went through to be admitted to the US. Some of the rooms showed the medical devises used to inspect people. I forget the name of one tool but it was a hooked like object used to look under your eyelid to make sure you didn’t have some deadly disease…of which I also forget the name. Some of the tools were kind of creepy and made me very happy I didn’t have to go through that! They had a lot of medical documents and money from all of the different countries which was cool to see.

One of my favorite rooms however was not because of the set up displays. This room was covered with drawings and signatures of people who were stuck in there waiting to be examined. Many of the signatures were dated and go back to 1901! It’s one thing to see displays and certificates set up in museums but it makes it a little more real when you see actual drawings left behind on the walls. Here are some of the ones I found amusing or interesting…

In one of the rooms I found this neat little cash register…

I only made it about half way through the rooms upstairs when I realized the museum was closing soon and seeing as how the only way on and off the island was a ferry I figured it was a good time to get outside. Turns out we missed the 2nd to last ferry and had to go back inside to wait for what we found out was the last one off the island that night. It was kind of an ironic situation being suck at Ellis Island waiting to be taken over to the city. Thankfully the ferry arrived and we were able to head home. Of course I again rode in the freezing cold on top so I could get some good pictures of the skyline on our way back over. 

We made one final stop once we were back in Hoboken to the river side to get some night shots across the river of Manhattan. I’m not really sure what all of the extra glowing balls are but at least I can pick out the Empire State Building.

New York is not a city I could ever live in but it’s starting to grow on me a teeny bit. Thank you Lisa for letting me crash for the weekend and for letting me drag you all over the city like a tourist!!

Back in May I made my first trip out to Colorado since I was 6 months old. I went to visit my Uncle who lives just outside of Denver and to see all of the places I have photos of me at when I was a baby. I flew the fabulous South West Airlines out of the not so fabulous Philadelphia International Airport. When I booked my flight I was almost certain it said I had a layover however there was no evidence of this on my boarding pass or the screens in the terminal. Prior to boarding I found out we were to stop in Chicago to pick up new passengers but were not required to change planes which I was very excited to hear because I am not a big fan of layovers. In usual Philly fashion our plane was late taking off…I know, shocking but true. Somehow we still managed to get into Chicago on time only to find out not only did we now have to switch planes but a huge tornado was rolling past Denver and we were going to be stuck at the airport for a while. Due to our inconvenience of having to switch planes and terminals South West informed the few passengers who had to switch we were going to be given priority boarding and would be first on the plane. After a few hours of people watching at O’ Hare we were off to Denver. I have never minded flying…I actually like it to be honest but what I don’t like is waiting in line to get off the plane. I have never understood what takes so long for people to gather their belongings and walk off. Thanks to my pre-boarding status however I was in the front row and first off. I can assure you that will most likely never happen again in my life. After a quick flight were on the ground in Denver and apparently the last flight in for the night. The place was empty and all of the stores were closed. Thankfully it made it that much easier to get my luggage. My uncle picked me up from the airport and we were off to his house in Longmont.

DAY 2: “They put what kind of peppers in the sauce?”

I was able to adjust to the new time zone very quickly after only being in town for a few hours. I think I managed to sleep in until 10am Denver time which was noon to me. Since I arrived at night I didn’t get to see how close he really lives to the mountain range. As soon as I woke up in the morning I started checking out the windows to see what was around and to my delight this was the view out the front bedroom…

It was incredible! That is the first time I have seen mountains that big in my life, or at least that I remember since I was a baby last visit. As you can see even in May there is still a decent amount of snow on the peaks still. My not knowing any better was under the assumption it was cold outside. Wrong…it was in the mid 80′s out. My Uncle had to work for the first half of the day so just hung out around the house sitting on the front patio or watching TV until he came home around lunch time. For lunch he took me out to an authentic Mexican restaurant. I am not a big fan of hot and spicy foods so I ordered a mild burrito which you would think should be safe. It was your typical burrito with a shell, meat, refried beans, rice and cheese..surrounded by the hottest pepper sauce I have ever had in my entire life!!! I had no idea what it was so of course I took a huge bite and needless to say my mouth was absolutely on fire for the next hour. Apparently the chef kicked all of the sauces up a notch that day. Thanks for the heads up buddy! I made myself a cute little burrito moat and ate the center out leaving the shell and sauce. Later that evening we headed into Denver to watch a Rockies Game which was a lot of fun. If you have never been to Coors field the first thing you may notice is the single row of purple seats that wraps around the stadium. Since I am not from Denver of course I ask the silly question “what’s the deal with the one row of purple seats?”. Turns out it marks the height of one mile above sea level which makes total sense seeing as how Denver is the “mile high city”. For the most part the game was quite enjoyable. I had nachos for dinner with shredded beef almost like pulled pork on them which were really yummy…of course I made sure to ditch the hot peppers. I think my mouth had it’s fair share of spicy food that day already. I learned two major things that night at the Rockies game. 1. It doesn’t matter how hot it was during the day a winter coat is your friend. And 2. Going to other sporting events makes you realize just how cool the Phanatic really is!! Oh how I missed his crazy belly shaking dance on the dug out and four wheel antics in between innings. Due to my being on East Coast time still I about hit the wall energy wise somewhere around the 7th inning. When the game went into extra innings we decided it was time to head out. Thank goodness we did because it ended up going 15 innings. I couldn’t even tell you who won.

DAY 3: “I’m going to hear the sound of her shutter clicking in my sleep tonight”

Day three was INSANE! I have never seen that many different places in one day in my life. We left the house early and headed out towards Boulder which is a very pretty area with lots of open land and mountains. 

We didn’t necessarily have a plan in mind that day so we were sort of just driving around. After passing through Boulder we headed up this very windy road where there was a good view of the mountain peaks and the snow on top of them. I was expecting it to be in a park however it was actually someone’s driveway that we stopped at. They had this awesome huge log arch that was the gate to their road. It’s obviously something I am not used to seeing here in PA.

We stopped on the side of the road to check out the view which looked just like this…

It was so quiet and peaceful up there but I couldn’t imagine having to travel back and forth on the dirt roads in the middle of winter. Most people who live in that area work down in Boulder which was around a 40 minute drive with dry roads. After our little pit stop we headed back down hill to find a road that cut through the mountains to get to the Golden Gate Canyon State Park. The park had views that were just as good if not better as our stop up on the dirt roads. There was a lookout you could walk out on to which gave you a panoramic view of almost the entire mountain range. On the railing of the lookout they had a map of what you were seeing in front of you with each of the peaks labeled. From there you could see Long’s Peak and Mount Meeker which I believe are the two highest peaks in the range at 14,256 feet and 13,911 feet. After staring out at the peaks for a while I started to notice all of the houses down in the valley some of which were not so little. You can see them in the picture below…

This is the view behind the lookout of the dirt road leading through the park.

While the mountains are cool you can only stare at them for so long so off we were to the next location. I had mentioned to my uncle that I really wanted to see some of the old abandoned mining towns while I was out there. For some reason I picture them as those old western towns you see in the movies with the wood saloons and the cowboys obviously this is not what they look like but it’s fun to pretend. Most of the old ghost towns as they are referred to are about 3 hours away from where my uncle lives so we headed into a little town called Black Hawk once home to the Golden Gilpin Gold Mill. The mill still exists but has not been used for years.

The mill was once the main source of income for this town but it has been replaced with a booming casino business. As you drive down the main street you are surrounded by casinos with new ones popping up in the open lots. It was a little crazy to see as you wouldn’t expect something like that out there. It reminded me of the Indian Casino’s up in New York.

This picture below is the view from the bus parking lot a top the hill. You can see the new casino/hotel tower being constructed on the right which will be huge in comparison to the other casinos.

Since we had no plans of staying to gamble and I wanted to get to Red Rocks before the sun set, we headed out of town. No more than 5 minutes after leaving the casino area we were rounding a bend when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye on the cliff. I casually said to my uncle something about seeing deer up on the side of the cliff. He gave me a funny look because quite obviously deer don’t climb cliffs. Then he realized they were BIG HORN SHEEP!!! I was beyond excited because A: We don’t have Big Horn Sheep in PA and B: They are supposedly not seen very often outside of a national park. Not surprisingly I made him turn around which wasn’t an easy task on a windy narrow road with guard rails against the edge of each side. We found a safe spot to turn around and flew back to the bend where I saw them at. They were much higher up by the time we got back but he was correct they were Big Horn Sheep and this was the cliff they were climbing up which as you can see was very steep…

And here are the sheep!!! They really really blend in to the rocks so how on earth I saw them is beyond me!

After watching for a while we were able to count 12 sheep in total. Most were adults but a few were babies still. 

And then there was this guy…

He was the only one who appeared to have a tag on and seemed to be the leader of the group. Since we were pretty far away and I was using my zoom lens they didn’t seem to mind the fact that we were there. This one sheep with the tag though was constantly staring at me a bit weary of what I was doing. I guess it is just his instincts to protect the rest of the group. I was really happy that we were able to go back and get a better view of them and that I had my zoom lens with me to get so many good pictures. The sheep finally made their way to the top of the cliff where they went out of sight. Happy about my find we hopped back in the car to head to Red Rocks.

On the way we decide to stop in a little town called Idaho Springs, CO to get some lunch. As we were pulling up to the restaurant I spotted this huge red building that said Argo Mine on the front. It was yet another gold mine. As I got out of the car to take a few pictures I noticed a raft of people floating down stream then got out right at the mine. As it turns out there was a white water rafting company located in side part of the old mine building. We ate our lunch then headed over to get info as I have always wanted to go white water rafting and what better place to do it than Colorado. Since we didn’t have time to go that day we put our names in for Monday when we had the whole day free. We hopped back in the car…next stop Red Rocks…for real this time.

As I mentioned above, the last time I was in Colorado I was only 6 months old so I don’t remember any of it. I do know from looking at old pictures that my parents took me to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. We have numerous pictures of me sitting on my parents laps with the rocks in the background. I thought it would be cool to find the same spot I had my picture taken at 27 years prior and take a new one of me with the rocks in the background to send to my parents. Of course I forgot to bring the original pictures with me so we just made a guess which was close enough. Here is the red rock…

And here is me in front of the red rock…

Red Rocks Amphitheater is unlike any other amphitheater that I have ever seen! It is beautiful! I will let the pictures speak for themselves. This is the view from the top…

This is the city of Denver that you can see when you stand at the top of the seating area. Way out in the distance to the right of the sky scrapers is Denver Airport which looks like a circus tent, although I am told it is supposed to look like snowy mountain peaks. In the bottom center you can see a very large spanish style resort being built. At least I hope it is a resort because if it is someone’s house I’m pretty jealous! 

While taking pictures from the top I saw a few adults doing stair workouts running up and down. I also saw a few little kids who tried to run from the bottom to the top and were seriously struggling to even walk about half way up. Me being the moron that I am thought hmm if little kids can do it I can do it so I made my way to the bottom. First I did a little exploring of the stage area to see what the view was like from down there. Then I went around to the stairs that led down to the trails below. I found a very funny sign informing visitors to check their heart rate on the way up for safety sake and that there was a defibrillator at the top in the office just incase. That should have been my first clue that running to the top was a stupid idea. My second clue should have been that I was much higher up than the city of Denver aka “Mile High City” and Boulder where many runners come to do altitude training for marathons. None of that phased me though…I was determined to run the whole way to the top. Needless to say I live at sea level…I made it 30 steps and honestly thought I was going to die. Maybe next time! It was starting to get dark so it was time to head out. Here are a few pictures I took from the parking lot. You can see how large these rocks really are compared to the cars in the lot next to them.

Also here is the view down one of the walking trails. It is much steeper than it looks in this picture. The little black square in the center is a parking lot and the tree next to the trail is full grown if that gives you any sense of scale.

I made my uncle pull over one last time as we drove through his neighborhood to get a few pictures of the sun setting over the mountains. His comment to my aunt (his sister) who we spoke to on the way home made me laugh…”I’m going to be hearing the sound of her shutter clicking in my sleep tonight”. 

Day 4: “What did you think was going to happen when you stood in front of a kid throwing rocks?”

Sunday’s are usually my uncle’s day with his son/my cousin Matthew and of course there was no reason to let my being there get in the way of that. There is a near by park that they like to go to and check out the geese and like any kid throw rocks into the pond. What makes this park cool compared to others is it is strictly for kids. They have a fairly large pond they keep stocked with fish just for the little ones to use as well as a big rec room for birthday parties and events. It’s a nice peaceful place for a family day out together. It was a beautiful sunny day out so we thought it would be a nice opportunity to get some pictures of Matthew and his dad together laughing and having a good time.

After the photo shoot we headed over to the pond to throw some rocks. I learned very quickly it is not a good idea to cross in front of a child who is throwing rocks into the pond! I managed to get hit with a fairly large rock straight on my eyebrow which Matthew happened to find hysterical. I must say I found it hysterical too seeing as how I should have known better. 

After the park we decided to take another drive up through the mountains to do some more sight seeing. First we headed to a lookout that should have had a great view of Mt Meeker. It did not. It was by far the worst lookout I have ever seen marked on a highway in my life! See for yourself…

This is the “You are Here” sign on the Peak to Peak Highway. All of the red dots on the map mark the small towns where minors or vacationers would have stopped along their travels.

This is the “view” of Mt Meeker the second highest peak in this mountain range. As you can see the view could use a little less trees and a little more mountain top.

The next few pictures are from the drive back down the mountain. The road was pretty cool. It had steep cliffs on both sides with a stream that ran the full length down into the valley. The water was moving quite fast as it was mostly snow melting off the peaks as the weather got warmer. I was quite intrigued by the evergreen trees that were growing right out of the side of the rocks. I have no idea what they were hanging on to but it was quite a sight!

This guy cracked me up. He was riding his crazy contraption of a bike down the same steep roads through the mountains that we were. I saw numerous other bikers out and about with your more traditional 10 speed style bikes but this I had never seen before and couldn’t imagine trying to ride through the mountains! Apparently they are quite popular out that way.

Day 5: “It never rains in Colorado”

Everyone continuously told me before and during my trip that the weather is great in Colorado, it’s sunny all the time, lighting and thunder is frequent but “it never rains in Colorado”. Riiiiiiiiight! Of course it was my luck that on the day we signed up to go white water rafting it was around 50 and pouring. Still optimistic that the rain would clear we headed back to Idaho Springs with hopes we could still do our rafting trip that day. This was what the weather looked like in town…

We watched one group get out of the river soaking wet and shivering and called it quits. The day wasn’t a total wash though. If you recall the white water rafting company shared a building with the Argo Gold Mine that happened to give tours and let you pan for gold at the end. It was beyond a tourist attraction but hey what else were we going to do on a rainy day. With camera’s in hand we headed into the tour office to find a quirky gentleman who started to give us the tour speech. This man had obviously given this speech thousands of times because he spoke in a very mono tone voice and rambled off the information like he could have done it in his sleep. It reminded me of the teacher from Ferris Bueller which of course made me giggle. Before the actual tour starts you have to sit and watch a 15-20 minute video/slideshow thing on the mine and how it got started etc. You then went outside and got on a school bus which took you to the top to start the tour. Seeing as how this was once a real working mine you would think they would make you stay with a tour guide but I guess they do things a bit different at the Argo Mine. This was a self guided tour. The first stop is a trip into the mine shaft.

It wasn’t very long…or very interesting. You put on your hardhat and walk a few hundred feet back to a dead end where they have a few tools in a cage then turn around and come back. Getting to wear a hardhat was the most exciting part!

After the mine shaft you walked down a path and got to see all of the machines they used to crush the rocks and break the gold out. They had a little old building with a sign that said owners office…I took their word since you weren’t allowed in it. Next you went into the building where the gold was sorted out of the rock as well as a variety of other things I didn’t understand. This is where it got a bit sketchy! There were a lot of balconies and steep wood stairs that were shaky and creaky. It looked a little something like this inside…

At the bottom they had many displays of equipment and tools that the miners used which were pretty interesting. They also had a little cart that was used to bring rocks out of the mine. I really wanted to climb in it to have my picture taken but the numerous “this room is under video surveillance” signs made me think it was most likely a bad idea!

At the end of the tour you went back out front where they taught you how to pan for gold. They had given every one a small baggie of sand and dirt that was supposed to have flakes of gold mixed in with it. It wasn’t quite as exciting as if we had really found gold on our own but we still had fun and both found flakes of gold in our bags!

And finally no trip to the gold mine would be complete without stopping in the pouring rain to point out a little spelling error on the sign. I’m not the best speller but even I knew this wasn’t correct!

Day 6: Back to Philly

After an extended and very fun weekend it was time to go home. I have always been one of those people who likes to be at the airport way earlier than is ever necessary. I would much rather sit at the gate for an extra hour reading a magazine or people watching than running through the airport trying to catch my flight. When my uncle said I only needed to be at the airport an hour before my flight I was a bit nervous. Keep in mind it was Memorial Day weekend when tons of people travel so that added to my anxiety of getting through security, on the train and to my gate on time. To my surprise it was a breeze! If you ever have the opportunity to fly in or out of the Denver Airport…do it! I can’t say enough good things about this place. It’s clean, the people are friendly, the wait time for security was all of 10 minutes on Memorial Day weekend, you get to listen to Camptown races on the train between gates and your luggage is spinning on the baggage claim before you even get there!! A+ Denver…I guess anything is a step up from Philly though! I made it to my gate in plenty of time and had a smooth flight back to Philly where I had to wait almost an hour to get my luggage. I guess you can’t win them all!

I got the idea the other day to create this new blog dedicated entirely to my travels (and other random thoughts non wedding related)…I thought brides and grooms might appreciate not having to scroll past pages of my vacations to see their engagement and wedding photos. I have numerous photos from trips and other various occasions this past year that I have been putting off posting because lets face it I’m a wee bit behind on my wedding photography blog. I will be catching up on that this weekend I hope.

So in the near future I should be posting photos from my travels to Colorado, Pittsburgh, NYC plus lots more.

I also have a very big and very exciting trip coming up in early March that I can’t wait to go on if it all works out. I will post more about that later.

For now enjoy your week and try and stay warm!