Colorado - Day Five

Day Five and we love satelitte radio even more. Heading towards the mountains seriously reminded me of Eastern Washington and how it's all flat and golden. But soon we were heading up, up and more up. We had decided to do some geocaching during the long drive and the GPS was reading 11,000 feet elevation. No wonder our heads felt like it they were about to burst! Then all of a sudden we saw the signs for The Continental Divide (and our geocache!).

This is a picture taken from the pullout on the Continental Divide. I loved knowing that very soon our trip would be taking us closer and closer to those mountains ahead.

OH yeah, I had that great divide between my legs!

This is Big D at our geocache we found on the Continental Divide.

So this picture is actually upside down but I just really liked how it looked. I like feet pictures but I'm refraining from posting too many of them - this one was an exception however.

This was my true view of where I took that shoe picture. When we saw this rock we literally ran to it. Below is Ponderosa Springs and looks to be retirement heaven. So many houses had lakes and rivers on their property - all guarded by the mountains. It's also very close to the Southwest terrain of the state so you can get the best of both worlds. I was really loving Colorado at this point.

That's my butt in reflection taken by Big D.

They call it Chimney Rock. I call it C*ck Rock. Don't judge - you thought the same thing when you saw it.

What is this? A kiva! We had finally made our way to Cortez, Colorado to stay at Kelly Place. It's a fantastic bed and breakfast that has actual pueblan ruins on it. The property was huge and one of the most positive experiences on this trip.

So right away we got there and explored some of the ruins - this kiva is literally a minute walk from the house. We peered in and it was soooo stinking dark that I took a picture to illuminate it below but the above was the result. Very mysterious.

This was our view of the kiva. Big D immediately decided to go down first.

It's so funny because once we were inside it was totally bright and easy to see. They've obviously made some efforts to preserve this kiva to be visitor friendly. We wandered to another kiva further on the property and it was vastly different. More eerie to me so I didn't take pictures.

The sun was setting as we explored the property. Their (Kelly Place) property actually meets up with Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. So amazing.

Big D striking a red rock pose.

This is my sunset, album cover pose after we passed over to the Canyon of the Ancients line. Canyon hiking is such a great way to end the day. I have bliss on my face if you can't tell.

Those lights are from the building that we were staying in - literally the middle of nowhere. I was standing in this field the next night, at midnight, and felt things crawl over my toes. Who knows. I loved Kelly Place though - loved it.

Memory from our 20s:

Krista: I have two - all this driving reminded me of the many trips I took down to Cali to visit Big D while she attended Humboldt when I was 23-25.

Second I should mention that on today's long drive I exchanged many text messages with some past co-workers who totally punked me. I hated working for NWTS - hated it. Underpaid, underappreciated and unfulfilling work. However, I met some remarkable people and was constantly punked by the "Bellevue Boys" that worked there when I was 22-25. Ken - you will be a great father - Congratulations!! You got me good!

Big D: Speaking of Humboldt - all of today's driving reminded Big D of the first trip to Humboldt she took with our friend Jessica when she was 20. It was literally love at first sight and she knew instantly Humboldt was the one. She chose a great path as a result of that trip.