The 100% humidity air feels heavier than ever as we step outside the airport terminal at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. With two giant car seats, 88 pounds of luggage, two diaper bags, two strollers and two toddlers in tow, we struggle to fill our lungs with heavy air. All the same, its nice to be home in good old Texas.
'Heavy air' because we spent the last week nearly two miles above our home elevation where the air is noticeably thinner. And noticeably cooler.
Troy's mom and stepdad rented a cabin in The Rocky Mountain National Park, in Estes Park, Colorado. It was a very welcome change in temperature from home. Our high for the whole stay was near 75 degrees F. The lows...near 35 degrees. (A little too cold at night!)
And yes, snow! It was snowing in June. Troy and Johnna are from Texas, there is no snow to mention most years, there is no snow in history in June.
Here are some pictures from our stay:
Aspen tree with the Rocky Mountains in the background.
This is near the summit. You may notice the visitor center is closed since the snow is up to the roof.
This is the Thomson crew standing in front of the Great Divide at close to 13,000 feet. |As you can tell, it is very windy.|
This is our cabin. It looks small (which it is compared to normal houses) but it actually wasn't that small. It is three bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/dining/living room in the center.
This is after a hike with the fam:
Top: Tatum, Dexter (Troy's step dad), Troy, Johnna, Tanner, Michelle (Troy's mom)
Bottom: Ty (our nephew)
Here's Johnna and Tanner next to a rushing river of melting snow.
Here are Tatum and Tanner playing with Mommy and Grandpa respectively:
Johnna snapped this of a young bull elk just before he came in our car on the way to town.
Tatum and Johnna feeding the chipmunks.
These are mountain goats which are kind of the symbol of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains.
The babies were cold at night because the cabin didn't heat the bedrooms very well when it was that cold, and flying for "free" doesn't always seem like much of a benefit like when they pull your bags off or bump you from the flight all together since you aren't a paying passenger. So its nice to be home. But the temperature was a great break and we made many family memories.
