America The Beautiful -- Our Land of Diversity

Ethan and I have been so blessed this summer to be able to tour our country. It seemed like such an overwhelming journey when we began our trip in June, but taking a day at a time, we planned our adventure and had a wonderful time. It has been great having no time constraints.

We have stood in awe of our snow-covered peaks and seen beauty in our deserts and the farmlands in the midwest. We have walked the beaches of our pacific coast, seen magnificent waterfalls and beautiful glacial rivers.

We have met people from all walks of life, many nationalities and faiths, and feel we have been placed in the pathway of those who have needed help in one way or another, words of encouragement or prayer.

We have enjoyed all the wild animals we have seen...the buffalo, elk, moose, antelope, black bear, long horn sheep. It has all been wonderful.

We have had a wonderful reunion with Ethan's family, as well as reunions with old friends we haven't seen for years.

Words cannot adequately express the feeling of thankfulness we have in our hearts. This is a trip we will never forget......and you can all look forward to being bored with hundreds of pictures!!

Thank you for following us on our adventure. It has been fun blogging. I never thought I could do this....now to figure out how to get the pictures from the iPad to a disk!! Apple Store..here I come!!


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Shenandoah National Park

August 20, 2011

When we started our trip in June, the first park we wanted to visit was Shenandoah NP. We entered the park and went to the visitor's center. The weather was cold and rainy, and the forecast for the week was more of the same. Since we wanted to get out and do some walking to waterfalls, we decided to leave and return on our way home.

So.....here we are again at Shenandoah National Park. The weather is sunny and warm today, and we are looking forward to a good day. The mountains are gentle and covered with trees, and we are reminded of home.....I think we are ready to end our summer-long journey.

We walked in to Dark Hollow Falls....a bit of a walk, but it was nice and cool. We saw a black bear walking up the river....on the opposite side from us. Wish he had come closer to the water so I could have taken a picture. The water in the river was low, so the falls were not full. It was still very pretty.

The views from the overlooks were beautiful, showing the valleys below and telling the history of the area. Skyline Drive is 105 miles long!


Pictures taken today in Shenandoah National Park.


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Location:Virginia

The Great Smokey Mountains National Park

August 15, 2011

We spent today, August 15, in Smokey Mountains NP. After so many days traveling in the Midwest, it was so nice to see green again.

I loved the mountains covered with trees, and the beautiful green vines draping the rocks along the road. There were rivers following the road through the park with nice big "hopping rocks" scattered throughout the water. I'll never forget the last time I tried hopping across a river on the rocks....I slipped and fell in! We were geocaching with friends Pam and Jim, and boy was the water cold!

We took a road in the park 7 miles off the main road to Clingman's Dome. What a great spot. We walked up another half mile once we got there to the dome....and then went up the dome. You can see 360 degrees and view all the mountains on a clear day. Today, the Smokey's were living up to their name, and we were in the clouds.

We had a great time in the park today. Tomorrow, we will be in Maggie Valley, NC checking on our property, and then want to spend time visiting with old friends in the area.



Smokey Mountain pictures.


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He's exhausted just walking the few feet to the sign.....how is he ever going to make it to Katahdin!!










Clingman's Dome in the park.




We met the nicest family from Ohio when we were walking up to Clingman's Dome. Meet Aric, Alex and Tatiana.....think we might miss our grandchildren?

Location:Tennessee and North Carolina

Midwest USA

August 15, 2011

The last four or five days we have been meandering through the Midwest of our country....taking the "scenic route" as Ethan likes to call it. We have traveled through the small farm towns and seen the farmers hard at work. We've seen hundreds of acres of farmland with fruits, vegetables and grains growing, and have seen the farmers harvesting their crops. We've also seen hundreds more acres of open range with cattle grazing...also have enjoyed seeing the horses, antelope and buffalo.

I know I could not live in the flat, treeless farmland of the Midwest, but so thankful for all the hard working farmers who do live here to provide us with so much of our food. I'm sure we do not realize how hard they work for all of us.

We are now in Tennessee. We have left the open sky feeling behind us, and we're now enjoying the beautiful trees and rolling green hills. I have to say that I love it.

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Boot Hill Museum

August 11, 2011

Today we traveled through Kansas.....very flat and very hot! So thankful for the air conditioning in the car. We stopped in Dodge City for lunch and decided to tour the Boot Hill Museum. It was an interesting and fun walk through the cemetery and the replicas of the buildings. A lot of the furnishings were original, and the people in the stores and saloons were dressed in early 1800's garb.

It was a nice break in an otherwise boring drive. The flatland just about put us to sleep. Happy to be settled in for the night and will continue our trip fresh in the morning.



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Here's Ethan in jail....the original jail back in the 1800's!




Boot Hill Cemetery...given this name because the cowboys were buried with their boots on.

Location:Dodge City, Kansas

Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine

August 9, 2011

Today we went to Cripple Creek, CO to tour an old gold mine. The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine was an active mine until 1961. There are still working mines in this area today. We got in a cage with five other people and was taken 1000 feet below the surface. We learned about the history of mining in this area and was shown just how the miners found the gold veins. The tour was an hour long and it was very interesting. I can't begin to imagine how hard the men worked underground every day with only small candles for light.

We have enjoyed our stay in the Denver area so much. Erik has been a wonderful host. We will be leaving tomorrow to continue our journey home.




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We found our perfect vacation home in Cripple Creek, CO...needs just a little attention, but great location. There's a casino right across the road!

Location:Cripple Creek, Colorado

Big Horn Sheep and Denver

August 7 & 8, 2011

Sunday was a hot day in Englewood, CO...which is a suburb of Denver. Erik took us to the foothills where it was much cooler. We stopped at a lake to check it out, and talked with the people fishing. Ethan had his binoculars and was looking all through the mountains for big horn sheep, but found not a one! A couple told us about Guanella Pass not far from where we were. They said it was worth the drive with beautiful scenery and views. So, we headed up the winding road with NO guardrails--in some areas!! As we were traveling up through the pass, Ethan was talking about not seeing any big horn sheep in the mountains....we made a turn and what do you think was right in the road? You guessed it....6 or 7 big horn sheep. I think we took 19 pictures.

The views from the summit of the pass were spectacular. We were close to 12,000 feet elevation. There were hiking trails all through the mountains, and a lot of people were hiking. We never would have known about this pass if we hadn't stopped and talked with the people fishing.

On Monday, we took the train into Denver. Ethan wanted to take a tour through the United States Mint. We found the building and asked about the tours. Well.....all tours were full for the next 6 weeks. If we showed up the next morning at 7:30 a.m., we could get standby tickets, but there would be no guarantee that we would be able to get in for a tour.

We walked back to the place we came from and took the bus to the
Federal Reserve Bank. Finally found it, and went in to see about a tour. All we needed was our picture ID...not a problem....EXCEPT for the fact that we both left our ID in the car! So, no tour for us! We struck out on both tours!
All we could do was laugh!

We did get to tour the beautiful Capitol building. The was a quilt exhibit in the capitol building, which was wonderful. Since I am a quilter, I really enjoyed the exhibit and voted on the ones I liked best.

Although we didn't see what we wanted to, we had a great day. We went back to Erik's apt. and I cooked dinner....first time I've cooked in two months!



Some of the pictures of the Big Horn Sheep in Guanella Pass.


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Sorry.....this does not belong here!







This little guy walked right up to the car and looked at me.

Location:Colorado

Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

August 5, 2011

We took two days to drive from Salt Lake City to Kremmling, CO. If you've never been to Kremmling, you haven't missed much. We actually found a very nice hotel there....very thankful for that.

Today, we spent our day at Rocky Mountain National Park. What a beautiful park. We saw a herd of elk--Ethan thinks there were around a hundred of them. I loved the wonderful green meadows at such a high elevation...no wonder the elk love it there. The drive took us over 12,000 feet in some places. I'm sure the snow will not be melting. Even with the sun shining, the wind was so strong...and it was cold. Another park we will not forget.

Many of you reading this know Erik Pelton. Erik left Maine to live in the Denver area, so we gave him a call as we wanted to at least see him while we were in Denver. What a nice young man Erik is...he pretty much insisted that we come spend the weekend with him, so we are at Erik's apartment and plan to have a great weekend with him. His gift of hospitality comes naturally, I sure!

Today, August 6, has been a great day for us. We went to church with Erik, took him out to lunch, and then he took us to The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. What an amazing place! It's hard to believe all these hugh red rocks are in this one area with majestic green mountains surrounding them, and Pikes Peak in the far distance. It was just beautiful and such a contrast to the surroundings. We've had a wonderful time with Erik.


We feel like we're on top of the world! We are standing at 12,310 feet...highest we have ever been. Rocky Mountain NP is awesome!


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Pictures taken at Rocky Mt. National Park








We are at The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs...what an amazing outcropping of red rocks surrounded by all the magnificent high green mountains.












This rock is called Balanced Rock and weighs

Bingham Canyon Copper Mine

August 3, 2011

Yesterday was another beautiful day in Salt Lake City. This valley is soooo big and surrounded by majestic mountains. There are nine canyons that come into Salt Lake.

Yesterday we visited the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. It is the only open pit copper mine in the world. It's 2 3/4 miles across at the opening and 3/4 of a mile deep. Over the past 100 years, this mine has produced over 18 million tons of copper. We were over 6,600 ft. at the visitor's center, and it was very interesting to read the history of the mine and the surrounding area. Also interesting to see the mine at work.

We will be leaving Salt Lake today after spending four great days here. It was wonderful reconnecting with my friend Libby. After several days of talking, praying and many tears, we have decided we need to head back home. Ethan is having some health concerns that need to be addressed and we will feel more comfortable being home.

We ask for your prayers for us as we travel that we will be safe and that Ethan will be fine, and we thank you for those prayers.



At the copper mine visitor's center....one of the tires on the dump trucks that haul the ore.





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Some of the beautiful mountains that surround Salt Lake City.








The dump trucks look like matchbox trucks at the bottom of the mine.

Location:Salt Lake City, Utah