The Actual Colorado Trip--Part 2

Disclaimer: This is a VERY long posting, with a ton of pictures!

On Sunday morning, Jordan and I went to church (the newest church I've ever been in, it even still smelled like new carpet.). That afternoon we went to Estes Park. We arrived in time to eat lunch at Big Horn--I had the pulled pork sandwich. It was amazing. After lunch we walked around Estes. It is a very touristy type of town. Lots of little knick-knack shops as well as burger joints. The Scandinavian Festival was also going on. The performers re-enacted viking fights, danced and sold Scandinavian things.

Mom and Warren at Big Horn.

Dudo.


This picture is for Adrienne. (Because you like food.) This was Jordan's Philly cheese steak sandwich.

The Scandinavian dancers of Boulder.

The shadows don't show our best features.

Yes...that is right. THE STANLEY HOTEL. For those of you who aren't up on your Shining movie trivia, this is where the movie was filmed.

B.A.

Then we headed up into Rocky Mountain National Park.
We drove on the highest paved road in American.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the drive:

When we got to the top, 12,090 ft, there was a little trail you could hike (and I do mean hike. At that high of an elevation you have to stop to catch your breath every 20ft or so) that went even higher. We think at the top we were about 12,300 ft.

I just love this picture.

I climbed up on top of the rocks. This woman, was demanding to one of her boys, "Come here. Come here and read thith sthign and tell me why it looksth like a mushroom."

Up there, you can see for miles.

Jordan thought it was really cool how close we were to the clouds.

Where's Waldo?

It was really bright up there.

There were signs all around stating "Don't park on the tundra." But people were doing it anyway. Mom made a few comments about how rude they were being, such as "I can't believe they aren't following the rules, there are signs everywhere...even though...I'm not a regular keeper of the rules."
Dudo decided to take it upon himself to shout at the people parked on the tundra.
"HEY!! Get off the tundra. One, two three thousand years!"
(Thats how long it takes to grow back after just one foot print.)

I thought that the elk were pretty neat, Jordan only wanted me to post one picture of them.

Carla: you never thought you'd see the day that you son was thrown in jail.
Well, it happened and you missed it. He walked on the tundra.

I was an accomplice.

The highlight of the entire trip was seeing the Masonville Jail. :)

Fort Collins.

On Sunday night, we were all a little too tired to do anything but watch "The Rundown." It is a pretty funny movie, with everyone's favorite: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

On Monday we went and ran some errands. Dad and Mom needed some things for Mexico. So we went to a few clothing stores and Dad bought a couple of swimsuits and some new shirts.

That night we went to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sing at Red Rocks Amphitheater. We stopped to get some sandwiches first from Silver Mine Subs (The best sandwich place on the planet). As you turn into the parking lot there is a round about. There were two lanes, and in the lane next to us was a mini van and a biker right behind him. The biker must not have been paying close attention, because the van didn't move. The biker started going and hit the back of the truck. He flew over his bike and landed flat on his back. His shoes flew off his feet. We were all a little startled and as soon as we were out of "hearing distance" (Even though our windows were rolled up) we couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. Every time Dad said, "And his shoes fell off" he would start cracking up, and we couldn't help but laugh along.

On the way to MoTab.

Red Rocks

It was a pretty good hike up to the amphitheater from the parking lot. They asked if all of us were ok to walk. Next time we'll remember to say no so they'll let us park in the higher parking lot.

Kodak moment anyone?

We thought it was going to rain. It sprinkled on the way down there. But...we were lucky, the prophet showed up last minute (Well, last minute to us, he probably knew months in advance) and to our "surprise" no rain! The governor of Colorado and the governor of Wyoming were also in attendance. When they were introducing them, everyone clapped a little. Then, when they announced that President Monson was in the audience, you could hear a "Whoosh!" About 2/3 of the audience stood to cheer. Jordan said it was a little weird because the usual way to greet the General Authorities is to stand and be reverent.
Hopefully it was ok we clapped (and maybe whistled).

Dad and I.

While we were waiting for the show to start, Dad wanted to take a picture of our heads with the Red Rocks behind us. Please disregard my double chin.

I think this picture is just a little bright, but in the white, is acutally the Denver skyline.

There's the skyline.

During the middle of the performace, Lloyd Newell (the announcer) said that we would get to meet all of the MoTab that night (he was joking of course, because there are about 360 people in the Choir). He started with the back row of men. Jordan knew the first guy that was announced, Art. He is a bass/baratone. He also installs in-floor radiant heating.
It is nice to know that even the MoTab, with their angelic voices, are just regular people.

Maybe one day I'll be singing with the MoTab, and Jordan will be one of the

Security guards to the Prophet.
(They even were wearing the little ear pieces and packing heat.)

The camera isn't very good at taking night shots. But they light the Red Rocks up at night. Gorgeous.

Our first Porter Family Vacation was a hit. Hopefully on our next trip we won't be thrown in jail.