Tag Archives: Colorado

Wayfarer's Journal

Rocky Mountain Whirlwind

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Wendy and I made a whirlwind trip to Colorado last week. Wendy’s sister, Becky, gave birth to our niece, Lydia, the previous week and we wanted to pay a visit to welcome her to the family. The trip also afforded me the opportunity to make a client visit and to spend some time with Madison, who is back in Colorado Springs.

We headed west on Wednesday morning, arriving in Denver in the evening. We got to spend some time with Becky, Court and Lydia before retiring for the night. On Thursday afternoon I make my client visit and had a business dinner. Madison drove up from Colorado Springs and I met the who crew at a restaurant after finishing with business. We got to celebrate Madison’s birthday since she won’t be making it back to Iowa until Christmas. Madison and I had some father/daughter time late Thursday while Wendy hung out with the Oakes crew.

On Friday we all spent a few hours together before Madison had to head off to work. Becky and Court then treated Wendy and me to a visit at the Denver Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous day to get outside and there was an amazing exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures that were installed amidst the gardens.

Wendy and I left for home Friday afternoon, breaking up the 10 hour drive with an overnight stop in Kearney, Nebraska. We arrived home on Saturday just in time to get to rehearsal for USP’s production of A Christmas Carol.

It was a quick trip, but we were thrilled to meet the family’s newest bundle of joy and to spend some time with Madison.

Chapter-a-Day

Quiet Sentinel

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English: View of Pikes Peak from the Universit...
View of Pikes Peak from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people
    both now and forevermore.
Psalm 125:2 (NIV)

I find it fascinating that both of our daughters have lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Taylor lived on the YWAM base there for a few months in preparation for a missionary stint in Morocco. Madison moved there to attend a one year program in worship and decided to stay when the year was over. And so, we find ourselves making the 11 hour trek to visit “the Springs” which sits nestled a the feet of the Rocky Mountains.

I once asked Madison what she liked about living in Colorado Springs. “I sit in class and look out the window at Pike’s Peak,” she replied. Enough said. If it’s mountain views you wish to see every day, then Iowa is definitely not going to do it for you.

I thought of Maddy Kate this morning as I read the above lyric from today’s psalm. Having spent a little bit of time in Colorado visiting, I do understand the sense of wonder instilled in a person when your visual landscape is surrounded by the majesty of the mountains. What a word picture for the spiritual reality of being surrounded by God’s majestic strength and security.

Today, I’m thinking about security that has nothing to do with alarms, firearms, dead bolts, or financial reserves. There is a spiritual security that stands as quiet a sentinel as the mountains. Sometimes, it’s good to be surrounded.

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Tom's Photos

Tough Climb

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Canon EOS 7D f/10 1/250 ISO 100
Canon EOS 7D f/10 1/250 ISO 100

While in Colorado visiting Madison for Thanksgiving, I made a quit trip to Garden of the Gods with Taylor and Clayton. As we walked back to the car we caught sight of this rock climber making his way up one of the rock towers. It’s not something you see in Iowa…ever. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I thought it an interesting shot with the minuscule spec of the climbers green jacket against the vast natural colors of the trees, rocks and sky.

Wayfarer's Journal

Thanksgiving 2013 (Rocky Mountain High)

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ROAD TRIP!!!

Wendy, Suzanna, and I headed west this past Wednesday morning. We picked up Taylor in Des Moines. Clayton and his younger brother, Spence, followed us on I-80 westbound and we made the long trek to Colorado. Clayton jumped in the car with us at Fort Morgan while Spencer headed to Fort Collins to meet up with their brother, Ty. We arrived in Denver in the early evening and dropped Suzanna off at sister, Becky’s, house. Wendy, Taylor, Clayton, and I headed south to Colorado Springs and arrived around 8:00 p.m. Madison was working at P.F. Chang’s that night so after checking into the hotel we dropped in for a later dinner. It was so good to see Madison and to meet her friend, Aubrey, who is a hostess at Chang’s. We were wiped out after a long day of travel and sacked out early.

Wendy and I spent Thanksgiving morning getting a little work done in the hotel room while Taylor helped Madison make Thanksgiving dinner at her friend, Mike’s, house. We grabbed Clayton and headed to Mike’s about 11:00 a.m. It was a relaxing Thanksgiving dinner as we watched football, chatted, and admired the feast being prepared. Mike prepared what was, hand’s down, the BEST Thanksgiving turkey any of us had ever eaten. It was an incredible feast along with a buffalo cranberry stew that Madison made. Wow! We ate well. So well, in fact, that we decided to let things settle and make dessert our evening meal. Wendy’s peanut butter chocolate cheesecake and dark chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel frosting were more than enough to satisfy us. We watched football,  Anchorman, and chatted the evening away. It was late by the time we made our way back to the hotel.

Friday morning dawned. We enjoyed incredibly wonderful weather the entire weekend. Madison and Wendy headed for a coffee date. Taylor, Clayton and I decided we had to get out into the sunshine. So we headed Garden of the Gods and enjoyed a leisurely hike. We headed to Denver mid-day, picked up Suzanna, and headed to Broomfield to enjoy a late lunch at Buca Di Beppo’s with Clayton’s family. Every Buca’s has a “Pope Room” which is adorned with various papal pictures and includes a giant table with lazy susan adorned by a bust of the pope. We all had an amazing meal and a lot of laughter as we feasted for the second straight day. Clayton’s family (along with Taylor) headed to the Denver Nuggets’ game, Mike and Madison headed back to the Springs, and Wendy, Suzanna and I headed back to Becky and Court’s house.

Friday evening was spent at Becky and Courtney’s house. We all felt fat and lazy as we lounged and enjoyed catching up with Wendy’s sister and her husband. Clayton had to head back to Des Moines with his family to work, but Taylor joined us for the remainder of the weekend.

On Saturday we all headed to the Denver Art Museum and enjoyed a exhibition of French artwork and paintings of nature by the Impressionists. Madison drove up from Colorado Springs and joined us mid-afternoon. We dined together at Cap City pub and talked about the artwork we enjoyed before Madison headed back to the springs and the rest of us headed back to Court and Becky’s.

It was an early start this morning (5:00 a.m. MST) but we made good time and arrive home late in the afternoon. It was a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend and we returned home with a full Rocky Mountain High.

Tom's Photos

Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

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Canon EOS 6D f/10 1/320 ISO100
Canon EOS 6D f/10 1/320 ISO100

Here’s my postcard shot. It was pretty close to a cloudless sky so it was nice to catch the chapel against the “wild blue yonder.” It felt appropriate.

Tom's Photos

Sunlight and Stained Glass

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Canon 6D f/10 1/200 ISO100
Canon 6D f/10 1/200 ISO100

I visited the Air Force Academy last week to see the Cadet Chapel that I’d seen a million times on postcards and from the interstate. The sun was going down and I loved the way I caught it through the window as it illuminated the strip of stained glass above. It’s such a surreal and beautiful work of architecture. I was only bummed that we couldn’t go inside. It was closed because of the government shut down. Apparently the military is considered “essential” to keep funding during the shutdown, but not the military’s chapel.