Denver, CO

Since we spent the first two weeks of September on the road, I figured I would just finish up the roadtrip post, throw in a few photos from the end of September and call it good. Getting back to our roadtrip...we left Arches National Park and headed toward the Starr home in Denver.

Madeleine reads while we drive.

Traveling with a child is WAY different than just the two of us roadtrippin'. So, we found some nice rest areas to let Madeleine run around a little bit. Doing this post in December, it seems crazy to me that I was still two months away from delivering Gracen. Here she is, with us on our trip!

We traveled some beautiful country. My favorite were the San Rafael Reefs in Utah- of course, the red rocks is my fav, but Tim prefers the mountains with their greenery.

We stopped at Independence Pass to let Madeleine walk around a little bit. It was cold, but we got some great views.

We picked up a Real Estate guide after falling in love with a lovely little town called Frisco, CO. I"m pretty sure, a long time ago, I had seen it featured in Runner's World and I always wanted to see what it looked like. When we stopped by as a side-trip we were pretty much ready to move there. Too bad the neighboring cities are Vail and Breckenridge. Frisco is just a little bit out of our price range!

Our last rest stop before reaching Denver!

Here is Madeleine in the Starr basement. She liked playing with the toys down there. When we got into Denver, we grabbed some pizza to share with the Starrs and headed to their house.
The Starrs also have some lovely chickens, and we got to see some home-grown eggs. Tim shows Mads the chickens. The Starr kids would pick them up for us to see, and they are very pretty. I like the black and white ones, I can't remember their names right now. One is Pat Benetar right Rose?

We went to a park with the Starrs and I love this perspective shot of Madeleine. Emma is swinging in the background.

Even though the weather was not cold enough (even in Denver, which was hotter than I expected) I indulged in my first soy pumpkin spice latte of the season. My favorite drink from the 'Bucks.

Tim mustered up the courage to wrangle a chicken for Madeleine to touch. You can see Todd Jr. in the background on the coop.

After a visit to Fancy Tiger fabrics (which carry Amy Butler designs) we went to Sweet Action Ice Cream, a delicious boutique ice cream parlor downtown. You can see all the flavors they offer on the fridge to the left of me and Rose. Since it was the Great American Beer Festival in Denver the week we were there, the parlor was offering some crazy yummy flavors that featured beer. They make all sorts of interesting concotions.

Tim and his girls toured the Denver Library. Here Tim snuggles the table at which the UN council met when clinton was president. I can't remember what the guy's name was, but Tim is getting back to his roots by carressing the French Prime Minister's seat.

Checking out the view. Wow, Madeleine looks so young in this pic- she's growing up too fast!

Outside a Denver Art Museum

Even though Madeleine did a fairly good job on our trip, we decided in Hot Springs to fly her and me back home. Tim would then drive the way back to Utah, pick up our boat and head home. This was due to the fact that our daughter was starting to show signs of road wear. She was cranky, not napping well and we didn't really want to sit in the car for another 48 hours trying to get her home. So, we said good-bye to the Starrs for all their hospitality and headed home. My parents picked me and Mads up in San Diego at 9am and we waited for Tim to arrive around 2am that night.

He stopped by Frisco again on the way home =)

Thank you Starrs, for sharing your home and some more of Denver with us. We always enjoy hanging out with you, and hope you can meet little Gracen sooner than later.

Love, Lauren