COLORADO!!!!!

Well after 24 hours in our cars we finally arrived in Colorado, and boy is it beautiful! It’s amazing to be on flat ground in Denver and see giant mountains in the backdrop. We stopped in Georgetown where their high school football team is called the Goldiggers and there are old gold mines everywhere.

Silverthorne is great- a lot of restaurants, ski shops and outlet stores. We live about 1 mile above the town in wooden townhouses called “Woodworks”. From our deck you can see Lake Dillon and about ten mountains- a few of which are 14′s! (elevation over 14,000 feet). In our backyard moose are often spotted, and it’s reproductive season so we’ve been told to stay away!

Inside our house looks and feels like a ski condo- plenty of wood and a beautiful fire place. It’s very cozy. The altitude has started to take a toll on us- we feel like we have killer sinus headaches! No worries though, we’ll get acclimated soon. Trace has already made about 6 friends in the neighborhood and he has plenty of room to run.

Today we found our Sunday bar- Murphy’s Tavern. 25 cent wings, $4 bloody marys, $2 beers and NFL Sunday ticket. The people are also very nice.

Here are some pictures of our new home. Can’t wait for you all to visit!

Love, Kristen and John and Trace

Day 3- Kansas and more Kansas

Yesterday, Friday the 9th, we drove through Kansas City, MO and into good ‘ol Kansas. The speed limit is 75 which is great- it will help us fly through the state! This is definitely the plain state, beautiful yellow and light green rolling plains filled with dust storms and herds of buffalo!  We also encounteredabout 150 giant windmills sitting off the side of the highway. I never realized how big those things are!

We stopped for the night in WaKeeney, Kansas, a small little one stop light town. We booked a room at the classy Kansas Kountry Inn which is run by a chinese family who own the chinese restaurant next door, the Dollar General across the street and the car wash next to DG. The downtown has brick streets and a “north pole” sitting area. We ate at the saloon that has quite a bit of history to it. It has original tin panel ceilings and holes in the floor by the bar. Back in the day gamblers would take up in the basement. When the law walked into town the bartender would drop a coin down the hole and gamblers would lay their cards down… or so the story goes.

Day 4 will bring us to our new home in Silverthorne, CO. I am very excited because I found out there are outlets a mile away from us… with a Chipotle! Everyone needs to come visit and check out www.silverthorne.org.

Love you all, and stay tuned!

Kristen, John, and TRace

Day 2- IN, IL, and MO

This morning we hit the road around 10:00. We didn’t have the best night of sleep because Trace was barking at the wind the whole night. We lost our tent stakes so the walls we flapping like that scene in the Blair With Project. Finally we put him in the car where he had a sound night of sleep… and so did we. The nice thing about camping at RV resorts is the showers and internet!

Our first pit stop was in Collinsville, IL where we saw the worlds biggest bottle of ketchup. Too bad there was construction around it because we would have climbed up to dip our fries (there was a McDonalds conveniently next door). After hitting the road for about 15 minutes we drove through St. Louis, MO and I mean right through it. So nice to see that big arch again but since it was hot and Trace was sick of traveling we kept driving right on through. Our final destination for the day was Columbia, MO home of the Mizzou Tigers. We happily noticed when arriving into town that we lost an hour somewhere between IN and here.  We drove through the university which was awesome. Very lively, clean, pretty and easy to drive through (unlike WVU). We stayed at Cottonwoods RV Park where we enjoyed a pool, hot showers, a few beers (yes, they sold beers!) and once again, wifi and all for the low low price of $16.We had some Kansas City Boulevard Pale Ales and they really hit the spot. Chipotle for dinner so we could save some $$$ (and who can complain- Chipotle is amazing).

We woke up this morning, Friday the 9th, at 7:30, did some laundry and packed up- ready to brave the vast plains of Kansas. Wish us luck and pray a tornado doesn’t get us!

Love you all,

Kristen, John and Trace

And we’re off!

This morning (September 7, 2011) John, Kristen and Trace left Wheeling for Indianapolis, IN. Although a little rainy, the kick off trip went well and we landed in the Hoosier state around  6:00. We’re staying at Lake Haven RV Park in a tent under and oak tree, next to a lake (with a fountain!). Trace is loving the space to run around after a long car ride. For dinner we rode into the city andate at The Ram Pub and Big Horn Brewery. The beer was delicious and the food was pretty good too (although the beer was much better). It was strange how many men were in the restaurant- we only noticed 3 women and probably 70 men. Indianapolis is really nice- beautiful buildings and very clean! The streets are also easy to navigate. Tomorrow morning we’ll be on our way to Columbia, Missouri. Miss you all and we’ll keep youposted!

Love,

John, Kristen and Trace