On the Torchbearer Trail!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, Canadians!

Now.....

Having seen and enjoyed Mt. Rushmore we were ready and eager to move on to Estes Park. For any one who doesn't know us well, Dominik works full time at Schloss Klaus, the German-speaking Torchbearer center in Austria.  There are 25 Torchbearers Centres world-wide, the first of which was Capernwray Hall in England. You can read more about all of that, if you like, at www.torchbearers.org  There are three centres here in the States, two here in Colorado and one in Texas. We decided to try to visit them all, to meet some fellow Torchbearers staff and to see what's on offer at each location.

Our first stop, after driving through miles and miles (and MILES) of slightly rolling open plains in Wyoming, was Estes Park, Colorado. We were all excited to arrive there and to be in the mountains again! We were warmly greeted and had a good time running around on their basket ball court. That was great for the kids after sitting for so long.  Then we settled into our comfortable cabin and made ourselves at home.

The next day we went out to see what there was to do in Estes Park, but as the tourist season is over, the mini-golf and other things were closed. What we DID accomplish was buying Jonathan a really cool leather hat. He's been complimented on it twice now by complete strangers! He loves it, and we might even borrow it if he's not careful!  We headed back to Ravencrest then to let the kids play with the other kids there on site. They really enjoyed meeting the Snyder kids and having some new friends to play with. While we're travelling our kids have only each other to play with but they've done really well with that.  They squabble a bit, but actually less than usual!

Well, we all enjoyed Ravencrest a lot and the kids were upset to have to leave so soon, but we headed off to a friend's place south of Denver. We drove there via Rocky Mountain National Park, which was beautiful but we unfortunately didn't see anything more wild than a pair of deer!  We did find a coupke of other interesting things thiugh. We drive on the Trail Ridge Road which is tiuted as the "highest continuous paved road" in the States. So, knowing that Dominik and Jonathan jumped out of the car at the highest point of the road and hiked up to the highest nearby point. It was high enough that they noticed the difference the altitude made in their breathing. That elevation is 3713 m or 12 183 ft.
The next point of Interestingly on that road was the Continental divide- the point where all water on one side runs to the Pacific ocean, and on the other side it flows to Hudson's Bay or the Gulf of Mexico. We were following the Colorado River and we will see it again when we get to the Grand Canyon!

We made our way south and then began the search for Timberline Lodge, near Winter Park, Colorado. We only had to ask for directions once- the GPS didn't want to help- and soon we pulled into it's rustic location. There were a few people  constructing something but as we went into the office it all seemed pretty abandoned! The Bible students and a lot of staff were off on a trip to Arches National Park! There was hardly any one there.

Then, lo and behold, who walked into the office but Philip Stieb- a neighbour from Regau where Dominik's parents live!  We were suprised! He was suprised! What a coincidence! He went to Bible school at Timberline, married an American girl, and now they are working there! We haven't Seen Philip possibly since our wedding so, as you can imagine, we had a bit of catching up to do! I think that he had a good time speaking proper Austria German too! We had a great, short visit and then got back underway. Even with forgetting about rush-hour traffic, we made it to Parker (South of Denver) by 5pm.

Waiting for us in Denver was a friend of mine (Cathy's) and her family. I had been a housemate of Kristine's at Queen's (University) and hadn't seen her since our wedding! Well, that was 12 years and seven children ago! She and her husband, Carl have two lovely little kids and they all welcomed us warmly into their home. We relaxed, went shopping, went to the local fair and ate at a mexican restaurant which had cliff-diving swimmers/actors as entertainment! It was really a relaxing time and catching up was wonderful. We will be sure to get together again well before 12 years has gone by this time!

Photos coming........

Now we're off again, back in some National Parks- but that is for the next blog! We're in motels until we hit Las Vegas now as one place fell through on us, but so far we're finding cheap ones! So, good night all from Cortez, Colorado! Tomorrow we'll drive in two more States and I will start on the next blog! :-)