Colorado.. DAY 1

So we took my kiddos to Colorado with us this trip.....lol...drug them along in the big ass van.  It is roughly a 12 hour trip and 9 hours of it are through the lovely state of Kansas. Now, after driving through that state the trip before I began to wonder who I could call to order an air taxi to save the the pain of 9 hours in "WHY THE HELL DOES ANYONE LIVE HERE LAND?  GET MY GUN I CANT TAKE THE PAIN OF IT ANYMORE LAND"  See, I think the army should supplement their income by offering a taxi service through Kansas.... you pull up, drive onto one of those big ass planes that hauls tanks...you pay a fee... and one hour later you land in Denver....See... FREAKIN BRILLIANT!!!!  It is worth paying 300.00 buck for a ticket to NOT have to drive through Kansas EVER again...
Sooo we drive and drive and then FINALLY  DENVER!!!! I am pretty sure Denver exists because some family was headed out west and the hubby had lied to the wife about how easy it was gonna be...she took one look at those HUGE mountains that they were gonna have to go over and said SCREW YOU, the kids and I are staying right HERE...boom....Denver.  




This sums up how I feel in the mountains.  A moment to think.





A brief, yet winded hike to the edge of the world
4000FT straight down over the edge

Family.

PLANK!!!

 The rest of the drive was picturesque as usual.  Climbing and ears popping, head pressure, excitement, lots of photos taken.
We got to Dillon Colorado and ate at the Dam Brewery... FANTASTIC FOOD!!  Then to fishing!!

It does not get much better than this. Chase Fly fishing in Dillon Lake
within the first few hours of making it to our destination

I took a pic of this three weeks ago while on the way to Aspen, over Kev's shoulder while were were driving because it struck me as an oxymoron...sailing ....IN THE MOUNTAINS....going round and round?
Then when we got to Dillon and let Chase go fishing in the lake there... I realized I HAD PAINTED the lake he was fishing in without even knowing it... LMAO!!

OMG!! did I mention how amazingly beautiful it is in Colorado? Did I mention that the mountains change color every minute with the movement of the sun and clouds. Did I mention the wildlife....and the fact that is feels JUST LIKE THE BEACH here in the mountains... same buildings, only brown....same fishing guides...only for trout...same beachy stores...only for hiking and rafting and stuff like that... same adorable quaint towns that cater to tourists year round ....but instead of wearing swim trunks and bikinis, they are wearing bike helmets and shoes that click and clank on the pavement......same hippies..YEP I said it... same hippies...JUST LIKE MY BEACH!!!!!! I am so happy here that my inner child does cart wheels all freakin day and then runs through the streets with giant lollipops in each hand...teeeheee.....Happy? People come into my tent and ask me how I am doing... I reply.. "I AM HAPPY" they look at me like no one has ever said that to them.

 Happiness is something we all want right...but so few times do me take the steps to get there. I am happy on the road, and happy in the mountains and happy in the beach. I spend as much time in the woods and near the water as I can each day that I am here to get as many pics as I can so that when I return to Missouri, I have something to paint that inspires me to be happy. I think I am finally beginning to understand how to feed my soul.

WHOOOO, that was waaaay tooo deep. Now time for the funny stuff.
I painted RIGHT UUUUP until the moment we had to load the van... here is a sneak peek of what was going on in the Gallery before Daddy got there to help us load up

Here is Melinda BLOW DRYING the last SEVEN PIECES I did on Wednesday because they had to get loaded in two hours to go to Colorado...

 Then ARMAGEDON HIT!!!

 And passed right over us after causing our power to go on and off for fifteen minutes and set fire to a building a block away...NO RAIN.. BOO!!

That is all for now lovlies,...that was the first fifteen hours of the trip to Colorado... I will tell you all about it day by day, but for now.. I need coffee and to paint.  I have three September to get ready for!!

Happy Creating!!!
Love Kathleen