This last week in May we traveled to Colorado to celebrate what I'm calling "The Week of Destiny". Our niece-in-law, Destiny Speltz had a lot going on this week.
First, she was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force and had the ceremony where she was given the oath of office by her fiancé, our nephew, James. That was so cool to watch.
Then she was pinned with her epaulets by her Nana and her step-mother, Stephanie. I'm probably saying this wrong, and if so, I apologize. But these are her 2nd Lieutenant bars. Isn't she gorgeous?
Then finally, there was her first salute, which was with her father. I was practically in tears when the ceremony was over.
But that was just the first day! The next day was her graduation ceremony. She was graduating from the Air Force Academy. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to that as there were limited number of tickets.
As if that wasn't enough, there was the rehearsal dinner on Friday. This is the rental house where here family was staying. They had a lovely dinner in the back yard.
Then she and her bridesmaids as well as the groomsmen actually rehearsed their parts in the wedding. Destiny looked amazing yet again.
This was James as he watched Destiny come down the aisle. That's right. In addition to all the other stuff Destiny had going on this week, she also got married!
Mr. and Mrs. James Windsor. They got married at the Eisenhower Golf Course on the Air Force Academy and it was beautiful! It had been raining all week but not on her big day. How she was able to do all of this and keep her sanity is beyond me, but we are so happy to have her officially part of the family!
Afterward, they threw a raucous party that was too much fun! James and Destiny with mom and John at the party.
A quick photo with the family: Michele, Emily, David, Mom, John, Courtney and me. Sharmila was taking the photo for us. We all had such a great time seeing everyone and participating in all the events. What a week!
This was a photo from the balcony of the golf club. It's enchanting just like the whole week was. Congratulations to Destiny and James. We hope they are as happy as we have been.
After that week of partying with the fam, we decided to take a little trip since we were already out there....
It was a two-ish hour drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming and we'd never been so we threw our stuff into the family truckster (aka, John's Lexus RX) and headed north!
Cheyenne is the capitol of Wyoming and this is the historic governor's mansion. I don't think he lives here anymore but, at one point he did or maybe I should say
she did. That's right, Wyoming was the first state to have a woman as Governor. Nellie Tayloe Ross took office in 1925, completing the unexpired term of her husband, William B. Ross, who unexpectedly died in office.
Wyoming became the 44th state in 1890 but the capitol building was constructed between 1886 and 1890. Located in Cheyenne, it's the celebrated site of the 1889 constitutional convention of Wyoming which cemented Wyoming's status as the first state to guarantee women's suffrage. It's a cool building. And you can tour through most of it. We saw both the House and the Senate Chambers and Suffrage Hall where they discuss some of the women who made historical contributions to the state. If you're there, stop in. It's cool!
In downtown Cheyenne, they have this cool mural.
Cheyenne was also the home of the Union Pacific Railroad. This old depot is now a museum that depicts the history of the railroad. It's a cool building. For 105 years, the Union Pacific carried passengers across the U.S. That stopped in 1971 when Amtrak took over. In 1997, Amtrak made its final stop in Cheyenne. Note the street is Capitol Avenue. On this street, if you face away from the depot, you can see the Capitol.
I just thought this was a cool mural for Wyoming. We stayed a couple of days, which was long enough to get the flavor of the town. There's not much here, even if it is the capitol city.
We hit the road and drove to Laramie by way of Curt Gowdy State Park. The views were amazing. This is just outside of Cheyenne on Happy Jack Road.
Curt Gowdy State Park was awesome. This is the view of the reservoir from the visitor center. I would imaging this place is packed with campers during the summer. The temperature was mild, the scenery was beautiful and the hiking trails were plentiful.
This was our first hike of the day. Just a small one.
But it led to this amazing view. I could have sat up here for hours and just soaked up the peaceful ambiance.
This was the crystal reservoir at the other end of the park. Everywhere you looked was just amazing scenery.
Just outside the park, we got on the Lincoln Highway which was the first transcontinental highway in the U.S. It was established in 1913 and is 400 miles across the continent. It runs along Interstate 80 but used to follow the Union Pacific Railway. This is a monument to the highway's namesake, Abraham Lincoln. It sits at a rest stop along the highway.
Laramie is a cool little college town. We liked the vibe here better than in Cheyenne. There were a lot more restaurants and museums here and that really isn't saying much.
The University of Wyoming is here. We stopped by the campus to check out their art museum and to walk around. We thought it would be deserted but there were still athletes here practicing for something.
The big thing we did here was tour the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Ever hear of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Butch was incarcerated here at the prison for 18 months. He was sentenced here for 2 years for horse theft and was pardoned after 18 months. The prison was built in 1872 and officially opened the doors in 1873.
The museum was really cool in that they had these photos (mug shots taken when the convicts entered the prison) along with their stories. I always find that fascinating. This guy is Samuel Berry, aka convict #5. In 1891, he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years along with another guy. His sentence was commuted to six years and he was released in 1896.
The north cell block. They had a whole exhibit on Butch Cassidy. They in the south wing, they had exhibits on the women who were incarcerated here. All in all, it was very interesting.
Laramie also had one of two Carnegie Libraires in the state of Wyoming. I love this. Andrew Carnegie would donate money, in this case $20K, to build a library. The town would be responsible for stocking the library with books and running it. A lot of places (like Dallas) have torn down these buildings so it makes me happy to see some that are repurposed for other uses. This one, built in 1905, now houses city offices.
From Laramie, we headed back south to Fort Collins, Colorado. On the way we saw this amazing sight. You'll not see snow capped mountains in Dallas!
Last time we stayed in Fort Collins, it was on the way home from Utah. It was an overnight thing and we'd been thinking about it ever since. So, we decided to come back and check it out.
We stayed downtown at a hotel called the Elizabeth, which was really cool. We loved the vibe of the downtown area. This old mural makes me happy. I love a good Coca-Cola mural. We took the opportunity to just relax.
Not far from our hotel was Fort Collins' own Carnegie Library. It was built in 1904 and was recently renovated and turned into the Center for Creativity. Once again, I love that they repurposed the building rather than tear it down.
Our last stop before we headed home was back to Colorado Springs. Every year we go up there to visit our friends and this year was no different. As Evangeline says, it's tradition!
This gorgeous girl is Remy. She's playing Mario Kart with her brother, my good friend, Gideon. We love playing with these guys. They are so smart and funny, they keep us on our toes.
After a bath, she came over to sit with me and I couldn't resist a selfie.
Our friends drove up Pike's Peak with us in tow and it was a blast. We'd been on the cog train before but we'd never driven up the mountain.
My buddy, Gideon.
As we neared the summit, we saw the Cog Train going down.
View from the top of Pike's Peak. The elevation is over 14K feet. I have to admit, I was a little light headed but we got donuts and that really helped.
John and our friend, Ariel. He was our driver up the mountain. He did an amazing job.
What I was trying to capture here was the winding road down the mountain. You can't ride your brakes down, you have to use your gears.
When you get down to the Ranger Station, they use a thermometer on your brake pads. If the temp is too high, they ask you to pull over for a specified amount of time based on the temp. We pulled over because we wanted to check things out. Ariel is talking to the park ranger asking him about the temps. While we were there, you could smell it when people rode their brakes down the mountain.
On our way back to their house, we came across a gang of deer! Just hanging out on the side of the road probably plotting evil tricks to play on unsuspecting drivers. Or, just being adorable.
Our last night in Colorado Springs, I got a sunset photo that was amazing. What a fabulous two weeks it has been. We were happy to be included in Destiny's festivities. And we also enjoyed our week touring around Wyoming and Colorado. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it.
