The Colorado Rockies

We had a fantastic week-end

 in the Colorado Rockies.
This was my first time in the Rocky Mountains
and maybe it is ridiculous but,
although I knew they are called the "Rocky Mountains"
I was surprised, by the fact that, they are indeed very rocky.

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

Early saturday Nathan and I met in Denver, Colorado.

We rented a car and drove ~1&1/2 hours 

to Estes Park, a small mountain town 

at the gateway of the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Estes Park, the Red & White hotel is where Steven Kings The Shining was filmed.

The mountains are breathtaking!

Our first day we arrived mid afternoon.
The drive into Estes Park was beautiful,
 we especially enjoyed the drive around the Trail Ridge Road

Trail Ridge Road, a very scenic windy mountain road.

We saw lots of Elk on our drive!

Elk!

Feeling small in a great big world!

I'm on top of the world!

We packed as much mountain time as we could into three days

By that I mean,
we hiked, hiked, and hiked!
There are so many trails it was hard to decide which ones to choose...

Day two we hiked to Chasm lake (8.4 miles & 11,760 ft)
 and Day three Flattop mountain (8.8 miles & 12, 324ft)
(although due to a midday storm we didn't actually summit Flattop)

Starting the climb to Chasm lake

Friendly ground squirrels!

Getting closer to tree level

It was amazing how short of breath and cold we got 

as we hiked higher and higher...

In the tundra, above tree level

Chasm Lake & View of longs peak

*Beautiful views from Chasm lake trail*

Crystal clear glacier water

Day three

Hiking to Flattop:

Above Emerald Lake

Brr, Nathan is freezing in the tundra on Flattop

*Views from Flattop*

Glaciers 

Our last little hooray before heading back to KC

was a walk and picnic along Bear Lake.

Bear lake

The Rockies are beautiful,
it was a great way to end summer 2012.

We can't wait to explore them again, 

maybe next time with ski's!

Wide Open Spaces: Exploring the Canadian Prairies

At the beginning of this year

 I made an announcement. A resolution. 

"To be more irresponsible"

Encompassed in this resolution 

is much more than finding crazy things to do...
(It's actually not about that at all)

It has simply reminded me to have courage to try new things, 
go new places, and accept a certain level of risk
involved in life 'off the straight and narrow'

It reminds me to 'just do it'. 
To not let fear get in the way of opportunity.

That is how I came to arrive at this past week

and continue my graduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Since I was travelling in the prairies anyways,

I jumped on the opportunity to visit with my 
Winnipeg friends (Anne & Joel).

Proud parents to be!

Flying into Winnipeg I quickly realized...

Flying into Winnipeg

The prairies are as flat as 'they' say they are.

Natural prairies.

Anne, even at 39 weeks, was a fantastic tour guide!

We spent a night a her family cabin, hiked through the boreal forest:

Explored and walked Winnipeg's parks: 

and ultimately 

enjoyed good food and great company...

Angela and Anne in Winnipeg!

Thanks Anne for a great intro into the prairies!
============================

At this point,

with all my travelling this summer.

I am getting pretty used to navigating myself into the unknown.

However, 
I must admit.

As I got on the plane to Saskatoon, SK

I couldn't quite squish the feeling that this was crazy.

Thankfully,

this did not last long. 

Instantly I was comfortable with this city.

Saskatoon is beautiful. 

Downtown Saskatoon

Me in Saskatoon

South Saskatchewan River

So many walking/ biking trails!

I am also impressed with the University of Saskatchewan campus 
(also very beautiful).





In addition, 

my classmates are wonderful...
It was so fun getting to know them!

If things were different,

I would really consider registring as an on-campus student.

(at least before winter)

Overall It has been a great week.
I feel a little overwhelmed but mostly excited 
about this new challenge.

The best part is
the first week is done 
and 
early tomorrow
Nathan is
 meeting me in
Colorado.

Hooray for long weekends!

Missouri State Fair

We felt 'oh so Mid-West'

as we headed with our friends {Josh & Lauren}

to the Missouri State Fair

In Sedalia, MO

{1.5hours south east(ish) of Kansas city}

It was/is huge... 

much bigger than any fair Nathan or I ever attended.

Fun!

love!

Cowboys

would love to go...

The main event we watched 

was the Championship Bull Riding.

*It was CRAZY!*

Seriously crazy...

Aside from giving me mild heart attacks,

it was very entertaining, 

and a true Mid-west experience!

Ferris wheel at night!

There were SO many people out!

Cheers to embracing the mid-west!

Our week-end at the Lake of the Ozarks

Inspired by 

a book we found last week-end 

we are really trying to make the most of our week-ends:

Our latest week-end adventure was 

~3hours south-east of Kansas city

to the Lake of the Ozarks

It is another huge body of water supported

 by the construction of a damn.

See how windy it is...

The Lake of the Ozark's can be a very posh experience, 

lots of resorts along the lake, huge yacht clubs, and marinas...

However we camped at the State Park.

Nathan, especially, enjoyed being in the woods!

We arrived at the park Friday night around 9pm 

and set up camp in the dark.

 It was totally worth it to wake up all ready to go in the morning. 

There was SO much wildlife in the park, 

deer (we probably saw 100), racoons, possums, and armadillo's

Armadillo's are curious little creatures!

Mama deer got all in a huff as we got close to her babes...oops!

We spent Saturday on the lake

We rented a kayak 

It was fantastic!

Sunday

we explored more of the Missouri country side...

Crossing this old wooden swinging bridge 

while it creaked and cracked was an experience.

It is also so sad to see miles-and-miles of dead corn...

On our way home 

listening to the radio 

we heard that the Sate fair was happening in the 

town of Salina, Missouri.

It wasn't, too far, out of our way so we stopped in...

To me, it looked like the picture of a classic Midwest town.

 

We did check out the fair but, didn't go in...

Not yet,

We are planning on returning next Saturday!

~All for now 

Art's and Entertainment in Kansas city

Wow! for one thing

I cannot believe another week has come and gone...

Last week was a great week exploring
some of the Art's and Entertainment experiences in Kansas city.

Tuesday Nathan and I 

went to a Counting Crows concert at the local Starlight theatre.

It is a great outdoor venue!

So pretty, clean, and organized.

I don't think you could have a really bad seat... 

Last minute we bought the least expensive tickets we could

 and our seats were great!

Friday 

we joined the "First Friday's" Festivities 

in the Crossroads district, downtown KC.

Every first friday of the month

 local art galleries open their doors for the evening

Plus there is live music and entertainment throughout the streets.

The Streets were filled with people!

The crossroads is an old KC neighbourhood, 

Lots of industrial buildings now turned into fashionable lofts and gallery's.

Side note: 

There is SO much brick in downtown KC...

It ALWAYS makes me think the developers must have read

  'The Three Little Pigs'

(we are in tornado valley after all)

We will definitely be back next "first friday"

Since it was a long weekend in Canada

Many of our Canadian friends had visitors, 

so we enjoyed festive gatherings and ended our 

week-end adventures with a 

BBQ picnic in the park

Michelle, Devon, Nathan

Other than that...
Nathan has been busy with his clinical rotationsand

I have been organizing my/ our next adventures:

At the end of the month 

I am heading to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon 

for orientation into their Nurse Practitioner program.

But the really exciting part is that

 on my way 

I am stopping to visit my friends Anne and Joel in Winnipeg!

And 

on my way back 

Nathan is meeting me in Denver, Colorado!

We are spending the long weekend in the Mountains!

I am also continuing to make very slow, painful, but steady progress on my paperwork 

to maybe, eventually, get a job in this country...

Slow and steady wins the race right?

All for now!