Mile High

After our second time visiting beautiful Bend, we hit the road for our next adventure...Colorado.  Our first week stay was in Boulder.  What an amazing city!  So full of energy and progressive thinking.  Each restaurant and store more unique than the next.  

The fall in Boulder is absolutely stunning.  The trees were full of Autumn color hanging from limbs surrounding historical homes and buildings as we walked to bustling Pearl Street.

Here is Autumn getting into the Halloween spirit by hiding behind this lamp post jumping out at people screaming "Boo" as they walked by.  I have no idea where she gets this from??  ;)

Views from our hike at Chataqua Park in Boulder.

                                      

Joss hiking/running towards the Flatirons.

The 100 year flood that had just hit, really did a number on Boulder. Although it tore apart many roads and trees, it seemed to have done nothing to the spirit and energy of the city.

The most difficult part of the hike was actually taking the ROAD back to our car.

Our second week in Colorado was spent in a cute little town called Louisville, also known as the number one place in America to raise a family.  

Golden Colorado-Home of Coors Brewing Co.

The views down every road in Golden were just extraordinary.  

 

All I can say is WOW!!!  These are the views we had as we drove up to the Red Rock Amphitheater, a place where many big named entertainers have been lucky to perform.  

Part of the stairway leading up to the Stage.

The view from the nose-bleed seats at the amphitheater.

What a wonderful time we had in the Rockies.  We couldn't get enough of the breath taking views we experienced wherever we went. The views on this trip aren't the only amazing things we have experienced.  The best part of this trip has actually been reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.  All have opened their homes to us filling that void of not having seen friends or family from back home for the past 7 months ago. Their amazing generosity has truly warmed our hearts.  Thank you.  

Pumpkin Picking

One of my top priorities for finding that perfect place to live is that it has to have a pumpkin patch for us to go pumpkin picking.  So we found a pumpkin patch right outside of Bend, with one of the most beautiful backdrops.  Not only did snow capped mountains grace the background scenery, but so did the cliffs of magnificent Smith Rock Park.  

Autumn and her new friend, Tyler. :)

Erik and his new friend, Aaron.  :)

Autumn is such an animal lover.  She had such a fun time at the petting zoo.

What started out as a small pat on the back...

quickly escalated to the rooster death grip of love.

What started out as a simple pat on the face...

Turned into an obsession with horses, not to mention she has been promised a horse by Aunt Rebecca if she moves to Texas.  

Of course Autumn loved riding the ponies too.  

Back in Bend

The flight back to Seattle from Hawaii wasn't too bad, even with two little ones.  We picked up our trailer and truck and headed back over to Bend, Oregon.  Since Bend is one of our top choices, we wanted to see what it was like this time of year.  It has definitely exceeded our expectations.  The weather everyday has been 70 and sunny, with nights in the 30's/40's.  The colors of the trees are so brilliant that you can't help but sometimes mistake it for the colors of the northeast, which shocked me.  The evergreens are still full of the familiar scent of pine that we had left in the spring, and make a beautiful green backdrop to the reds, oranges and yellows that are standing proud this time of year.  Everything is as beautiful as we remembered and so much more.

This is one of our favorite cafes in Bend.  It is only a few blocks from our house and has the best breakfast and smoothies/kombucha.

Stopping to play in the leaves on a walk around the neighborhood.

Auty helping to decorate the windows for Halloween.

Taking a hike at Shevlin Park to check out some of the Fall colors.

Aspen trees were everywhere, full of the most beautiful yellow color.

Trying to take some family pics with the sun starting to set and bringing in beautiful light to the fall leaves.

While getting a cup of coffee we stumbled upon a broken escalator.  In most places they would just hang a boring sign saying out of order.  But in Bend, they make art out of it instead.  Love it!

Smith Rock!  One of favorite places that we had visited last time we were in Bend.  It was just as, if not more beautiful than last time we were in Bend.

When we started our walk, Joss took the camera from me and started taking shots herself.  That kid has a great eye for photography.

In this picture she said she was trying to get a little something in the foreground to make it more interesting.  Really????  What six year old says that?

Some sort of snake we saw swimming up to us while hanging out on the beach.

By getting Auty into the backpack we were able to go much further with our hike this time.  

So many rock climbers were out this day.  It was almost 80 degrees!

It was such a beautiful day.

Our Last Day on the Island

On our journeys we have met so many wonderful people!  That has been one of the best things about this trip.  The people we have met have made all the difference in the world when it came to the places we have visited.  While in Hawaii we met many wonderful people, but one family in particular, really made it hard to say good-bye to at the end of our month long stay, The Brodericks.  

The day before leaving the Big Island, Joss went to school with Bella Broderick.  This has been her first time back to school since April.  She was soo excited!!

On the way to school she changed in the car into the school uniform, so she wouldn't stand out.  

The school was very small, only about 6 kids in grades K-3.  The principal was also the teacher AND the bus driver!  He is an amazing teacher who really cares and loves what he does.  And the kids loved him just as much!  

When Joss first got to school, kids from all classes got together and sang some songs, preparing for their field trip to the nursing home to sing to the elderly.  

While Joss went to school, Erik and I went with Noah and Mandy for some off-roading.  Noah stuck some lawn chairs in the back of his truck and off we went.  

Found a nice spot along the coast with some breath taking views to stop and take a break and drink some ice cold Miller Highlife

Hanging out just shooting the sh**.

Erik loved Noah's truck

A view near the edge of the cliff.  So purdy!!

A view of the dirt roads from the back of the truck

Later that night we met up with the Brodericks for our last dinner on the Big Island.  Josslyn's teacher also made it out.  Here he is posing with Joss and Bella.  The kids just love him soo much!

Good byes are always so hard.  We will always remember the wonderful people we have met on the Big Island and because of them, Hawaii has jumped to one of the top spots on our list of places to live.  Nowhere else is the weather so beautiful.  Everyday day is filled with sun and warmth while the nights bring about ocean breezes that cool it down just enough to sleep comfortably with the windows open.  And while you lay there in bed you look up at the skies which are so brightly lit by millions and millions of visible stars.  All of this was so hard to leave as we headed out to the airport passing all the places we frequented while here on the island.  Mahalo and Aloha Hawaii.