Family Vacation

To end the summer, the Smith family spent a week traveling throughout the beautiful state of Colorado. We visited the giant Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, took a 3 1/2 hour train from Durango to Silverton, and had a lot of fun camping and hiking. One morning, we spent at Purgatory ski resort having fun with their summer activities--mini golf, alpine slide, climbing wall, and trampoline bungee jump. Noah even did the bungee jump all by himself, flying over 20 feet in the air and laughing the whole time! He is afraid of nothing.

"The Monarch of the Front Range"

We have finally conquered Longs Peak (14, 259 feet)!! Everyday for three years, we have looked at that mountain on the horizon and talked about climbing it. Yesterday, for our eighth anniversary, we decided to do it. We left our house at midnight with little to no sleep so we could get started on the trail by 2am. It was a 7.5 mile haul to the top in the moonlight, with the last mile mostly rock climbing. The summit was breathtaking, with views for over 70 miles in every direction. As one guy put it, we then had to finish the 7.5 mile "death march" back to the trailhead. All in all, it was an incredible day and an anniversary to remember!