Richness of Recognizing the Creator

We woke in Estes Park to beautiful sun and clear skies this morning. Elk were walking the streets as we drove through town to find a restaurant for our breakfast. Nearly all mornings we were blessed to have breakfast in our motel/hotel but this time we were happy to find a place to stay in Estes Park for no more than we had been paying even though it didn't offer breakfast.

We had breakfast at The Egg and I and then walked across the street to Starbucks for our usual. There was a back down in Starbucks to a little patio next to a beautiful rushing mountain stream. Such a backyard would be the envy of any other Starbucks in the nation. We all sat and drank our brew and then walked some of the rocks on the side of the stream. The sun glistened in the rushing water and the sound was balm to our spirits.

We entered Rocky Mountain National Park again. I remembered that 24 years ago, my son, Josh, daughter Kendra, friend Joyce and her daughter Sarah had taken this trip to a reunion of a trip group to Korea. We took the Old Fall River Drive then and it was so amazing I suggested it again. The road is one way up the mountain and is dirt road and in some places a bit of gravel. It is an awesome sight. Mountains on all sides and as high as the eye can see. As the name implies, the road follows the river and as we made the climb we stopped several times to see where the river was falling over the rocks and trees. We looked up at the peaks where snow fields were shining in the morning sun. Soon we were realizing that the snow fields were no longer so high above us but we were climbing to them. The air was thinning out as well as the trees. Less and less foliage lined our roadway and we soon realized we had climbed to the Alpine Tundra. There were more oohs and aahs than we can recall and the sight on all sides of us was more than we could take in. We began to mention adjectives that we would use to descibe the scene.
Stupendous
Gigantic
Beautiful
Overwhelming
Quiet (in the meadows)
Noisey (at the waterfalls)
Cold (at the top-low sixties and strong wind)
Wonderful
Majestic

These were but a few. One can't describe to another the wonder of it all. When we got to the top peak we were 12000 feet above sea level. We felt as if we were on top of the world. It was glorious and at one point brought all of us to a moving moment. At one of the outlooks we stopped to do our morning devotions. We have been doing this each day with the four of us and it has been a sweet moment each day as we read from a little devotional booklet and then one of us prays for all of us. We read from Psalm 119 where it talks about the preciousness of the Word of God and here we were looking out at the Word of God in creation. We sang a song of praise together and then told Him we were bending our knee in humility as we saw the vastness of His power and greatness in these mountains. It was a special moment indeed!

We ate lunch at the top of the peak in a park restaurant. We also picked up a few special souvenirs that will always remind us of this precious day. Ken bought a leather hat he couldn't resist and I found an awesome deal on a stunning leaf shaped Swedish glass dish. Sue
bought a set of turgoise earings to wear with a necklace she alreedy has and she is a happy camper. Jim got his souvenir at a garage sale at which we stopped on our way into the park. He found a new set of tools that had never been opened. He was by far the one who spent the least amount of money.

When we exited the park we began our trek back to the midwest, first to bring Jim and Sue to Wisconsin and then Ken and I will return to our beloved Indiana. While going through Greeley, we stopped at the corporate headquarters of the company for which my brother works.

Now we are stopped in Sterling, Our sightseeing is o'er and our bound is homeward. We are ready, but we have made memories, had experiences and seen things we will always hold dear.

Now we are going to dinner.