Thoughts on Estes Park and The Big Thompson River in Colorado.

These Pictures were taken by Either me (upper left) or the kids in 2003.

I first fell in love with Estes Park and the Big Thompson River back in September of 2003.  We had decided to drive from Albuquerque, up through Colorado and onto Chicago when Saxton was just six weeks old (you can barely see her where laying on me in bottom right hand picture), Sage was 18 months, Sam three and Savannah was just five.  I remember the drive from Loveland up the canyon like it was yesterday.  The canyon was awesome and years later, in 2006 when we actually moved to Colorado, became one of my favorite parts of the drive up to Estes and on to Rocky Mountain National Park.  I loved the reaction I would get from guests as we entered the mouth of the canyon. As I wrote earlier today as a reaction to a video that showed the flooding on Facebook, "This is normally one of my favorite parts of the drive... Where you just start to enter the mouth of the canyon and are soon sandwiched between two sheer rock walls and the river. I called it God's country and Nature's art the way The Big Thompson river ran through it, strong enough to carve ancient stone."

I took this of the canyon in August of 2009.

I have dozens of pictures of the canyon, the river and Estes Park, unfortunately some were lost in the divorce and many are on my old computer that is still packed from the move.  I am hoping to find some of them to share, but in the mean time I wanted to take this opportunity to share my love and sadness for what I have seen over the past two days and the effects of the flooding on several of the rivers in Colorado.  I have driven along all of them, camped by them, swam in them with my kids, hiked and photographed them.  I saw my first ram on the cliff edges of The Big Thompson and found peace driving through the canyons the river wove it's way through.

Enjoying ice cream in Estes Park

My sister Kathleen was with us and we actually decided after falling in love with Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park to hold off leaving for Chicago for another day.  After finding a cabin right on the river, we ventured back into Estes Park to look around.  The small mountain town is quaint, the people friendly and the environment gives you the feeling of something out of a movie scene when you walk along the shops on main street.  I was in Love.  Later that second day, my sister and I and the kids (my Ex was golfing) spent the afternoon laying by The Big Thompson.  The sun was out and the nearby mountains and the sound of the river provided an unforgettable backdrop. I remember little Saxton sleeping on my chest, my sister there to keep me company and the little ones playing nearby.  Truly heaven on earth.

We take for granted that certain places will always be there.  While we appreciate them, fall in love with them, we don't often think that a beloved park, river, scenic byway or mountainside might not always be there for our enjoyment, that memories can literally be washed away. Or that mother nature might turn something from beautiful to deadly in a matter of hours.  It all just speaks to the fact that we truly do have to live in the present, appreciate beauty in the moment and respect the laws of nature first and foremost.  I am still in shock and truly heartbroken at seeing towns I love, a state I will always claim as one of my homes, in such disastrous conditions.  My prayers and thoughts go out to all those affected and my doors are open to anyone in need of a place to stay.  

This blog is dedicated to my friends in Colorado, who no matter what, were always there for me and whatever they need, I will be there for them.

I took this of Saxton and Sage strolling down the main street in Estes Park, Colorado 2006.