Vacation 2010: Day 1

This was our first family vacation in a couple of years. As excited as we were to get going, we still managed to leave about 3 hours later than we had planned--par for the course for the Parrs! We headed out highway 24 from Colorado Springs into the mountains. We passed Mount Massive and Mount Elbert, the 2 highest peaks in Colorado. The pictures below are of our stop at the top of Independence pass, the highest pass in Colorado. And I was not the only one white-knuckling it up that steep highway!

We got into Glenwood Springs that evening and checked into our hotel. After dinner, we all went down to the indoor pool (which was actually in the sister hotel next-door). We started in and about froze! It wasn't heated at all and none of us could stand to stay in it for very long (I admit it, I was the first one to bail to the hot tub). Then off to bed--we had an early morning planned and wanted to get a good night's rest!

Castlewood Canyon

Hike number 2 this summer was a test. For our vacation, Doug and I were hoping to take the kids hiking at the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado. But we weren't sure if Lindsay and Kaitlyn would be up to the task. So, when my friend Rachael invited us to join her and her family on a hike through Castlewood Canyon near Castle Rock, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to let the girls practice and see if they could handle something a bit more ambitious a few weeks later.

Jessica wasn't with us, she went ice skating with another friend that afternoon, but the rest of us had a great time! Lindsay and Kaitlyn loved splashing around in the little waterfall and Stephen had fun scrambling on the boulders and discovering caves with the Aragon boys. Another great summer adventure!

Doug Goes To England

This June, Doug took his first business trip for Honeywell, the company he now works for. After a couple of days in New Hampshire, the trip took him across the pond to England for 5 days. Because he was there over a weekend, he had a bit of time for sight seeing and saw some of London and some of the countryside in Southern England. His favorite part was getting his pocket picked in London on his first day in the country. Yeah! We had quite an ordeal cancelling credit cards and getting replacements for him as well as getting him some emergency cash for the rest of the trip! Next time I need to go with him to keep him safe!

Here he is in Portsmouth on Spinnaker Tower. He is 170 meters in the air (that's about 500 plus feet for us Yanks) on a glass (yes, glass) floor! He said it was pretty freaky. I think I will skip that adventure when I go with him!


Still in Portsmouth, at the Victory--a centuries-old ship that he toured.

Stonehenge!!

The Tower Bridge in London. This goes to the Tower of London, the famous fortress where Anne Bolyn was executed. Also, the famous fortress where Doug got his pocket picked!

Needless to say, Doug has mixed feelings about this trip. But, I look forward to going with him someday and changing his mind about the Land of Eng. . .