WEST COAST ROAD TRIP {Longmont, CO}

After our adventures in Yellowstone, we headed south to see our friends in Longmont, CO.  

When we exited the South Entrance of Yellowstone, we entered Grand Teton National Park, another beautiful park with lakes and clouds and trees.  I Would definitely camp here if in this area again, Yellowstone was really crowded and while it was cool to explore during the day, I think the Grand Teton might have less crowded campsites.

While Driving...

Most images were taken from the passenger side of our car.

The clouds are what impressed me the most, just each unique texture, for each place and time of day, they're all the same water molecules but somehow every time I looked up I was greeted with a new composition of clouds.  Haven't decided how to turn that into a metaphor yet but I'm pretty sure there's one in there somewhere.

And then areas like this, THIS is what I expected Ireland to look like, but no, it's Wyoming.

more driving.

Travel time from Yellowstone to Longmont, CO was about 8 hours.

but when the drive starts off like this, that doesn't sound so bad.

In fact, it was so beautiful with the fog and trees, Husband even pulled over to snap a iphone pic, kind of a big deal considering every time we pulled over the kids 'lost it' when they'd find out they were not getting out of the car.

but in this instance I think it was worth it.

don't you?

thanks random street light/sign for creating a distracting composition.

it's okay the fog in this image makes everything better.

no. wait this one makes everything better.

no.

no.  THIS one is the best.

and then back on the road. again.

trying to capture the purple in the mountains isn't easy when traveling over 80 miles an hour.

again, not Ireland, just a tiny town in Wyoming.

found a tiny cafe in Dubois, The Perch Coffee House and Eatery.

Their soup and coffee was good but their salads could be better {I asked for no meat, THEY ALL HAD MEAT, and they still added meat}

once we were going again we started passing some really beautiful mountains.

I didn't want to post edit this photo, but I wish I did because those purple streaks look gray, but they were vibrant, and beautiful!

and then as we kept going they got even better.

I love the texture of these rocks.

and then red rocks!

Similar to Sedona but they just kept going.

and then we hit some crazy weather, rain and rain and those clouds!

but then it was sunny again.

and it stayed clear for a bit.

AND finally, we made it to Colorado!

Where we were greeted with home made stew, and old friends.

some of them were more happy to see us than others.  {j/k she made this face anytime I pointed the camera her direction, otherwise she was excited to have her friend visiting}

And this baby! I met him, literally, the moment he was born, such a sweet dude}

and we made baklava, yum, for breakfast!

Thanks Delmara for capturing this sweet second of breakfast, I rarely make it in front of the camera.

and look at that squirrels in the backyard!

and princesses playing out back.

Once we were up and dressed we started the day, we decided to explore downtown Longmont with our friends and Delmara suggested the Roost for lunch.

a super cute place, that really only opened recently.  The owners are from California and were just drawn to Colorado, so they left and moved to Longmont and opened this place with organic ingredients and beer.  lots of beer.

There it is, see I told you she was excited to have her friends in town.

and we sat on the rooftop.

and drank some of that beer.

and house made sangria.

and ate soup and sandwiches.

and even their checks are adorable, dropped at the table in vintage books.

after wrapping up lunch we walked around some more.

and thanks to our photographer friend we got a little family session in.

These little libraries are awesome, take one leave one whatever.

and while I didn't have a need for any more snacks, I've heard good thinks about this bulk shop.

After exploring for the afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed south to Denver, only about 40 minutes away, but a much bigger city and some more of our favorite people.  

Where is your favorite place in Colorado?  Where should we go next time we're there?!