California to Kentucky

I have been absent from my blog since the end of May, and thought I'd catch up with a post about our trip to Kentucky the beginning of June.

We spend every summer and fall in Kentucky.  We take about a week or more to drive from California to Kentucky in order to see family, and to also see a little bit of the country along the way. We didn't stop at any of the National Parks in Utah this year, but there are places to stop and see the beautiful state just about everywhere.

Utah

Utah

Utah

John has a son near Denver, and I have a sister in Colorado Springs, so we ended up spending four days in Colorado - such a beautiful state.

Fruita is the first town after crossing the border from Utah, and we have eaten at The Hot Tomato a couple times now.  They serve pizza with homemade sauce and craft beer - yummy.

Hot Tomato Cafe

 The Enstrom candy factory in Grand Junction was making toffee, and there were samples - did I say yummy?  I bought a box for my upcoming visit with my sister.

The visitor center in Eagle is a great stop.  There is a cute gift shop that is in what looks like an old house, and a museum in a white barn.  They are next to the river, and there is a path along the river.

John outside the visitor center

Eagle Visitor Center Front - so cute!
That's the river on the right

There was still snow on the ground when we got to the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels - brrrr,

Eisenhower Johnson Tunnels

We had a great visit with John's son.  Living so far apart isn't as hard when we get a chance to see them at least once a year.

Maura, Jim and John

Next we went to visit my sister in Colorado Springs, and she hosted a barbeque for us.

Pallas and Becky

Becky had to work during the day on the second day we were there, so John and I visited Garden of the Gods.  It is spectacularly beautiful and free to visit.

Garden of the Gods

John at visitor center overlooking the park
That's Pikes Peak in the background

Plaque

Our Docent

Balanced Rock

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods

John outside trading post

After leaving Colorado we headed through Kansas.  The stop at the visitor center gave me a chance to clown around with some "old friends".

Pallas on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz

In Topeka we stopped at the First Presbyterian Church to see the beautiful Tiffany windows.  They are stunning.  I wasn't able to get any photographs that would do then justice, so I bought a little book and you can check out their website in the link.4

One of the Tiffany windows in the church

Antiques in Topeka, Kansas

Of course any trip wouldn't be complete without stopping to do a little antiquing.  I bought a few linens and an architectural salvage piece that I will post a picture of in a future post.