cotten family celebrations, sep 05 

 

 

2005 was the year of family celebration. We celebrated Mom's birthday down in the Springs, and then headed up to Estes Park to celebrate Nancy's big 50th birthday, complete with sisters, a couple of brothers, ghosts and even some very large elk!


Here's the birthday girl!Mom and Dad showed us the neighborhood celebrities:  Artist Viki Whitmer's whimsical creation of two cowsEnough with the cows! Let's have Mom open her presents!Chocolate syrup from Mom's childhood friend Norma!No CaptionEnough with the Jam... let's eat!Mom's favorite place to celebrate:  The Broadmoor!
Time to head north, past Denver, to see the next birthday girl!We kidnapped Nancy up to Estes Park for an early big 5*0* celebration!We stayed at the haunted Stanley HotelThe hotel is named after F.O. Stanley and his famous Steamer......and played an inspirational role in Stephen King's novel "The Shining"The infamous Room 217Many ghostly tales occurred in this room
I kept expecting to see twin girls at the end of hallway! "Come play with us Danny!"Nancy's room was part of the popular "Ghost Tour" of the hotelMaybe she's talking to a ghost right now!After watching part of "The Shining" in Nancy's room, I had a very long walk back to our room, second from the endNo CaptionNo CaptionNo Caption
No CaptionNo CaptionNo CaptionThe elk from nearby Rocky Mountain National Park were always on the groundsRocky Mountain National Park is over 460 square miles, and has 60 peaks rising above 12,000 feetElevations range from 8,000 feet in the valleys to 14,259 feet peaksMuch of the park can be seen by driving over Trail Ridge Road
Topping out at 12,183 feet, Trail Ridge Road is the highest, continuous, paved road in the United StatesNo CaptionWe visited the park at the peak of the elk rutting seasonRich getting a little too close to a bullNo CaptionNo CaptionNo Caption
No CaptionNo CaptionLisa and Doug drove up from Winsor to visitNancy's Birthday Dinner!The sisters hamming it up!No CaptionNo Caption
The birthday girl and her dessert!No CaptionNo CaptionNo CaptionNo CaptionNo CaptionAfter a nice dinner... time to get scared all over again!