gilmore family

on thursday, june 23, 2011, our family set off for a week long (10 days) summer vacation to dillon, colorado. our first two days and last two days consisted of mostly traveling in the van, approximately 900 miles or 15 hours one way. i'd be lying if i said that the trip was a breeze, our adventure definitely had some "rocky" moments and they didn't always involve the mountains, if you know what i mean. there was a lot of arguing, some vomiting, and of course some tears. however, all the good memories most definitely outweighed the rough patches. here are few highlights of the trip.

with great anticipation, our first sight of the mountains in the distance. prior to this drew and i weren't quite sure if our eyes were playing tricks on us or not, i guess we so badly wanted to see the mountains.

and now a bit closer...

we've arrived, here is our room at the condo.

another view of our two bedroom, two bath condo. it was perfect for our family and was just remodeled. one of the girls' favorite things was the cable, they could finally watch the disney channel! who knew they missed it that much.

here is the view looking to the northwest from our balcony. perfect for a cup of coffee in the morning after a run/walk (the altitude at 9,200ft. kicked my butt) around lake dillon or down the mountain to silverthorne, a neighboring mountain town.

here is one of those "rocky" moments, can you see the anger.

here is a view from high above lake dillon on our first hike of the week. we ventured through the arapahoe forest to lily pad lake. our condo was right off the beautiful lake, but way too cold to swim in. luckily, the indoor pool was another fun spot for the girls at the closure of each night. the hot tub was good for mom and dad, too.