Draeger Familie Nieuws: Jefferson, CO

Adam went down to Salida in mid-July and loved the mountains in the early morning light. He wanted to take us for a drive to Jefferson so that the family could see this same view, and two weeks ago (August 5) we left fairly early in the morning to take a mountain drive.

So oops, we missed taking 470 down to Hwy 285 and “had” to drive past Red Rocks. The moon was still “setting” to the west as the sun was rising in the east.

As we drove along, we began to lose sight of the moon complete.

We arrived in Jefferson and stopped at their market for a treat. I had to laugh and took this picture as a bit of a joke – seems like every “touristy” spot needs to sell fudge – I think it’s a requirement. Friends of ours who visited us in June made this observation while we were out at Buffalo Bill’s gravesite so this picture is mostly for them – fudge is EVERYWHERE!

One thing I love about small (almost non-existent) towns in Colorado is their use of color for their buildings – I have an equal love for those buildings that work hard to blend into the landscape and for those that do whatever they can to completely stick out. The contrast is awe-inspiring and makes me want to simultaneously build a cabin in the woods and buy a bright purple house.

We enjoyed a mid-morning snack at the little market.

I loved the old orange theater seats against the turquoise building. Too bad I didn’t think to set this shot up differently so that I still had the brilliant colors but the girls weren’t squinting in the sunlight.

Anna and I spend a lot of quality time in the van while we’re on road trips that last longer than two hours….

Jefferson is located in a valley, but really I think technically it’s located on a high plain. The immediate area is flat, but the view is amazing, surrounded by mountains on all sides.

It was super hazy that day, so it was hard to get clear shots from far away, but this picture shows two things – one, the little town of Jefferson we had just been in and two, proof that there is still snow on top of the mountains even in August. We’ll most likely start to see accumulation within a month.

At the pull-off where I wanted to take pictures, I found these aspens, which had been scarred with initials and love notes over the years.

Here we are at the Kenosha Pass. We’ve turned around and are headed back home again.

Many of you may have heard of the rampant wild fires that are still attacking the West. There are still fires now in states surrounding Colorado (hence, much of the haze we’ve witnessed this summer. Signs like these are common.

When we realized we were going to be late for second service church no matter what, we decided to slow down and enjoy our trip home a bit more. This involved a stop at a winery, Aspen Peak Cellars. We actually stopped at the tasting “house” and not the actual winery.

Here is a neat shed-barn building on the property.