Adventures in Marble, Colorado Part 3

I woke up again by 6:30am on Sunday, third day of vacation.  Vacations I thought were supposed to be a time to sleep in...oh well more time to write.  The sun was shining the day before and the light came in brighter throughout bedroom window.  That morning I could hear the rain and snow falling out of the grey sky.  We survived our first full day at the cabin and I must admit the mountain redeemed itself!  We took the four wheeler out for a spin after a while of figuring out how to get it started.  They hadn't been used all winter.  We realized pretty quick we did not come adequately dressed for such adventures.  None of our clothes were good for wet muddy trails on the four wheeler.  We realized how much we have become city people over the last couple years, we didn't even own clothes we could get dirty!  Luckily we found some clothing in the cabin that instantly transformed us from city slickers into mountain man and mountain woman!

 Just in case the mountain had something against city people on four-wheelers and was just waiting for us to get on before swallowing us up, I let Joshua try the four-wheeler out first.  At least I and the baby would be safe :)  Well, needless to say Joshua, the four-wheeler and the mountain got along just fine, so I hopped on.  I was determined to face my fear of traveling on the mountain again and I knew it would be so much better on the four-wheeler.  The view of the mountain peaks as we traveled down the road were gorgeous.  The fresh mountain air added to the entire experience.  We conquered mud puddles and rough terrain and I was able to enjoy the not-so-heart stopping drop offs, as my new feeling of safety began to form.

We learned that day why the town is called Marble.  We came across, what used to be 100 years ago, a marble manufacturing plant.  Interestingly enough, Marble from that location was used to build the entire exterior of the Lincoln memorial.  What we found there was just partial remains of the building, but people have used the marble to make some beautiful sculptures that we later saw throughout town.  As we continued our exploration, we took a trail up another mountain that had a much dryer road.  The view was beautiful.  We had a view of a stream, a couple lakes below us with a bridge built between them.  There was a small winding stream of water that made an abstract design in the landscape that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.  One of my favorite sites were the thin and tall white barked trees with shimmering lime green leaves that glistened and fluttered in the wind.  Joshua loved the view of the water below.  We even saw a white tailed doe walking in the woods along the trail on our way down.  She had light tan colored fur.  She is a lucky little deer to live in the mountains.

Beaver Lake

Near the historic site we found a river that we sat by for some time to soak in the view.  Joshua really liked the stream, he said he could picture a dragon coming out of the mountain swooping down to the river and gliding past us.  It seemed like we were put into a fantasy tale with dwarves and elves and magic.  As we sat by the river it began to sprinkle and we took that as our cue to head back to the cabin.  I was still a little nervous about the drive up, but I took comfort this time around in knowing what to expect.  The rain got stronger as we went and eventually turned into tiny snow pellets.  By the time we got half-way up the mountain the snow pellets were hitting us in the face.  Ok, so they were hitting Joshua in the face, I may have just ducked behind him letting him take the beating for me.  He drove on without stopping, braving the rude awakening conditions.  We were so glad when we finally arrived at the cabin.  With red beaten faces we put our joy on wheels in the garage and went inside where we found a tin of hot cocoa powder!  It was likely the best cup of cocoa ever.  We enjoyed the warmth of our cabin and the stillness of the earth below us as we watched the snow fall outside.

"The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength.  The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.  Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity...Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord." Psalm 93:1-2,5