Soundtrack to a Colorado Summer

When I first heard music by the band Mumford & Sons, I immediately associated it with the Colorado outdoors. There's something about that bluegrass/folk style mixed with the more modern, indie groove that just made me picture mountains and trees and streams and sunshine. Since then, I've been listening to their debut album ALL the time, particularly whenever we're driving into the mountains for some adventure. When we heard the band was coming to town, we had to get tickets!

While we planned to go out for a fun night with our friends Dave and Katie, plans changed when Katie was called in to work. Lucky for me, I knew that my good buddy Melissa also liked the band. So off we went!

So excited... until...

The opening acts played FOREVER! We got bored...

But finally, Mumford & Sons took the stage. And it was pretty awesome.

One thing I love about going to live shows is getting to see a different side of the band or musician. Whether it's through the stories they tell or the extra-long jam sessions, I want them to give me something different than what I get listening to their albums. But because their album is not overly produced (which is a good thing!) and they don't add a lot of frills to their live shows, Mumford & Sons sounded pretty much the same as they do on their recordings. This, coupled with the fact that we sat in the back to avoid fighting the crowds (we're getting old...), made the concert a little less exciting and more chill. But their music is still fantastic so we definitely had a great time! And their final encore of "The Cave" was pretty spectacular.

Since the concert, I've pretty much used Mumford & Sons as the soundtrack to any of our Colorado activities, both on the mp3 player and in my head. A few weeks ago, we headed up to Georgetown for one of the more tourist-y activities here in Colorado. Before Dave and Katie moved far, far away from us (more on that sadness later...), they wanted to check out the Georgetown Loop Railroad. The steam-powered train took us from Georgetown to Silver Plume, with a stop at the Lebanon Silver Mine, and with views of the Colorado mountains on the way.

[imagine awesome modern-folk music playing as you look through these pictures]

Historic steam-powered engine.

Going out onto the bridge!

On the train

While the train rides right along I-70 (meaning the views aren't much better than anything we see on a typical ski drive), the mine was pretty interesting. In all my time in Colorado, I've never toured a gold or silver mine. So that was cool.

Tall people had to duck. I didn't.

Sadly, the Georgetown Loop Railroad was our last Colorado activity with Dave and Katie (for now). The next week, we helped them load up a moving truck and waved good-bye as they made their way to Washington state. While we're very excited for Katie, who will be completing her vet residency over the next three years, our weekends will certainly look a little different with them gone - especially in ski season! But we don't know where they will end up after Katie is done, and we are hopeful that they will move back to Colorado! Fingers crossed!

Anyway, we continued our summer of Colorado fun with a hike up Mt. Falcon. We'd hiked the area before, but never from this trailhead. It was a steep climb and the weather was HOT! Seriously. But we slowly made the climb and we enjoyed some beautiful views from the top.

So pretty.

Our end destination was once the hopeful location of the summer white house. The project, conceived many years ago, was never completed, but I can see why it was a desirable location.

"Awake my soul..."

I'd certainly like to live there. I'd sit on my patio and play bluegrass all the time. And it would be awesome.