In an effort to avoid the sweltering August heat in San Antonio, and to spend some much needed family time together, we headed out west on August 2nd in our motorhome. The second day into our trip we got to celebrate Daniel's 13th birthday. Mom made a cheesecake in advance and boy was it good! Our first week was spent at Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp in Divide, Colorado, www.rmfiddle.com. The altitude was crazy for us Texans (9000 feet above sea level!), but we still had a blast. For most of us the best parts were the square dances at night. So much fun.
From Divide, we made our way to Colorado Springs. We saw many sights around the Springs, including the Garden of the Gods, Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Helen Hunt Falls, and the Royal Gorge. We also went to a Prison Museum which creeped some of us out. 🤨 Molly's ultimate goal was to find mountain streams to wade in. Manitou Springs seemed to be the best place for this! In the evenings we rehearsed outside, watching the sunset. These are sweet memories for each of us.
After Colorado Springs we went to Estes Park where we enjoyed an amazing drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park, saw snow and elk, and spent our evenings rehearsing.
Next we headed south to Red River, New Mexico for the Southwest Pickers Bluegrass and Traditional Music Festival, https://southwestpickers-festival.org. We played two times in Red River, got to hear some amazing bands, sit in on a song writing workshop and enjoyed the awesome scenery of this little town.
Our friends, Dan and Jenny Diehl, are the owners of the beautiful River Bend Ranch in Durango, Colorado, https://www.riverbendranchdurango.com. They graciously invited us to give a free concert. Their ranch is absolutely stunning and we would highly recommend checking it out! Jenny also runs a small business called Curate, https://curateforlife.com. Check out her website. She makes organic products from her home workshop in the heart of Durango.
Next on our list was the Grand Canyon. When we saw it, six jaws dropped immediately! There’s not much we can say to describe this incredible place. If it isn’t already, put it on your bucket list!
Finally, we began our trek home to Texas. Twenty-one hours is a little long to drive in one day, so we ended up making the trip home in three days. En route, we stopped at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and we stayed in Fort Davis, TX. In Fort Davis, we enjoyed learning about the sun at the McDonald Observatory. Also, of course we went to Fort Davis. (Obviously the town was named after it. 🤪) That night, we played on the patio at Blue Mountain Bar and Grill, https://bluemountainbarandgrill.com. It was a beautiful venue, and we met some really great people. By the way, we had no idea such beautiful mountains existed in our home state. We will be back!
On Labor Day we made our way home. Words can’t express our excitement over sleeping in our own beds once again. We’ve got a few gigs coming up in the next couple of months (you can find them on our tour dates page)
, but we’re mostly looking forward to some down time where we can practice a bunch and put together some new songs!
August taught us a lot about getting along with each other in a tight space, which is NOT always easy. We are grateful for Dad, who planned each detail of our trip so that we would all get the most out of it. We came home feeling more blessed than ever to call this great country our home and to call the Creator of our universe our Heavenly Father! We got to see some of the most amazing sites during August, and we are in awe of God’s creativity!
Thanks for supporting us on this journey we’re on, we look forward to seeing what comes our way next!
Blessings,
Emily, for Chords of Grace
Oh, and one more thing. We are thrilled that our first EP has been released and is available for sale right here on our website! If you haven’t already, make sure to check it out.