A few weeks ago Julie and I and our three youngest (Britta, Amelia, and Lydia) went a couple hours west of Colorado Springs to see some of the autumn colors that the Colorado Rockies display this time of year. We were excited to have Gene and Heidi Essman and their daughter Lauren along for the ride.

We headed west again from BV as some of the locals call it. (They also call the town Byoonie, as the old timers began calling the place ‘byoona vista’ long ago and the name stuck.)

We enjoyed the scenic drive to Buena Vista, CO. We headed west again from BV as some of the locals call it. (They also call the town Byoonie, as the old timers began calling the place ‘byoona vista’ long ago and the name stuck.) Cottonwood Pass is about 30 minutes west of BV. We stopped about half way up at Cottonwood Lake for a picnic (Not as nice as it sounds as it was drizzling). But we were hungry and the girls enjoyed getting out of the car by the lake. And thanks to Heidi and Julie, we ate well in spite of a bit of weather.

As you’ll see in the attached pictures we had some fun with the cameras after lunch and even got in a hike on a portion of the Colorado Trail. We finished the day with a drive up to the top of Cottonwood Pass for a few more pictures before making the drive home. Good times! Enjoy the pictures: