Taylor Park Fun

Pack up the camper and load up the Razor - it's time to head to Taylor Park, between Buena Vista and Gunnison!!  FINALLY Cottonwood Pass is open!!  I think it's been closed for 3 years due to paving one side of it!  It did open for a while last summer but you couldn't tow anything over it at that time!  So we were excited to try out the new highway this last week!

And we weren't disappointed - the pass is wonderful being all paved!  Yes, there are still some very sharp turns but that's to be expected!  There are wonderful pull offs and marked parking spaces for a couple of places even!  Sure cuts off a lot of time instead of going all the way around to Gunnison!

Taylor Park sits right at the end of Cottonwood Pass!  We knew it would be extra busy as everybody seems to be camping this year, even in the middle of the week!!  A few years ago we had stayed quite a ways in on the road (the dustiest road you've ever been on!!) on Italian Creek!  The spot was next to the stream and you could hear the rushing water so it was a great spot to camp!  We found a pull off spot and unloaded the razor so we could take it down and check it out and sure enough, it was empty!

Since our county has a fire ban, we were excited to be able to have a fire over there!  Camping is JUST not camping unless you have a campfire!!

We saw lots of beautiful country the next 2 1/2 days on the razor!!

There is NO cell phone service anywhere you camp!  But they do have it over at the general store AND last year when we drove to the top of a mountain, we got enough service to check our messages!  This is the spot where we stopped to check our phones!

We had an awesome view from our camping spot!

Brats and hot dogs always taste great on the fire!

We went through too many streams to count!!  One was pretty deep and got the floorboards all wet!

One day we headed up to the town of Tincup!  It's a nice drive up and we were disappointed to see the restaurant was all shut down!  We headed on up to Mirror Lake which is gorgeous and took a few pictures!

Last year when we were on Cement Creek Trail, we saw a cow moose!  I was hoping to see another one and on the way back, sure enough Glenn spotted a bull moose!!  It was in the distance but what a thrill to see it!

We even attempted a hike this year!!  But I think we picked the wrong trail because it was straight up!  Unfortunately we didn't last too long on it - need to pick one that's a little flatter next time!

All in all a wonderful camping trip with great trails to ride on!!

Good-Byes and Thank You's!

Sunday morning came way too fast for the girls!!  They love coming to our house and spending time together and they're such a joy to have!!

Before they left, they not only gave Glenn homemade Father's Day Cards but thank you cards to both of us - wow - no dry eyes when I read those!!

We met Jessi at our usual spot - Caribou Coffee!  I gave her money to go next door and get the girls their smoothies (masks were required ) and I went into Caribou to get the coffee!  We weren't allowed to sit inside of Caribou which I thought was ridiculous since it's quite a large area but even OUTSIDE they had the tables and chairs all tied up so you couldn't sit and enjoy your coffee outside!!  REALLY?

So we sat on the stone wall and later realized that someone had torn the tape down and we actually weren't even supposed to be sitting there either!!!  But we didn't move - when you each drive an hour and want to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee in the sun, the stone wall seemed a lot better than sitting in your car!!

But I was NOT happy with Caribou, not only because of the seating!  The last few times in Denver Jessi and I have not had a good experience at Caribou so we finally found another local coffee place that we both love!  I was hoping for a better experience at this one but it wasn't to be had!  They have discontinued making our "turtle mochas" (at least in the Caribous that are partnered with Einstein Bagels, which this one is) AND they have discontinued carrying dark chocolate which is what we order with our turtle mochas!  And to top things off, they NOW charge .80 a cup for whip cream - so to have our two small mochas with a shot of caramel and whip cream the cost was $10.80!!!!  WOW - they just lost my business!!

We did enjoy talking and sipping our expensive coffee before Jessi loaded up the girls and headed back to Denver and I headed back to the mountains!  Sure enjoyed having the girls!!

Crafts and Dumpster Days

Our last full day together with Kenzie and Aleah!  It was Dumpster Days for the subdivision - Glenn was working the early shift of 8 to 10 and I had to take over the past due accounts list in case any of them came by to pay!

After feeding the girls, I told them they were going to deliver coffee to Papa and muffins to the people who were manning the dumpsters!!  The dumpsters were housed at our neighbors so just a quick walk over!

I was scared that Glenn was going to bring home MORE stuff that what he took over to get rid of!!!  But he was good and only brought home a couple of items!!

The girls worked on their Diamond Dots for quite a while!!  Interesting projects!!

After lunch we headed into town to the Dollar Store - I told each girl they could have $5.00 to spend (plus a couple extra dollars as they wanted to get Papa something for Fathers Day!) and they had a ball picking out stuff!!   45 minutes later we FINALLY left!!!  I think I know every item available in there now!!

Next stop was the ice cream place!!  I wasn't thrilled with the ice cream choices but the girls were happy so that's all that mattered!!

And our last evening meal was Aleah's choice - and she chose lasagna!!

The girls got organized before they got in the hot tub that night as we knew the next morning they would have to get up early to meet Jessi in Co. Springs!!  It was a gorgeous hot tub night!!

Deer Encounters

The girls really wanted to get close to the deer who hang out around here!  And when they went out to do their yearly task of collecting pine cones, they saw a couple of deer and ran to get a little corn so we could get pictures!  They were pretty excited to see them!  Somehow Aleah's picture didn't turn out....

It's more fun to pick up the NEW pine cones that have just fallen off the trees - they're firm and BIG this year!

The girls helped me make cinnamon blueberry muffins!

Grapes on the swing!

The girls requested cheese pizza and chocolate chip cookie dough from Papa Murphy's - of course I obliged them so I could eat cookie dough too! It was lovely out on the deck!

And another hot tub night - with ice cream sandwiches as snacks after their showers!

And another day is gone....

Girl Fun

The girls like to sleep in - which was fine with me as I could get my workout in and a few chores done before I needed to cook breakfast!  Coffee break is usually 9:30 and the girls played outside so I could see them while I drank my coffee!!

After lunch we headed over to Jaime's - the girls were excited to try out the new zipline that the Smiths' installed a week ago!  Rayna went over all the rules and both girls did great on it!!

I even tried it - I'm no novice to ziplining as I've done it in Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua!  But one piece that I was hanging onto came loose as I was heading down!!  No big deal - Rayna just had to pull me all the way in!!

The girls enjoyed Kylan's swing while we were over there and also doing their virtual reality game!  Jaime and I had some time to catch up while they played!

Playing over at the fort is always fun - have you noticed a trend?  They dressed alike each day!

Each girl gets to pick a meal for dinner - Kenzie chose spicy crab linguine!

Each evening around dusk the girls headed to the hot tub!  I only had to tell them a few times to lower their voices!!  The sound carries throughout the valley and I told them the next door neighbor could hear everything they were saying and they both looked shocked!!

Another fun day!

4 Days With Aleah and Kenzie

It's time for the "girls" to come and spend time at Nana and Papa's house!!  Aleah and Kenzie were SO excited and spent days planning their wardrobe and what they were going to do!!  (they must get their planning skills from me!!)

Since Rayna and Matias were heading to Denver and Ft. Collins, they offered to bring the girls back down which worked out great - except for the fact they didn't get here till 11:45pm - WAY past this Nana's bedtime!!  But they arrived safe and sound and that's all that matters!!

We all slept in the next morning!!  And their day began.....

It was definitely a special coffee day for me and the girls wanted hot chocolate!!  We ALWAYS take a picture when they come of them and their hot chocolate - and I think it was Jessi who suggested that I should post pictures of them with their hot chocolate over the past few years - great idea!!

2016

2017

 2018

 2019

 2020

WOW - they've sure grown up!! (and yes that's my reflection in the window on two of the years!!)

I set up a table in the basement so they could do their crafts and it worked out well!!  No need to entertain these 2 - they find plenty of stuff to do on their own!

Here's one of the crafts they did together - turned out really cute!

They had a fun filled day together and we played cards in the afternoon!  Evenings they spent in the hot tub as soon as it got to be dusk and we had wonderful weather all the time they were here!  More to come!!

SNOW!!

Just so I don't forget about this last snow, I guess I better blog about it!

Not much to say except for the fact we woke up on June 9th and there was around 4" of snow!!  And it was still coming down lightly!!  Luckily Glenn had covered all of his outside plants!

Of course with the warm temps, the snow didn't hang around for long - and that's a GOOD thing!!

The poor hummingbirds had no idea where to get a drink!!

So if it's hot where you're at, maybe these pictures will cool you down!

A Keppy Weekend

I could hardly believe that it had been New Year's Eve since the Keppys had been to our house!!  WOW - 6 months!!  We were all excited to have them come, even though Gary had to work.

They rolled in Friday late afternoon and I had snacks waiting for the kids!!

Papa didn't waste any time since Evan was only going to be here overnight as he was heading to Kylan's for a few days.  He taught Evan how to ride a motorcycle!!

Saturday morning the Smiths (minus Brad) came over for coffee and cinnamon rolls so the boys had a few games of pool!!

My hot chocolate girls!!  Kenzie LOVES spraying the whip cream on!!

Papa made pancakes one morning and of course Gwyn got her favorite animal, an elephant!

Jessi and I enjoyed reading and just hanging out!!  Saturday and Sunday it was horribly windy! Luckily on Sunday morning when we were having our coffee on the deck, it was warm and not too windy at that time!

We also played cards with Kenzie and had a ball playing Apples to Apples - Gwyn can't read of course so she would just throw a card in and it was hilarious!!  We did a LOT of laughing!!

Papa and I took Gwyn over to the playpark Sunday afternoon but it was so darn windy it was almost miserable!!

Gwyn loves to help in the kitchen so she helped me make the strawberry salad - it was so good that we almost ate most of it the first  night we had it!!

During one of the "not so windy" times, Papa took Gwyn on an ATV ride around the property!  She sure loves being outside and spent a lot of time swinging!

Jessi and I did walk both mornings - Saturday morning we had just gotten back and it started to rain!  It was rainy and cool on Saturday morning so not a great day to be outdoors!!  But we found plenty to do inside and had a wonderful weekend together!