Summer Camping in Colorado

WOW did it feel great to take off on Monday morning - it was our first REAL camping trip in the mountains this season!  The traffic was steady but at least it was going in the other direction!  Unfortunately summer brings road construction!

We headed towards Gunnison and were planning on camping in Pitkin - we have a great spot we have stayed in but it was already taken................so we continued on (all 65 feet of us) on this very narrow, rocky road and were praying we wouldn't meet anybody as we sure can't back up.  We had no idea if there were any other spots that would be large enough for us and the road sure wasn't getting any better!

Luckily we found a spot that would work pretty well!!  Glenn unloaded the ATV and went up further to see if there was anything else and there wasn't - so we set up camp where we were at and it actually turned out to be a great spot - you could hear the stream rushing by and to me that's always soothing!

We hopped on the ATV (and yes, I absolutely love our new ATV with my high seat - not only can I see better but it's SO MUCH EASIER to hold on and handle the bumps!!) and we were off!!

We hadn't been on too long when it started sprinkling!  Just in case, we stopped and put on our rain gear!  Oh, and checked the map!!

 This was one of the road signs we came upon in this one section where there were some houses!

 Oh the aspens - I can never take enough pictures of the aspens!!

 It was a gorgeous evening and we were able to have a campfire since the wind had died down!  It was chilly out!!

 Brats and potato salad for dinner - easy enough!!

 The next morning was gorgeous and we saw some beautiful country!!

 We stopped on top of this mountain and it was so windy out!!

 More aspens - I've already decided we need to come back here for fall!

 And I FINALLY saw the columbines!!  I had been watching but hadn't seen any around our house - guess it took us going higher up to the mountains to find them!  The wind was blowing so hard I had to hold it because it wouldn't stand still!

 Check out the backdrop for this photo!!  It may be one of my favorites for the year!!

To Be Cont'd.........................

Happy 4th of July - 2016

It always brings a smile to my face when the 4th of July rolls around - I love decorating in red, white and blue and almost forgot to put out the decorations that I have!!

Also a time to celebrate Aleah's 7th birthday and Robby and Jill's anniversary, married 13 years!!  The Savages all went to Iowa to celebrate over the 4th so we celebrated with them later................

On Sunday, we went over to Dick and Jane's cabin in Guffey for the day - took our new ATV to try out on their mountain and had fun traveling over their ranch!  Their son Eric and some friends also ATV'd with us for a while!

Glenn and Dick worked on their solar system after that while Jane and I relaxed on their deck with books and wine!  We all enjoyed grilled burgers and fruit salad that afternoon and early evening we headed into Guffey for a light dinner - great times!

And our 4th?????  We actually decided to go camping on the 4th, knowing that most people would be headed home!  So Monday morning we packed the 5th wheel, hooked on to the ATV trailer and were out the door by 9:30am!  But that's another blog..................

Birthday Celebration!

We go out to eat about once a month with friends Jan and Jan (yes, that's their names - one Jan is officially Janet but goes by Jan) and since 3 of our birthdays are in May, June and July, we celebrated at Mexicana Fiesta!

Since I'm always the cameraman there isn't a picture of me but I love the pictures of THEM!!

We have a waiter there that we have come to know every time we come in - in fact we met him when Jill and Robby had their rehearsal dinner at this place!!  Anyway, he brought over dessert and of course proceeded to rub the whip cream on Glenn's nose - I did take a picture but it turned out pretty blurry!!

After all was said and done, the waiter brought Glenn his own Mexican hat to bring home!!  Fun times!

The Final Adventure of Evan and Kylan

All too soon the last day arrived for Evan and Kylan!  In the little time they had left  before it was time to head to Co. Springs to meet Brad, they were at their "base".  One of our rock formations has this small place you can get in between and they had a ball making it their fort!

 One of their favorite things to do - whack off the dead branches!!  Of course, a few cuts and bruises resulted from this!

 The boys had a great time doing all the fun things I had planned for them!

 And of course they really enjoyed spending time with Papa doing the fishing and the rock hounding!

 We met Brad at Chick-fil-A for lunch - gosh that place is busy!!  Caught Kylan with a mouthful here!!

After chicken and ice cream, it was time to say good-bye to their summer adventure - one they won't forget I'm sure!!

Day 3 of Evan and Kylan's Excellent Adventure!

Tuesday morning was pancake day!  Papa always makes made to order shaped pancakes!  They boys loved them!  Evan requested a gem.  I would say Kylan looks like he just woke up!

 And Kylan requested a rocket ship - I think..............

 Today was their "special treat" which was a tour of the wolf compound - it's actually very close to our house and after looking at their website, I was very surprised at how popular it is and how many tours are given each day!

 The wolf pups were so cute!!

The tour was very interesting - lots of facts and figures as we walked around seeing the different wolves in their enclosures - also a coyote and some elusive red foxes.

Kylan asked the tour guide several questions!  He's the inquisitive one!!

 All in all a great tour and I would highly recommend it!

That evening was popcorn and a movie - after scrolling through a LOT of movies, I decided ET should be the one since neither boy has seen it!  And as I knew they would, they loved it!!

Another fantastic day spent with Nana and Papa!!

Part Two Of The Boys Adventure

Glenn woke both boys up on Monday morning - I think they were still tired!  But it was time to get breakfast down so they could go rock and gem hunting!!

I packed them water and some snacks and they headed out - of course with specific instructions to Glenn to take at least ONE picture and he remembered!!!  They had a great time!

After returning home, they got out their penny books and started searching!  We have a huge jug full of change that both boys looked through when they did their quarter books and now it's on to the pennies!

Evan is a little further along as he looked through a bunch of coins when they were down before - but penny looking only keeps you occupied for so long.......................

Kylan loves to play board games - after playing one that Evan picked out, Kylan said he wanted to play monopoly - Evan was not thrilled at all about that but I told him he had to play with us!  And Evan absolutely loved it!!  I could hardly get them to stop playing so I could fix dinner!!

Hot tub time!

And since they were being so good, I gave them 1/2 hour on technology!

One of their "chores" while they were here was to pick up 2 garbage sacks full of pine cones that Papa can use this winter to start fires - at first they weren't too thrilled about it but actually had fun doing it!

And more fun time on the rocks!!

We must have wore them out again because they were ready to go to bed when  it was time!!  Another fun day!!

Evan and Kylan's Excellent Adventure - Part 1

Since we didn't have the grand kids stay last summer due to Glenn's surgery, it was time this year to have them!  First up was Kylan and Evan - the boys were super excited to come WITHOUT their parents and we brought them back when we were in Denver!

One never has to worry about the long trip as long as the kids have electronics!!  I told them to take advantage on the way home as they wouldn't be playing on them much at our house!

 I had to stop and get groceries in town so bought us all donuts!!

Playing on the rocks - always a favorite!!

The boys read to each other - now how cute is that?????

Outdoor fun!!

And inside, a new game to play!!

After dinner, we headed over to Dick and Jane's so the boys could fish - they walked to the furthest pond and started fishing right away!!

And it wasn't long before they got a bite!!  Soon they were reeling in sunfish like crazy!!

I think they ended up keeping about 20 of the fish - of course sunfish aren't very big to start with so it took a lot of cleaning on Glenn's part to take care of all of them!!  But the boys had a great time!!

And two sleepy boys went right to bed when we got home................