Parade Day at the Cabin (July 4th, 2015)

We woke this morning to freshly brewed coffee, as we always do at the cabin. We took our time enjoying our coffee on the front porch, watching the birds and chipmunks scrambling around the front yard. We finished our breakfast then walked into town with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Each holiday weekend in the summer the town holds a big craft fair in the Property Owners Association building and the firehouse. Everyone from the whole town, along with all of the visitors come out to see what everyone has been working on. There are so many talented people in this community with crafts ranging from crocheted items and jewelry to wood and metal working and photography. There is also a BBQ lunch available for purchase that most of the shoppers take advantage of. It’s always fun to just stroll the streets of town on these big weekends.  The town has a lot of nice little shops, but most of them are only open during the summer.

So handy to have a new hardware store!

The post office

The volunteer fire station

And the general store / supermarket

We always run into people we know. This time it was our friend Pam from our community at home. There are book sales at the library, a fishing contest, and the pioneer house is usually open for tours, they also had events for the kids down by the lake. 

And when it was time for the parade, we all headed down to Lake Ramona, where the parade always begins. The parade is always organized by one or two people (Steve’s mom was the organizer for several years), so it is a big undertaking. It took us awhile to figure out where the “Former Princess” float was (see July 3rd post), but we finally found it. They had a great turnout, as 10 former princesses were there. The float was decorated with streamers and balloons. Our daughter stayed with the other girls, and we found our spot along the parade route. The parade runs the length of the town, starting at Lake Ramona, crossing the highway, and ending at the coffee shop on the top of the hill. 

The parade is a typical small town parade, led by the color guard, with lots of fire trucks from all of the surrounding communities. The whole community gets involved by making their own floats, decked out with everything patriotic they can find. The reigning princess and princess candidates rode on one of the fire trucks near the beginning of the parade, and one of the dune buggies even had a bubble machine. Everyone throws candy to the crowd, and everyone has a great time. 

Current princess and princess-candidate

Our daughter had a really good time seeing all of the other former-princesses and riding on the float through town. 

When the parade was over, we headed back to Steve’s parents cabin, where the whole family met for dinner. This time I was in charge of the meal, so we had pulled pork sandwiches, beans and salad. After dinner Grandma and the girls headed back to town to play bingo. Grandpa and our nephew went fishing, and the rest of us took a walk around one of the nearby lakes. The weather was gorgeous, so when everyone got back, we had another campfire complete with s’mores and talked the night away. 

We slept in on Sunday morning, and eventually made our way back home. Our oldest daughter was coming home on Sunday night from visiting her husband. Her flight was originally supposed to get in at midnight, but after several delays, it would be coming in at 2:00 a.m. I woke up at 1:15 and snuck out of the house so that Steve could sleep (he had to work the next morning) and headed to Denver International Airport to get her. Steve ended up waking up, and waited up for us, and by the time we got home it was about 3:00 a.m., so the three of us headed to bed for a few hours of rest before everyone headed to work in the morning.

Back to the Cabin (July 3rd, 2015)

Two weeks till retirement! We took our oldest daughter to the airport at 2:00 this morning, and then headed back to bed for a few hours. She is heading to Georgia to see her husband. They will spend their holiday weekend in beautiful Savanna, Georgia.

The rest of us are once again heading to the Cabin. Our youngest daughter was the princess of our small cabin community during her junior year in high school (2012-2013). She received an email this week that they would like all of the former princesses to return this year for the Fourth of July celebration. She originally had plans to go camping with friends in Crested Butte, Colorado, but decided that this was important and wanted to be a part of it.

We took our time getting up, and arrived at the cabin at about 10:00 a.m. We got moved into the cabin and enjoyed some time with Steve’s parents; then Steve and I headed over to Dowdy Lake, where our friends, Louise and Paul, were camping. They camp there often, so we always try to go visiting if we can. We are always amazed by their camping set-up. They have a 5th wheel as big as a house, as well as awnings, smokers, big comfy chairs and more. They truly camp in luxury! They had a big group of friends and family along this time, made up of seven campsites and 27 people. We stayed at their camp for a few hours, and invited them to join us for fireworks if they were interested. 

As we were leaving Dowdy, we got a text that Grandma, Grandpa and our daughter were heading over to Steve’s brother's cabin for dinner and fireworks, so we just drove straight over there. Steve's brother and his wife have a cabin near the lake where they shoot off the fireworks. It is the ideal place to hang out, away from the crowds, and enjoy the evening until the fireworks begin. 

When we got there our nephew and his girlfriend were throwing axes and knifes at a huge target, so we joined in. Somehow, the guys are so much better at this than we girls are. I just can’t understand it. But I guess that when a big bear comes strolling along we will be safe with our big burly, hatchet throwing men. We hung around the cabin just having fun for the next few hours. 

Family and friends just enjoying the after

Steve's brother and his wife had prepared grilled vegetables with shrimp and sausage kabobs for dinner, and grandma brought beans and corn salad to accompany it. So yummy! And the best news is…our daughter could eat all of it!! After dinner we cleaned up the dishes while the fire was being built at the fire pit. We all headed up there for some banana s’mores, and just hung out until the fireworks started. 

Steve’s mom took a walk down by the lake to see all of her mountain friends, and to her surprise, there was a big moose, strolling among all of the people (fortunately staying calm). Everyone was giving him plenty of room, and allowing him to just stroll where he wanted until he finally wondered up away from the crowd. As fun as it is to see a moose up close and personal, it is also very important to give them lots of space. If they get scared, they will attack, and they are big and dangerous. The funniest part about the unexpected moose is that the fireworks were delayed because all of the emergency vehicles were keeping their eye on him, rather than preparing for the show. 

Once he wondered off, the fireworks began, and as always, it was a beautiful show. The view through the trees and the reflection off of the lake is always such a treat. Fireworks in the mountains are so relaxing and spectacular!

Cabin Time and a Hike with a Lounge Chair (June 26th and 27th, 2015)

It is now three weeks until retirement, but who’s counting. Our son-in-law left early Tuesday morning for his officer’s training in Ft. Benning, Georgia. The house is feeling a little empty, and our oldest daughter is really missing her new husband; so this weekend we will be spending a few days at the family cabin in northern Colorado with Steve’s parents. 

I picked up sandwiches for the car ride up, so that as everyone got home on Friday night, we could just eat in the car, and get up there a little earlier. Subway in our area is trialing gluten free bread, so our youngest daughter can actually eat their sandwiches right now. She reported that they sandwich was excellent.  Thank you, Subway!!! 

The sun was going down as we were getting close to the cabin and the wildlife was really moving around.  We saw 12 deer (two of which were fawns with spots), a black bear (very rare to see in Colorado), and a pheasant. Always fun if you keep your eyes open. We ended the night with a relaxing evening with Steve’s parents and the girls.  

Waking up at the cabin is always a treat, listening to the birds chirping, and the stillness of being in the mountains. We enjoyed the morning sitting on the front porch, drinking coffee and waiting for the girls to wake up. After eating some gluten free sour dough pancakes, we all decided to go for a hike. 

We drove a ways up the main highway, to a spot where we could pull out. We weren’t taking a designated trail, so we dropped a pin on Steve’s I-Phone to make sure we could find our way back. The temperature in the mountains this time of year is perfect! The hike was beautiful, through the trees, and over a stream. 

A bear track.  Yikes!

The perfect time of year to see Colorado's State Flower, the Columbine.

A few minute stop for a selfie

And the bonus was that we found a rock that looked like a perfect lounge chair. 

There was even room for one more person.

Our hike was about 3 miles, so it was no problem finding the truck again. When we got back to the cabin, our youngest daughter wanted to go crawdad fishing, so we grabbed the fishing lines and headed over to the lake. We catch crawdads by dangling chicken skin from a fishing pole into the lake. The crawdads live in the rock crevices near the dam. When one grabs onto the chicken skin, we slowly pull it up into a net, and then put it in a bucket of water. The crawdads are small and not really worth eating, so we catch as many as we can, and then let them go on a big rock, and they race back to the water. It’s always fun to see which one can get itself back in the water the quickest. We can usually waste at least a couple of hours fishing for crawdads, so it’s a great way to enjoy an afternoon doing something that you can’t do at home. 

On our way back from the lake, we stopped by the cabin of some of our relatives. They were redoing their deck and stairs, so we stopped and talked for a few minutes, cheered them on and then continued on our way. We didn’t put the fishing gear and bucket away when we got home, so we had some unexpected afternoon entertainment, watching a golden mantel chipmunk trying to get to the chicken skins that were dangling on the side of the bucket. It was quite entertaining! 

We had an early dinner, so the girls could get on their way. They had a going away party for our nephew and his girlfriend that they wanted to attend in Boulder, so they headed out right after dinner. 

We stayed one more night at the cabin, and then headed back home on Sunday. The girls had a great time at their cousin’s party. We spent Sunday getting unpacked, doing laundry and preparing for another week.

38 Special Concert (June 21st, 2015)

Today is father’s day, and we will be celebrating by going to a 38 Special concert at Hudson Gardens, an out-door venue in Littleton, Colorado. We headed over to our friends Steve and Dawn’s house at about 2:30. Their daughter was not off work, so they were going to pick her up and then meet up with us. We got to Hudson Gardens at about 3:30, and parked in the east parking lot. We walked back down the road to the east entrance, where we were about the fourth group in line. The gates don’t open until 5:00, so we set up our chairs and relaxed. 

It didn’t take long for Dawn, Steve and their kids to show up and join us in line. It was a very hot day, in the low 90’s, so it didn’t take long for all of us to start over-heating in the direct sun of the line. Luckily, our chairs were set up right next to a perfect little break in the trees, so we could take turns sitting or standing in the shade of the trees. Our friends had also brought some umbrellas, so we could make our own shade in line as well. Back at the security check point, they also had a water station with really cold water where we could refill our water bottles, which we did many times. 

At 5:00 the gates opened, and it was literally a dash for those in the front of the line to get good seats. All of the seating at Hudson Gardens is general admission on the lawn, and if you are lucky, you can get up close and sit in the shade of the stage where it is nice and cool. That is what we did, so we enjoyed a dinner that both families contributed to, in the shade, while we waited for the concert to start at 6:30. 

The whole crew enjoying dinner!

Our four kids enjoying dinner

Hudson Gardens is a botanical garden with an outdoor stage set up in the summer just for these weekend concerts. They have beer and wine stations where you can get Budweiser products including large Bud Light Lime and large Stella Artois as well as red and white wine for $6.00. They also had four food trucks, offering several different types of food for $8.00 to $10.00, and it looked like there were even a few healthy options available. Unfortunately, there were no permanent restrooms, just port-o-potties, which were nice and clean. 

It’s always fun to go to concerts of bands from the 80’s. We don’t usually listen to classic rock radio stations, so it is definitely hit or miss on whether or not we will remember any of the songs they sing, and remembering the words is a whole other level of uncertainty. 38 Special did a great concert, and their voices have really held up well through the years. 

38 Special on the beautiful outdoor stage

Dawn and I would get excited when a song came on that we could remember and sing along to, but the rest of the time, we really enjoyed just dancing with the crowd. The concert ended at 9:30, just as the sun was setting. We met up with our friend Tim, and his friend Nancy for a few minutes as we waited for the crowd to clear.  

The kids all played with the beach balls that had floated around the crowd throughout the concert. As we left the amphitheater, we were amazed at how little traffic remained, and how easy it was to get out of the venue. What a great night, with great friends!

Making Up For Lost Time (June 20th, 2015)

It is now 4 weeks until retirement! While we were in Utah last weekend, we unfortunately missed the graduation party of a good friend. So this weekend, we had the pleasure of a private dinner party with their whole family. 

When we got to Dale and Lynne’s house at about 4:00, they and their oldest daughter were sitting out on their beautiful back deck, enjoying the weather and the scenery. We joined in on the conversation in the shade of their big umbrella, had some beers, and just caught up on all that has happened in life for all of us. 

Dale and Steve have been friends since 5th grade. There have been years, especially when the kids were younger, that we would camp together almost every weekend, but as the years went by, and our kids went to different schools, and developed different interests, our time together has become less consistent. But it doesn’t change the fact that we are all great friends. 

About an hour into our reminiscing, their youngest daughter, the new high school graduate, came home and joined us on the back deck. We have known both of the girls since they were born, and have had the pleasure of watching them grow up, so seeing them is always so much fun, to see how they have changed, and to catch up on their lives. Their oldest daughter is going to Metropolitan State University for Restaurant Management, and the younger one will be starting at Otero College in the fall for history.

Since it had been awhile since we have all gotten together, Dale and Lynne made a big turkey dinner to celebrate; it was complete with green beans, stuffing, and cranberries. What a treat! They always spoil us when we go over there. Our youngest daughter was then able to join us.  We topped off dinner with some cherries and gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that we had brought. Then we all went down stairs, and looked at wedding pictures from our daughter's wedding together. We kept encouraging them to skip a few, because there were so many, but they were so patient and wanted to see them all.  

Thanks Dale and Lynne for a fabulous day!

Arches and Quesadillas in Moab, UT (June 14th, 2015)

Sunday morning was early, since we wanted to beat the crowds to Arches National Park. The lines at the gate to get into the park can be very long, and parking at the main attractions is limited, so we were on the road by 6:00 am. Entry into the park went very smoothly, and parking was also a breeze. We were probably the 20th car to park in the lot for the Delicate Arch hike. 

In the area around Moab, there are many interesting rock formations such as arches, bridges, pillars and mushroom-shaped pedestal rocks. It is thought that all of these are formed when some of the sandstone rock is strengthened by pressure or other natural forces, and then over time, the surrounding loose soil and rock is eroded away. 

Rock pillars with a few small mushrooms

A lightening strike in the sandstone rock.  The lightening hardens veins in the rock which then erodes at a different rate. 

Petrified sandstone dunes

The hike to delicate arch is about a 1 ½ mile climb, some of it is rather steep, and much of it is on petrified dunes. Toward the end of the hike, you will be walking on a rock ledge about 200 feet above the valley floor below. The ledge is about 3 feet wide, so it is easy to avoid looking over the edge, if you prefer not to. This hike is not too strenuous, but if you are not used to the altitude, or not typically active, this may be a difficult hike for you. Temperatures in Utah get very hot in the summer, so carry lots of water with you. If you fill a Camelback water pack and put it in the refrigerator overnight, it will keep you cool for quite a while on a hot hike, and provides your water as well. 

The ledge, but not too bad since it's pretty wide

All of us at Delicate arch

The kids standing under Delicate Arch

Here we are under the arch.  It's huge!

After our hike, we took our time getting back out of Arches National Park, stopping along the way to see some of the sights we missed on the way in. We headed back to the rental to shower, pack up and get checked out, and then we were off to lunch. 

Multiple arches and snow capped mountains.  Gorgeous!

The number one rated restaurant in Moab according to Trip Advisor is a food truck called Quesadilla Mobilla. It is parked on the West side of the highway, at about 100 North (I can’t remember exactly, but it is bright colored, so you can’t miss it). All they serve is quesadilla’s, but they have a fun variety to choose from. All of the seating is outdoors, of course, but there are several tables and lots of shade, so it is very pleasant. 

My quesadilla was the Enchanted Chicken (chicken and green chili), our daughter had the Sweet and Spicy (vegetarian), our son-in-law had the Southern Belle (shredded beef and vegies) and Steve had the Fiery Fungus (shredded beef, jalapenos and mushrooms). They were all very good, and very filling. 

Unfortunately, after lunch, it was time to head back toward Denver, but we are always amazed at how much fun we can cram into a weekend.

Hiking and Wine'ing in Moab (June 13th, 2015)

On Friday after everyone got home from work we jumped in the car and made the ~5 hour drive from Denver to Moab, Utah.  Upon arrival we quickly got settled in to our VRBO.com (Vacation Rental by Owner).  We all then headed for a soak in the wonderful hot tube, which was very nice after the car ride.

Saturday was an adventure day, and of course, we wanted to fit in as many activities as we possibly could. Steve and I woke up before our daughter and her husband and made coffee and sat at a little outside table in the front yard. The rental is right in the center of town, and only 2 blocks off of the highway, but it was extremely quiet, with no traffic noise at all. It was so pleasant sitting out front, drinking our coffee, watching the swallow-tail butterflies float by (something we don’t see much at home), and listening to the birds sing. Once the kids got up, we made some breakfast sandwiches, packed a lunch, and headed out to Dead Horse State Park. 

From the visitor’s center at Dead Horse, we took a very easy 1 ½ mile hike to Dead Horse Point, which has a scenic overlook of the Canyon lands. There were also lots of fun picture stops along the way. 

A beautiful cactus flower

You can see how muddy the Colorado River is from all the rain

A different view of the Canyon Lands from Dead Horse Point

Adventurous Hikers

When you reach the end of the trail, there is a large area, with a huge shade structure. So well thought out, since it gets very hot in Moab in the summer months! After a few pictures on the point, our son-in-law ran back the 1 ½ miles and got the car and met us back at the top where we had claimed a gazebo with a table for lunch. Our duaghter is currently on antibiotics for an infection, so we are trying to not push her too hard. We certainly don’t want her getting sick again. So we sat in the shade and read the Dead Horse pamphlet while we waited about 15 minutes for her husband to show up with the car. 

The reason the point is called Dead Horse Point, is that cowboys used to corral wild mustangs on the point using small branches to block of the entrance once they were in. They would then choose the mustangs that they wanted to keep, and would leave the rest corralled on the point to die of dehydration just two hundred feet above the Colorado River. We all thought this was horribly cruel, and couldn’t understand why they would leave them to die, but I’m sure they had their reasons. Although this state park has a sad story associated with it, it is very scenic, and has several beautiful hikes. I certainly recommend it if you are in the area. 

Once our son-in-law arrived with the car, we made ourselves some hummus, chicken and vegie sandwiches, with cherries and olives on the side for lunch, and sat and enjoyed the shade for a short time more, and then got back in the car and headed further up the road to Canyon Lands National Park.

Since our son-in-law is military, he was able to get a free annual pass, called the “America the Beautiful” pass, which allows him free admission to any National Park for a year. He got it right at the entrance gate to Canyon Lands National Park. It is so nice to see him being rewarded for his service! 

We didn’t have a lot of time to spend in Canyon Lands, so we made an effort to hit the highlights. Our first stop was right across from the visitors Center. We took a very short walk to the overlook, which was a scary drop off. Quite spectacular! 

Father-in-law and Son-in-law.  Aren't they cute?

This was the scary drop off!

Then back in the car to take the scenic drive through the park. At the end of the drive is the Grand Overlook, which offers probably 180 degree views from Dead Horse State Park, around to the north, of the beautiful Canyon Lands. The Canyon Lands are a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, where the Colorado River has carved through the sandstone for thousands of years to reveal hundreds of layers of rock and create a canyon about 200 feet deep. This park is well worth your time, especially if you haven’t seen the Grand Canyon, or much of the desert southwest. Once we finished our drive through the Canyon Lands, we headed back to the rental to clean up for our next adventure.

At about 3:00, we headed north out of Moab on Highway 191 to Highway 128, which is a scenic highway that runs along the Colorado River between the tiny town of Cisco, and Moab. We were heading to the Castle Creek Winery for a tour and wine tasting. It was quite an adventure just to drive along the Colorado River. It is so full that it is spectacular to watch. Much of the road up to the winery is muddy from mud slides over the last few days. There is a lot of “earth moving” equipment all along the road, I’m sure that it keeps flooding over and over, so they aren’t removing the equipment since they will just need it again. 

The Castle Creek Winery is situated in a valley that backs up to the Colorado River, with Arches National Park on the far side of the river. It is a beautiful, rustic setting for a winery. 

We went in, and they started our tour immediately. Chris took us downstairs, and into the wine making room. When the grapes are brought in, they are first put through a machine that separates the grapes from the stems. 

This machine separates the grapes from the stems

From there, the process changes depending on whether they are making red or white wine. Red grapes are put directly into a holding tank with their seeds and skin still intact, but the white grapes are first put through another machine that removes the seeds and skin. 

This machine removes the seeds and skins from the grapes (right away for white wine, a little later for red wine).

Once all of the grapes are in their holding tanks, the yeast is added, and the fermentation begins. After a few days, the red grapes have to be removed from their tanks so that the seeds and skin can be removed (using the same machine that the white grapes already used), then back into the holding tanks for aging. 

The aging time depends on the type of grapes, and the desired outcome of the wine maker. Once the grapes have aged for the desired amount of time, they are put through several filtration processes before they can be bottled. The winery still has an old bottling machine.

The old bottling machine.  Not very effective, but pretty cool looking.

But 4 years ago, they got a new bottling machine that bottles and labels the wine all at once, with almost no waste. They really love their new machine. 

The new bottler/labeler

After the tour was complete, we went back upstairs to the tasting room and gift shop. We were allowed to sample 3 wines each, and then were given one gift basket per couple to take with us. 

It was a really nice tour, tasting and gift basket (some really cool items), and it was compliments of Stephen and Melissa, so we have no idea how much it was, but we do know that they got a pretty good deal on Groupon. 

When we left the winery, we took some time to walk around the grounds. 

There was a wedding going on at the Red Cliffs Lodge next door, so that was kind of fun. We talked about how fun it would be to be wedding crashers, but we controlled ourselves and stayed out of their pictures and their wine. We did go into the lodge to look around. It is a very fun rustic atmosphere. Their restaurant has a huge deck on the back, with tables overlooking the Colorado River, and of course plenty of tables inside as well. 

View from the deck of the Red Cliff Lodge Restaurant

They also have a history museum in the basement of the west lobby that tells about the history of the area, and about all of the movies that have been made in that area. It was pretty interesting for a small museum. When we finished at the winery and Lodge, we headed back to town to get ready for dinner.

Getting ready for dinner basically consisted of having some beer and wine at our little table in the front yard, and opening our gift baskets from the winery to see what we got. Nice and relaxing.

Really fun stuff in our gift baskets!  

Dinner was at the Moab Brewery, which was about 6 or 7 blocks from our rental, so we just walked over. Micro-breweries are big in Colorado, and the food at most of them tends to be pretty good. The atmosphere at the Moab Brewery was fun, and was based on the feel of Moab, with rafts hanging from the ceiling, and a jeep parked in the main dining area. Our food was also very good. 

Steve had a salmon salad, our son-in-law and I had fish tacos and our daughter had a burger. It started raining during dinner, so we waited for a break in the weather before we walked back to the rental. It was dark by then, and the walk was very pleasant; after about a half hour in the hot tub, we all called it a night.

What a fun day we spent with the newly married couple!