Friday, March 15, 2019
Shake Down Trip-Arizona
After 6 weeks of renovations to Annie, we are on the road! First night in Junction. High winds kept us from our original stop of Fort Stockton. We were very thankful we changed our plans, especially as we drove past the burned out carcass of an 18 wheeler outside our second night stop in Las Cruces. As we continue to Mesa, we are picking up mileage thanks to the 30 mphwinds at our back. More to follow!
Friday, July 7, 2017
And we are off!
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Final Days
The high energy level of the younger visitors left us deciding to relax the remainder of the trip. We did several more rides including riding down the other side of Vail Pass into Vail. It was a strenuous ride even though most of it was downhill. We loved Vail, it is such a pretty town with beautiful flowers everywhere. We even passed a cluster of three or four houses which had grass for the roof and stunning flower arrangements!
We enjoyed the ride from Keystone down to Dillon which is adjacent to Frisco as well as a Vespa ride up into the hills near our site.
We did travel into Denver on Monday morning as Hubby had a meeting with an expert on a case. It gave us the opportunity to pick up some paneling and cupboards for our little shed. We had a wonderful time with a nice balance of high energy and relaxation. Can hardly wait for our trip back next June.
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We did travel into Denver on Monday morning as Hubby had a meeting with an expert on a case. It gave us the opportunity to pick up some paneling and cupboards for our little shed. We had a wonderful time with a nice balance of high energy and relaxation. Can hardly wait for our trip back next June.
Family Arrives
Wednesday, noonish, my brother and his family arrived to visit with us until Saturday. We prepared a pasta salad and bbq'ed chicken for their early afternoon arrival. After a leisurely lunch, we worked through the logistics of getting 7 bikes to the top of Vail Pass for the ride down. We loaded up all the bikes and the Vespa carrier on my brothers truck and off we went! Hubby drive the Vespa to Frisco where it was dropped off and then all 7 squished in for the 14 mile ride up to the Pass. Once at the top, we unloaded and set off with my nephews leading the way! A little too tame for them but we always enjoy the ride along the creek and lakes. We had a short stop over in Copper Mountain for coffee and frappachinos. Once we reached Frisco, we split off from Hubby as he rode over to the Vespa to ride it back up to the Pass in order to retrieve the truck. It always scares me to think of him out on I-70 competing for space with truckers and motorists. He says he can go 70 mph on the flat with the wind at his back but slows down considerably on the hills and into the wind.
Meanwhile, the six of us rode back to Tiger Run. It was a little difficult for my niece but we were proud of ourselves for all making the 250' climb over 6.5 miles. While doing the ride my brother and I challenged each other to ride the much more difficult reverse path to Copper Mountain the next morning. After a yummy dinner of pulled pork poutine (fries, gravy and pulled pork) we did a campfire and pool time.
At 7:30 the next morning my brother, sister-in-law and I set out for the 14 mile ride up the 700' elevation change. There were several 5 minute rests along the way and my capitulation about 2 miles from our destination. With encouragement from my brother we finally made it! We rewarded ourselves with lattes and bagels or muffins. And then began the ride back. Although it was primarily downhill to Frisco, the few hills and those from Frisco back to our starting point were a struggle indeed. When we finally arrived I immediately laid down for a nap. 28 miles, an amazing accomplishment for me given the high altitude and little training on hills!
After recovery we decided to walk around the historic area of Breckenridge while the two older boys tried out local beers. We also went up to the ski hill and either played mini golf or rode the chairlift. We enjoyed a steak dinner that night, played an energetic card game (my reaction time is seriously declining) and had a second round of pool volleyball or hot tubbing.
Friday brought another beautiful day and a morning breakfast bike ride up to Breck for breakfast for the four adults. We picked out the Columbine Cafe based on Yelp reviews and were not disappointed. Hubby did well on the ride in spite of his difficulty with catching his breath even while resting due to the much higher altitude, his sore shoulder, bad back, and bad knee. He is a trooper and kept up extremely well considering all his ailments. Upon return to Tiger Run, we got the kids going to drive back up to the ski hill for a downhill mountain path ride from the top of the mountain. The views were stunning and we ran across a lovely young woman who offered to take a group photo!
The descent did not turn out so well! My brother blew a tire about a third of the way down requiring him to walk the bike down the mountain! A little further down, my SIL lost her balance and fell on some sharp rocks. Amazingly no serious injuries!
After meeting up at the bottom, we decided to ride down from the ski hill to where we had parked our trucks. Storm clouds came in quickly and about half way down it began hailing. It was a hard decision to choose between flying down the hill with the hailstones stinging us or go more slowly and get soaked but we decided to do the quick plan. Breathlessly waiting at the bottom, Hubby, one nephew and I waited out the storm in the truck. The rest of the group made it down after the storm stopped having taken cover under a bridge.
We did dinner out at Chipotle as our Canadian visitors had never experienced the challenge of building monster burritos. Just as we entered the restaurant we were able to see a beautiful double rainbow which was so vibrant that it was breathtaking!
We finished up our time with them around a campfire eating peanut butter cup s'mores (yummy!!!) We said our good byes having enjoyed the time we had together which was not juggled with the usual myriad of people when we go up to Calgary. Such a very sweet family and I hope they enjoyed their time as much as we did!
Meanwhile, the six of us rode back to Tiger Run. It was a little difficult for my niece but we were proud of ourselves for all making the 250' climb over 6.5 miles. While doing the ride my brother and I challenged each other to ride the much more difficult reverse path to Copper Mountain the next morning. After a yummy dinner of pulled pork poutine (fries, gravy and pulled pork) we did a campfire and pool time.
At 7:30 the next morning my brother, sister-in-law and I set out for the 14 mile ride up the 700' elevation change. There were several 5 minute rests along the way and my capitulation about 2 miles from our destination. With encouragement from my brother we finally made it! We rewarded ourselves with lattes and bagels or muffins. And then began the ride back. Although it was primarily downhill to Frisco, the few hills and those from Frisco back to our starting point were a struggle indeed. When we finally arrived I immediately laid down for a nap. 28 miles, an amazing accomplishment for me given the high altitude and little training on hills!
After recovery we decided to walk around the historic area of Breckenridge while the two older boys tried out local beers. We also went up to the ski hill and either played mini golf or rode the chairlift. We enjoyed a steak dinner that night, played an energetic card game (my reaction time is seriously declining) and had a second round of pool volleyball or hot tubbing.
Friday brought another beautiful day and a morning breakfast bike ride up to Breck for breakfast for the four adults. We picked out the Columbine Cafe based on Yelp reviews and were not disappointed. Hubby did well on the ride in spite of his difficulty with catching his breath even while resting due to the much higher altitude, his sore shoulder, bad back, and bad knee. He is a trooper and kept up extremely well considering all his ailments. Upon return to Tiger Run, we got the kids going to drive back up to the ski hill for a downhill mountain path ride from the top of the mountain. The views were stunning and we ran across a lovely young woman who offered to take a group photo!
The descent did not turn out so well! My brother blew a tire about a third of the way down requiring him to walk the bike down the mountain! A little further down, my SIL lost her balance and fell on some sharp rocks. Amazingly no serious injuries!
After meeting up at the bottom, we decided to ride down from the ski hill to where we had parked our trucks. Storm clouds came in quickly and about half way down it began hailing. It was a hard decision to choose between flying down the hill with the hailstones stinging us or go more slowly and get soaked but we decided to do the quick plan. Breathlessly waiting at the bottom, Hubby, one nephew and I waited out the storm in the truck. The rest of the group made it down after the storm stopped having taken cover under a bridge.
We did dinner out at Chipotle as our Canadian visitors had never experienced the challenge of building monster burritos. Just as we entered the restaurant we were able to see a beautiful double rainbow which was so vibrant that it was breathtaking!
We finished up our time with them around a campfire eating peanut butter cup s'mores (yummy!!!) We said our good byes having enjoyed the time we had together which was not juggled with the usual myriad of people when we go up to Calgary. Such a very sweet family and I hope they enjoyed their time as much as we did!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Early Days
We spent the first few days (Sunday through Tuesday) cycling from the Vail Pass down to Frisco, 12 miles, mostly downhill and landscaping our site. Our contractor was finishing up the roofing on our shed and cover that we had him build. We of course had to get a photo of him as he is a Wisconsite as is our son-in-law to be!
We are thrilled with how the structure turned out and were eager to put up lights and our flags. We hauled large pave stones to form a border for a new flower bed. It is our hope to have wild flowers growing in it but our timing is probably off, maybe next year.
We did take time out to go to the Breckenridge Distillery for a tour and tasting. It was amazing that such a young bourbon could hold its own against $1000/bottle Pappy Van Winkle in a blind taste test. Even I who doesn't like bourbon was amazed by its smoothness.
We are thrilled with how the structure turned out and were eager to put up lights and our flags. We hauled large pave stones to form a border for a new flower bed. It is our hope to have wild flowers growing in it but our timing is probably off, maybe next year.
We did take time out to go to the Breckenridge Distillery for a tour and tasting. It was amazing that such a young bourbon could hold its own against $1000/bottle Pappy Van Winkle in a blind taste test. Even I who doesn't like bourbon was amazed by its smoothness.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Breckenridge August 2015 - The Beginning
August 7th, we are on the road with "23" and Breckenridge is our one and only destination for two weeks! We both met up in Oklahoma City on Thursday night and in the morning while waiting for my sweetheart to finish a work related accident investigation, I did a bit of shopping at a Disney outlet store. Having amazing success I was able to find my sweet grandbaby's missing Duck (Donald that is for the rest of you) and his love which obviously caused him to stray, Daisy! We set out at about noon in the 104 degree heat and 460 miles before we stopped for the night at the Raton Pass Camp & Cafe. Fortunately the trip was uneventful and we arrived at about 7 pm. After settling in, we had a quick dinner, wound down and had a wonderful sleep in the lovely cooler weather. In the morning we strolled about 40 feet over to the cafe where we had a delightful homemade breakfast and were thoroughly entertained by the owner. She gave us advice as to which path to travel and then proceeded to tell us how she has seen changes in the attitudes of people over the past few years. She said that She encounters many more bullies who demand preferential treatment no matter the circumstances. She doesn't allow them to behave that way with her. She is an amazing woman who works from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. with an amazingly cheerful disposition while her husband works far away and only comes home on the weekends. We were also entertained by a lovely older couple from Austin on their way to tour the Durango area. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is one of the things I most enjoy during our travels.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Homeward Bound
We wrapped up some minor landscaping work at Breckenridge on Wednesday before pulling out early Thursday morning. It was a beautiful morning as we pulled said good bye to the rugged Rockies. The morning sun was just starting to kiss the earth exposing a beautiful blue sky and a soft pink hue reflecting off the snow capped mountain peaks.
We headed south through the Hoosier Pass (elev 11,542') which had breath taking hair pin turns and views. The trip was uneventful as we passed the Royal Gorge, Pueblo (ok we stopped for Starbucks), and Raton. As we made our way into Texas, it became evident we weren't going to be able to take the most direct route to spend the night in Lubbock. Lubbock was surrounded by horrible storms- tornado watches, flood warnings, hail and three 18 wheelers overturned in the ditch or across the freeway. We went to the west of Lubbock before working our way down to I-20, threading the needle between strong storms to spend the night outside Abilene. After arriving at a RV park on the east side at 8:30, we devoured a quick meal of rice and beans, enjoyed a glass of wine before falling asleep inspire of the loud thunder and unbelievable lightning. About 800 miles (600 was planned) over 14 hours. Will be soooo glad to get home!
We headed south through the Hoosier Pass (elev 11,542') which had breath taking hair pin turns and views. The trip was uneventful as we passed the Royal Gorge, Pueblo (ok we stopped for Starbucks), and Raton. As we made our way into Texas, it became evident we weren't going to be able to take the most direct route to spend the night in Lubbock. Lubbock was surrounded by horrible storms- tornado watches, flood warnings, hail and three 18 wheelers overturned in the ditch or across the freeway. We went to the west of Lubbock before working our way down to I-20, threading the needle between strong storms to spend the night outside Abilene. After arriving at a RV park on the east side at 8:30, we devoured a quick meal of rice and beans, enjoyed a glass of wine before falling asleep inspire of the loud thunder and unbelievable lightning. About 800 miles (600 was planned) over 14 hours. Will be soooo glad to get home!
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