Crag's Hike 9/25/11

Last weekend we hiked the Crags Trail on our way back from BV. It's located out by Mueller State Park and is one of the best hikes we've ever done. The aspens were bright yellow and the weather was perfect. At the top (10,000 ft) there are some bristlecone pines which are not often found. They can be thousands of years old. The hike was only 4 mi. long and rewarded us with 360 degree views that were spectacular.

We could see Catamount reservoirs, the back side of Mt. Herman, and lots of rock formations. I think we'll take this hike many more times.

Weekend in Buena Vista,Co.

We just spent a very relaxing and fun weekend with friends in Buena Vista. The leaves were beautiful and the weather was gorgous. Arn golfed with the guys on Friday. On Saturday we went about 26 mi. on ATV's which was really fun but very dusty. I relaxed by the river behind our friend's house later while people fished.
We were going to go to the hot springs but never made it so we'll try to get there another time.

99 Days til Christmas

It's getting cooler here in Monument and we've had more rain in the past couple of days than we've had in a long time. I've been busy trying to preserve some of the veggies we brought home from ND. I oven roasted 3 pans of plum cherry tomatoes, tried a hot pepper pesto recipe, made two large jars of refrigerator dill pickles, roasted pablano peppers, and we're eating tomatoes almost three times a day. One of our favs is a garden tomato sandwich (wheat bread - toasted, a little mayo, salt and pepper). I've also been eating tomatoes like apples, and last night we made a caprese salad. Yummy!

I'm kind of in the 'get ready for winter' mode and want to get out the fall decorations. I always have big ideas for the holidays and want to get a few projects done that I always end up deleting from my schedule. Realizing that Christmas is only 99 days away might help this year.

I'm not ready for the weather change yet thought....there was a blizzard that closed Pikes Peak Hwy last week and it snowed on trail ridge road too.

We need to be thinking about Thanksgiving....if you want to come, let us know.

Off to see Val and Eric in North Dakota

Val and Eric's great garden.

Chops, Mr. Baby, Baby Dogger, our granddog.

On 9/7/11 we decided to take a quick trip to North Dakota to see Val and Eric before the weather changes and while their garden is in full swing. We left on Thurs. afternoon and stayed the night in Deadwood, South Dakota. We had dinner at Kevin Costner's bar and grill (not outstanding). On Friday we headed to ND but since they were working we stopped to play 9 holes of golf at Boulder Canyon in SD outside of Sturgis and then stopped at Bear Butte State Park for a quick hike. Bear Butte is sacred to several tribes and the colorful pieces of fabric are prayer requests. It took us an hour to get to the top and was a 4 mi. total hike. While we were in Dickinson, Val and I did an Alzheimer's walk, went to a few rummage sales, the guys golfed, we all did yard work, and ate plenty of their vegetables. We also hit the Dairy Barn a couple of times. Val and Eric have a few things that I would love, love to have.....a garden, compost bin, rain barrel, greenhouse, and loads of garden veggies. Thanks for a really fun weekend Val, Eric, and Chops!

Hot Sandy Feet

On our way home from CB we decided to go to Great Sand Dunes National Park since Lisa had never been there. It was a great day. Arn hiked up to the 2nd highest peak but Lisa and I only made it about half way. The sand was too hot and we both had worn sandals. It is a beautiful place and has big dunes surrounded by wonderful mountains. It feels almost as if you are in a movie about the Sahara Desert!

Our 3rd hike was the summit of Mt. Crested Butte. We rode the lift up and then hiked the 1.4 mi. to the summit. Meredith and I made it to the top. It was fairly hard because I don't like heights and I came down on my bottom quite a few time. It was a good birthday present to myself. Later that night we went to Lil's for a great sushi dinner.

The 2nd day we were going to do a less strenuous hike but ended up hiking the Lower Loop out to Oh Be Joyful Falls and returned via the Upper Upper Loop. The views were great and there wasn't much elevation gain but it was 7 mi. long.

Up at Irwin Lake there are canoes that you can use at your own risk.

Lisa's 1st time to Crested Butte

Lisa arrived last week on Wed. and we headed to Crested Butte. Thurs. we hiked up to Scarp's Ridge above Irwin Lodge. It's about a 4 mi. hike and does have some elevation gain but is such a reward at the end. You look out into other valleys and down into Oh Be Joyful. It's one of my favorites!

We celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary at Garlic Mike's in Gunnison on 9/1/11

3rd Leg of Our Vacation - Bradley Beach, New Jersey

From Arlington,Va. we drove on to Bradley Beach,NJ. to visit Frank and Sass. Hurricaine Irene followed us and changed our plans. We had wanted to go into the city, meet Shona and attend her baptism. We rode out Irene with Frank and Sass and had a good time anyway. Arn and I walked the boardwalk while the weather was good, went to The Wonder Bar, saw The Stone Pony, had NJ pizza, and watched alot of hurricaine and weather updates. The day we left (8/29) we went into Baltimore, MD and checked out the Inner Harbor.

The video was taken early the morning after Irene passed by us.

Matt and Tiffany

'The Big Green Egg'
Matt's smoker, grill and the table he built for it!

Matt and Tiffany live in such a cute house in a great area. We had a nice visit with them. Thanks for letting us visit! Bow Wow to Max and Sam!!

2nd Leg of our Vacation - Arlington,Va./Washington DC 8/22-8/25

The helicopter is flying around the Washington Monument checking the stability after the earthquake.

From Johnstown we drove to Arlington,Va. to visit Matt, Tiffany, Sam, and Max. We explored Washington, DC, visited all of the monuments, went to the Smithsonian, walked all over the place, and experienced the EARTHQUAKE ( 8/23/11)! It was quite the experience and the 4 of us walked home that day since we couldn't get Tiff's car and couldn't take the train. It was great to spend time with Matt and Tiffany and the dogs and we it was our first time to DC and we really enjoyed the visit.