1st CB ski trip of the Season

We took a short trip to Crested Butte this past week for some early season skiing and to see Meredith. Grandma had never been there and she had a great time. We skied two days, got some Christmas cards sent, and played a lot of cards. We also met Mere's roommate Danica. We stopped by Camp4Coffee at both locations where Meredith works to have some of their delicious chai. Arn and I also got our xmas presents for each other!
We each got a Cross Country ski pkg. so we can go when we go to CB or just around Monument at the golf courses and hiking trails.

Best Tree Ever !

Yesterday we got the best tree ever! We've been cutting our own tree for quite a few years now. You just have to go to the Forest Service office downtown and pick up a permit for $10.00. The day was blue skies and sunny but chilly. I wasn't going to say anything about missing Maggie on this trip (she really enjoyed going tree hunting), but it was the first thing Arn said when we started the search. We found the best spot. So great that I saved the map and got road markers so we can go the same place next year. It was a little trail that was beautiful with lots of our favorite types of trees (tall, skinny, short needles). I want to go back in the summertime and walk the trail to see where it goes. Also, getting it into the stand and into the house was a breeze. It was even straight with the first attempt.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Planning for this holiday has been a little weird this year....Valerie had to stay in North Dakota (work). Tyler didn't know until this week what he would have off (work). Meredith has to work this morning and then will be driving home from CB but will now be able to stay an extra day because a co-worker is so nice. I'm thankful that they all have jobs!
So our plans have been up in the air day to day but we are now brineing the turkey and I'll start the pies any minute. I've worked all week so Arn was on his own yesterday with fixin' prep work. Hoping everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Round and Round!

I've had two of these ugly little ottomans in the garage for several years. Mere and I picked them up at a garage sale for $1-$2 dollars each. It was supposed to be a DIY project but they just never got done.
With Mere and Tyler both getting apts. I figured it was time to finish the project. So....I found some great fabric for about $3.00 at the ARC on Senior discount day (yes, I qualify) and called Peg. She's a great upholsterer in Monument that we found when we needed the cushions for the leather sofa at the condo redone. She's great - inexpensive and fast. She had both ottomans done within a week. I don't know yet how much her labor charge is yet. Aren't they cute? Mere has first dibbs.
A few of my favs - finding a great deal, reusing and recycling, and circles!
Wait till you see my next job from Peg - 2 chairs and an ottoman I snapped up at a garage sale for $40.00 with fabric off the bargain rack at Denver fabric!

Still having good weather but not for long...

We got out and took advantage of the great weather the last couple of days and tried a hike we hadn't done before. The Columbine Trail in Cheyenne Canyon starts at the bottom of the canyon and goes up to the bottom of Helen Hunt Falls. It's 4 mi. one way and we did it up and back. We also did the HH Falls hike which was .6 mi., nice but the water was low. The columbine trail follows the road some of the time and you can hear traffic but most of the trail is away from everything. It took us about 4 hr. and 15 min. So our total was 8.6 mi. I could really feel it when we got home! The canyon has lots of rock formations and great views (we could even see the Broadmoor). A couple of times we could hear the chimes of the Will Rogers Shrine. When I was pregnant with Val and took Arn's mom with me to Co. we went to the shrine and also to Helen Hunt Falls.




I still can't figure out how to turn a posted pic! Note the sideways pic of me.





Sunday we met Meredith in Buena Vista to take a load of her things to her. We lunched at the Eddyline Brewery and checked out the BV River Walk. It was pretty cool and the outdoor seating area was really creative! It was all made out of colorful tile cement furniture. Meredith may be in CB for a year. She's working for Camp 4 Coffee and wants to volunteer on the mountain.


On the way back we decided to go over the mountains (basically wilderness) from Woodland Park to Monument and come down over Mt. Herman. We made a wrong turn and drove for 1 1/2 hr. to the back of Garden of the Gods. I think it would have taken about 45 min. if we'd gone the right way. We did see lots of scenery and canyons we hadn't seen before. It was another world up there!



Wildlife spotting this weekend. Two deer crossed our trail on Sat. and we spotted a bald eagle on the drive back from BV on Sunday.

A couple of DUD hikes.

1st snow of the season 11/1/10

Today was our first snowfall in Monument. It was just a light dusting that was melted by noon.
Arn and I decided to check out an area south of Castle Rock that I've always noticed from I-25. It wasn't repeatable! Evidently some Colorado Lottery money was used to make a trail beside the interstate in a preble mouse habitat. Lots of money was probably used to make a couple of loops between the highway and the railroad tracks. We could hear and see traffic the entire time and the loops weren't
even in a very scenic area. Definitely won't do that again. It took us about an hour to do both loops. From there we headed to Castle Rock and hiked the rock (about 1 mile) and it was also kind of dissapointing. Again we could see and hear traffic the whole time. After reaching the top Arn did a little rock climbing and went up on top of the rock. The whole thing took about 30-40 min. We drove east and south and took some roads we hadn't traveled before. It was all ranch land with pretty views. Not very good hikes but pretty weather and at least maybe 4 miles of exercise.