Busy, Busy, Busy

So much has been going on since the last time I blogged I do not even know where to begin.  I am always on here promoting Colorado hoping someone in our family will just have to plan their next vacation to visit this wonderful state and us of coarse! 

Well it was not long after my mom and grandma left my dad headed out for almost 2 weeks.  He did not care to do much in the way of exploring though, he just wanted to chill at home, go to the movies and used CD stores.  We found a huge used CD store in Denver where I found so much "older" music that brought back memories.  My dad even found a couple of rare, hard to find CD's. The store was actually not to far from us on Colorado Blvd and it was named Second Spin.  FYI...they also have used movies and games.

When dad headed back to AZ Scott and I tagged along so we could meet our new grandson Athen, who deserves his own post. And later I was off to Nashville to meet our new and first granddaughter Riley who also deserves her own post.  More to come...............

Pikes Peak: America's Mountain

I have been struggling to find the time lately to post on our Colorado adventures lately, not because we haven't done anything just because.  Back on the Tuesday after Labor day when my mom and grandma were still here we drove to the top of Pikes Peak - America's Mountain.  This mountain was the inspiration for the song "America the Beautiful".

Entrance to Pikes Peak is just a few miles from the cool town of Manitou Springs we visited last year.  The entrance fee to the mountain is a little pricey at $12 per person and there are absolutely no discounts!  No senior, AAA or student discounts and our State and National Parks pass did not work either.  But the beauty of the drive to the top was well worth it!  There is a train ride to the top as well, that costs around $35 per person and I think it would be nice for a different perspective.

Big Foot Sighting?  I guess he has been spotted here before, but that was just my mom being silly!

At the top of Pikes Peak!

Warning: A portion of Pikes Peak Highway is not paved, so your car bounces around and gets pretty dirty.  Also when you are driving down the mountain there is a mandatory brake check, where someone takes the temperature of your brakes to make sure they are not overheating.  There were so many cars pulled over waiting for them to cool.  My brakes were doing good but I pulled over anyways to let them cool. 

What a beautiful day it was!  I can't wait to go back again and take the train for a different perspective.

For Dad

Rocky Mountain National Park Day Trip: Bear Lake

Bear Lake was so amazing, I decided it deserved it's own post.  Scott and I felt like visiting this lake with mom and grandma was such a tease!

We wanted to do the hiking trails around the lake and explore more of the area, but we had to take it easy with grandma.

She was so kind and found a bench to hang out on while we explored a little more.  We can't wait to go back and hike someday! 

P.S. On our way out of the park we received a phone call from Scott's son Josh who just made him a Grandpa!  Yes Scotty became a grandpa on Labor Day to a 7lb 8oz healthy baby boy named Athen.  We are planning to go see him soon and snap a few pics:)

Rocky Mountain National Park Day Trip (Part I)

On Labor Day we decided on a Day Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park with a stop in Estes Park for brunch.  The day was so crazy windy, we got out of the car had lunch and decided to leave without walking around because the wind was that bad.

We drove into Rocky Mountain National Park where we got in free with grandma's Senior Lifetime National Park Pass!  We drove up Trail Ridge road for a few miles where we saw, smoke rising behind the mountains and were curious what was going on.  On our way home we drove through thick smoke and found out it was the Four Mile Canyon Fire.

After this rest stop on Trail Ridge Road we turned around and headed towards Bear Lake, because this was only a Day Trip and we did not have the time or energy to travel to deep into the park.

Vail - Breckenridge Day Trip (Part II)

Heading back home from Vail we stopped by to check out what was happening in Breckenridge.  Well it turns out there was so much going on we struggled to find parking.  But when we did we walked straight into the Mountain Art Festival were i was scolded for having my camera out (No PICTURES!)

After cruising through the art festival we jumped onto main street were grandma admired more firemen, shopped and we stopped for an afternoon coffee and people watching.

We left Breckenridge headed back to the I70 passing Lake Dillon (rated one of the best summer lake towns to visit in the country) and made it home about 5 pm, just in time to fire up the grill!

Lake Dillon, Colorado a view driving by on the I70

Vail - Breckenridge Day Trip (Part I)

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend we took a day trip in the Rockies heading west on the 70 for about 1 hour and 45 minutes we entered one of our favorite places to visit Vail. 

We found our way to Lionshead Village to eat at our favorite restaurant (and reasonably priced too)  Moe's Original Barbecue.  Everything on the menu is Awesome but you can't leave without trying their Banana Pudding!!!YUM

With our full bellies we jumped onto the Gondola for a ride to the top of this gorgeous mountain. The oxygen was limited at the top of the mountain, so grandma and I took it easy, while my mom and Scott walked all over snapping pictures.

Back down in the village we noticed a Jazz Festival was going on, but we decided to jump in the car and head over to Breckenridge to check things out.

Red Rocks: Labor Day Weekend

Earlier this month on Labor Day weekend, my mom and grandma came to visit us.  I picked them up bright and early Friday at the Airport and we had breakfast on the patio of the Corner Bakery in Highlands Ranch looking out to the beautiful Rockies.

Later we drove about 15 miles to the Red Rocks Ampitheater, a must stop for every visitor to Denver.  The day was beautiful and the ampitheater was hoppin with visitor and preparation for a concert later that evening. Grandma loved looking at the pictures and video of all the country artist that had been there while my mom looked over the early rock bands who played there, most of all The Beatles!

New Chore

Scott and I have had to learn so many new things since moving from the Arizona desert to Colorado.  We have learned to drive in snow, shovel snow, dress for snow, walk on ice, cook in high altitude, cool down a house with no AC in the summer, and most recently paint a deck.  Scott has worked so hard over the past week cleaning, stripping, and painting the front and back deck of our house.

The dogs are surely loving their new clean and fresh looking play area or should I say lounge area for Millie? She sure does love soaking up the sun!

Thanks Scotty for all your hard work!

The Garden

Haven't talked much about the garden this year but that doesn't mean it is not here.  We have been enjoying the fresh basil in our spaghetti, jalapenos for Scott's famous garden salsa, fresh tomatoes in our home grown salads and so much zucchini, we are giving it away.  One of our neighbors returned the favor and made us zucchini bread and brought it over warm right out of the oven. YUM!!!!

Casa Bonita - Catrman's favorite place in the world

After moving to Colorado 3 years ago, we really began to appreciate and relate to the Comedy Central show South Park.  When we found out that Cartman's favorite place in the whole world "Casa Bonita" was another "real" place here in Denver, we had to experience it for ourselves.  Last August, I found a deal on the Tom Martino show for $25 I could get $50 gift certificate to the fun restaurant.  I bought it and was saving it for when any of our kids came to visit us.  Well one year has come and gone with no visitors and our certificate was expiring, so Scott and I went alone and had a feast!

This restaurant is a great place for celebrations, especially for children.  I can totally understand why Cartman loves it so much.  There is entertainment every where you look in this ginormous place.  Cliff divers jump off a 30 ft waterfall, there are fire jugglers and magicians and live mariachis strolling around.  Kids can play in the arcade, pan for gold or check out the caves with stalagmites and stalactites. 

The food was served similar to a buffet style, where you stand in line to order then grab a tray and walk through a line to pick up the food on the way to stand in line to be seated.  The food was not the best Mexican food, but not bad either (FREE SOPAPILLAS).  For two middle aged empty nesters like Scott and I it was a nice evening out and the food was reasonably priced so we had to have a drink and dessert to use our $50!

Owyn's Birthday

Today is Owyn's first birthday and I feel I was just posting pictures of his entrance into our world.  This past weekend family and friends joined us to celebrate with Owyn.

Have you ever seen

Owyn with his hair down?

 The only time I ever have is when Chelsea was bathing him, so naturally I had to get a picture. 

Although as soon as it dried........

So Cute!

Finally after 2 years

I have seen all three of my adorable children together! 

Aren't they so adorable???

I can't believe they live in three different states!!

Amber Skies

Scott and I love the amber skies at sunset.  The weird thing about it is that every direction you look you see amber colors in the sky.  I thought the sunset colors would only be on the western hemisphere? Maybe I need a lesson in Physical Geography?

I don't know if I ever mentioned this either, but you can also see downtown Denver from every direction of the metropolitan area.  I took these pictures last night here in Highlands Ranch across the street from our neighborhood.

Mount Evans Scenic Byway Part 3

As we began to head back down the mountain we kept getting surprised by wildlife.

This Rocky Mountain Goat was taken in the beauty of his home

Then we ran into (well almost) these big horn sheep who were trying to hitch a ride from us.

I have over 200 Awesome pictures from a great day and we made it home by 4 pm!  What a day trip!

Mount Evans Scenic Byway Part 2

Once we made it to the top of the road, we parked and had to hike up about a half of a mile to the top of the peak where we had so much fun just taking silly pictures and walking around offering to take pics of couples and families.

From every side of the peak you could see for miles.  We could see downtown Denver, Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs as well as numerous peaks looking into the miles of Rocky Mountains.  I never knew we could drive to the top of one of the peaks we see from our house.

And I have to say it is pretty cold up there, on this July day it was only 52 degrees and windy.  The dangers of hiking, biking or just hanging out up at this elevation are Lightening Storms that come with little or no warning (It started pouring on us on the way down) and High Altitude Sickness.  Make sure you drink plenty of water before and bring plenty with you. 

Mount Evans Scenic Byway Part 1

 (Driving on the I70 West right out of Denver about 15-20 minutes from our house)

For today's day trip we decided to drive to the peak of Mount Evans.  We did not make it out of the house until almost 10 am but fortunately this was another nearby adventure.  We drove from our house to Idaho Springs about 40 miles to begin 28 mile journey up 7,000 ft in elevation on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway. This road is the highest paved road in North America and loaded with tourist, motorcycles, bicyclists and hikers.

On the way up we passed by Echo Lake Park, a beautiful, serene place to hike, picnic, fish or just hang out.  There are barbecue grills here and the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs made the starving Jen crazy!

Once on Highway 5 the narrow switchbacks and bicyclists made for a nervous drive at times.  But the immense beauty that surrounded us made it worth it. 

Next we stopped at this nature center to view Wildflowers and the rare Bristlecone Pine Trees that apparently are the longest living organisms known to man?

 Once we reached Summit Lake we pulled over to use the restroom and get a few pics.  Usually there is a hiking trail to take up to the peak from this point but it was closed in an effort to make it handicap accessible.  We met so many people who were traveling from all over the country and would ask us where we traveled from?  We would say oh just south of Denver, about 60 miles from here.

(Scott and I at Summit Lake)