Colorado: Picnic - Aug 7

Since Emily arrived on the 4th, she has had to acclimate to the altitude. And, since it was rainy anyway, we took it easy for a couple of days. Thursday, we went to the movies. Friday, Lidia and Sawyer had to show their mama the now famous Sapphire Trail.

On Sunday, the 7th, we went on a picnic on the Frisco side of the lake. We found a place to park and then hiked down to the lake. It was a beautiful, lazy sort of day.

It was cool enough for a jacket, when we left home. It didn't take long to warm up, though, and Sawyer took the opportunity to use a natural tree hanger for his jacket....Bear Grylls approved, no doubt. The next day, we discovered that Sawyer's jacket was missing. Emily thought back to the last time she had seen it and it was right here, hanging on the tree. So, Cliff and Sawyer went back to look for it. For sure, we thought, someone would have taken it. But no, Sawyer came walking out of the woods wearing it and grinning from ear to ear.

 Cliff

Emily

Sawyer building a Cairn.

Lidia decorated her Cairn  

.

 A few nature shots along the way....

Hornets Nest

 These last few shots were taken with my phone...

Quality is lacking, for sure.

 Sawyer was practicing his Crane Kick.

This was our picnic view for the day. I hope I'm not starting to bore you with pictures of the surrounding mountain range. And, for sure the photos doesn't do them justice. But, I could sit and look at them all day.

Til soon,

Laurie

Colorado: Frisco Hike - August 3

 

I have gotten really behind on documenting our trip to Colorado. We've been so busy trying to make sure we expose Lidia and Sawyer to as much as possible that there hasn't been enough time left in the day to blog. Emily came out on the 4th to stay for a week with us and to take L&S back home. That was yesterday. And as much as I hated to see them go, it will give me a chance now to catch up. I think!  Below, I pick up on a hike we took in Frisco.

 

******

 

Frisco is hosting a 10K race and half-marathon in a few days. Cliff may run the 10K, so he wanted to check out the trails. We began our hike on part of the trail where the race will be held and then veered off through the woods to another trail that paralleled Lake Dillon. Actually, it ran along the shoreline of Lake Dillon. You can not imagine how many hiking trails there are around here. We are hoping to do a different one every day or so, with rest days, for L&S, in between. They really need one tomorrow. Lidia wanted to swim 50 laps, today. Cliff stopped her at 19 laps. Bless her heart, she was so tired, but was trying to meet her goal. She was okay with stopping for the day.

 

Total Miles hiked: 3       Total Time hiking: 1:12 hours

Lidia's swim in the pool: 19 laps

 



 Frisco Marina

 

 I tried to get L&S to wade out to that rock to have their picture made, but they weren't too keen on wading through snowmelt-cold water to get to it or sharing it with the gull. 

 

 

Lidia and Sawyer were more willing to climb out on this piece of

driftwood....they didn't have to get wet.

 

Of course, this trail was not hurting for wildflowers and I couldn't just pass them by. They really are no different than those I've already been photographing, but to me, on different trails they are a different kind of pretty.

 



On another note, Whitney saw a Colorado State Flag painted on a piece of wood that she fell in love with. I don't know how big it was, but it cost $900. Of course, that's not in her budget. I told her I could paint one for her. So, I've been picking up pieces of wood from our hikes. I picked up a piece on our hike, today, that I think will be perfect. However, I wanted to practice on a different piece of wood before painting Whitney's. The weather was perfect on the balcony this afternoon and proved to be a great spot to do a little practice painting.

Hope she likes the prototype. If so, I'll paint the bigger one for her, next week.

I used the watercolors that I brought from home. They worked very well, I think.

Laurie

Colorado: Bike To Frisco - July 28

Cliff, Lidia, Sawyer and I rode the bikes to Frisco....a town a little over 6 miles from Dillon. The bike seat on Sawyer's rental bike is large, which caused him to have seat issues all the way to Frisco. The bike path has uphills and downhills and he was struggling just a bit. We had to make several stops, not only because of his seat issues, but to rest. We kept trying to figure out if it was in fact the seat size or that he's just not used to riding long distances and his little bum hasn't toughened up enough, yet. After arriving, we had lunch at the Marina, which was right on the bike path. I had a grilled beet sandwich. That was a first for me and it was delicious. After lunch, it was time to head back to Dillon, but considering Sawyer's seat issues, we were debating on having Cliff ride back, pick up the car and come get us or let Sawyer walk most of the way. And then we remembered that there was a water taxi that ferried people from Frisco to Dillon and vice versa. So, Sawyer and I rode down to the docks and waited. Cliff and Lidia headed back on the bikes.

While we were waiting for the water taxi, the wind picked up and was blowing so hard that it was making a whistling noise. Sawyer was concerned that it might be a tornado and was asking me if I had ever seen one, been in one, what they sound like, etc. And then there were a few sprinkles. The water taxi arrived from across the lake and the water taxi captain warned us that a storm was brewing over the mountains and that we might get wet. Sawyer and I were prepared. We had rain jackets in our back packs. The captain loaded our bikes onto the pontoon boat and we set sail. As it often happens here, there can be sunshine one minute, a storm the next, and then back to sunshine in a matter of minutes. That's what happened to us. We were prepared for the wind and rain and a rocky ride, but just minutes after taking off in the boat, the rain went around us and the sun came back out. The captain of the water taxi asked Sawyer if he wanted to drive the boat. Sawyer was trying to back out at first, but I encouraged him to take the wheel. And he did. He drove us across the lake with the captain by his side. What a great experience for him.

Cliff and Lidia had beat us back across the lake on their bikes. They rode the whole way without stopping. Cliff said that Lidia got nauseated at the top of the last hill, but started feeling better the moment they stopped. They sat at an overlook and watched for Sawyer and me to arrive. Sawyer was beaming when we got off the boat. He was so proud that he got to drive the boat. And, Lidia was so proud of herself for riding her bike up and down hills and over 6 miles without stopping.

Because I was riding the bike, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures. What I have is posted below.

Sawyer's and my total bike miles: 6.42    Time on the bike: 1 hour

Cliff and Lidia's total bike miles 12.84     Time on the bike: 1:45 hours

Heading across the lake from Dillon to Frisco, via bikes.

 We made several rest stops along the way.

We stopped just over the dam at Dillon and waked down to the water's edge.

 Resting, but doing a little exploring, too.

This was the spot....the one that was perfect for throwing rocks into the lake.

More rock throwing and then we were on our way.

My beet sandwich. I was sure that Mountain Mama would want to know how this was made, so I asked.

You grind up beets and basil, mix with some oats and egg, then grill.

Serve with remoulade sauce and arugula on bread.

It has the texture of a veggie burger and was so delicious.

Sawyer standing with our bikes as we were waiting for the water taxi to arrive.

And finally, Sawyer tiptoeing to see over the front of the boat as he was taking us home.

The captain was awful nice to let Sawyer drive the boat.

It was a great experience and one he most likely will never forget. 

In the end, we decided, with Sawyer's help in describing the problem, that his seat issues were from his lack of time in the saddle and bought him a pair of padded bike shorts. He and his little bum are happy, now!

Having so much fun in the Rockies,

Laurie