Biking and more biking

So many trails, so little time.

After spending the weekend with Ken and Lisa, we headed north to Windsor, where Bret and his family live.  We have the "downstairs suite" in the basement, which is nice and cool even during the day time. Thanks to COVID😡 Ella can no longer take the bus to school, even though it is more than 2 miles by car.  We followed her on the bike path she'll take to school, which transitions from neighborhoods to open fields and farms.

Below is the path that is right behind their home.

It will be about a 15 minute bike ride to her school.  Riding on the gravel was a lot harder than being on the cement, but I enjoyed the wide open spaces and very few other people which slow us down.

This is where the path transitions from cement to gravel.

The next day, we repeated the route to school so Ella could try out her new bike lock.  We also added on some mileage by biking past the house and over to Windsor Lake.

This time we rode back and forth over the roller coaster section near the school.  Variety is the spice of life!

On another day we headed west towards the Rockies and had a prairie dog village on one side and the canal on the other.  A few years ago, this was all open fields.  Sadly, now housing developments are taking over.  Our turn around point one day was the brewery, but it was way too early to have a cold one (for me a cold one would be water with ice).    

The longhorn paid no attention to us as we went past.  I guess he didn't want to "steer" us in the wrong direction. 😂

 

A view of the Cache de Poudre River from the trail by Eastman Park, where there is a trailhead and a starting point for many of our rides when we're in Windsor.Below were the views we had the one day as we headed westward.

The bridge over the Cache de Poudre River on the way to Timnath.

With my 3 speed automatic shift bike, I had to pick up speed as much as possible so I could make it to the top since it's steeper at the end.. My sister-in-law, Doris and I have the same exact bike, so she can relate.  😏 Our bikes with the comfy seats are not made for steep inclines!

COVID and Colorado

 COVID 19: the most hated word for 2020!  Since my last post in January, it has tainted everything for everyone.  Ugh!  Plans for our summer to go to our grandson's graduation in Wisconsin and visit friends in Minnesota were cancelled.  No camp hosting for us at Boyd Lake.  So we decided to take just the truck and our bikes to Colorado for a month.  Not the same, but we were thankful for this opportunity.

We drove straight through to Ken and Lisa's home in Parker, Colorado.  Took us 14 hours and I felt like a limp rag when we got there(and probably looked like one too).  There was a lot of construction going on in both New Mexico and Colorado plus we had a difficult time even finding a bathroom in Gallup. All the restaurants were closed except for take out.  Normally we don't have to worry about such inconveniences since we were pulling the 5th wheel behind us.

It was wonderful to relax and enjoy Lisa and Ken's new kitchen, the grandkitties and her lovely garden.  Porter was checking out the bird videos while Jenga was content just lying around on the counter.

They had no interest at all in Lisa's garden, unless there was a rabbit hiding among the flowers.

We arrived late Thursday night. The next two mornings we rode the Cherry Creek trail in Parker.  What a difference from Arizona!  Great trails to ride and about 30 degrees cooler!

I thought this was cute, and it was right beside the pathway.

Seems like this guy is always ahead of me! 

Our last night in Colorado was also at Ken and Lisa's since it's about an hour and a half closer to home.  We enjoyed the evening dining al fresco on their back porch and loving the much cooler weather before heading back to the heat.

Catalina Potpourri

What floats your boat?  What do you do when you're camping at Catalina State Park (besides the obvious)?  Here is a mish-mash of pictures that I took, along with some taken by Jerry after he swiped my camera without my knowledge!  He is one sneaky guy. LOL.  See if you can figure out the ones he took.

 Happy Hiker group.  Nothing but smiles from these ladies as they head out in the morning.

They would have passed by one of the beautiful and majestic saguaros along the way.

About half our group at one point were the Sherwoods who came from Tucson, Phoenix, Silver City and La Junta.

Two slightly off kilter photos....

 A beignet pucker!

A Harris hawk headed straight over my head after Berdie clapped her hands.

 Image from the German dinner.

All I can say about this one is "Ask Jerry"!

Recognize the hair? Who do you think this is? 

 If there ever is a national hug a cactus holiday, I think this would qualify.

Last, but not least, one group of people who were cruising the campground.  They were a hoot!  They would have fit right in with our group.

The "Group"

January 2020, our biggest turnout ever!  We had 10 different sites reserved between family and friends that came from Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.  We came in all shapes and sizes, old, middle aged and young.  What did we have in common?  Love of family,  faith in our Lord and Savior, a penchant for camping and a love of food!

There were plenty of delicious meals consumed, with each group wanting to make their favorite meal.  Before every meal, we say the common table prayer followed by Guten Appetite and God Bless you. The photo below is the morning that we had 30 people for breakfast that included 3 dozen eggs, 3 lbs. of bacon, fresh tortillas, two large pans of hash browns, banana bread, cheese, salsa and toast.  No one went away hungry.

Layton was busy cooking bacon

 while Allen was making two types of eggs.

On a different morning, Jerry made his beignets, with the help of Erica, Doris and Sandy.

The only downside to this is getting powdered sugar over the front of your clothes.  Who cares?  It can be wiped off!

Roberta and Jerry were the local experts on Dutch oven cooking.  Time to check to see if the cornbread is done, Berdie and Jerry.  We don't want it to burn!

 Perfect cornbread, hot from the oven.

 It was a side dish for the chili made by Allen and Berdie.

The pineapple upside down cake was made in the Dutch oven while we were eating our dinner:

One meal that Jerry wanted to make was a shrimp boil.  This year he changed the recipe a bit.....

 Looked delicious!  Not suspicious!

Sandy ladled out the potatoes, kielbasa, onions, corn, onions and potatoes on to the table.  We all partook of the goodness.  Then everyone said their lips were burning!  Sandy discovered why:  Jerry had added 4 Tlbs. of cayenne pepper to the boil instead of a partial teaspoon!  It was zippy! If he makes it again next year, I bet Sandy will be checking the ingredients.  The meal was topped off with a delicious chocolate cake made by Gay to celebrate Rob's and Jerry's birthdays.

Even if it was chilly outside, we ate outside.  One afternoon the Illinois/California group made smoked pork loin, corn casserole and a huge pan of potatoes and veggies. 

 Gay, Rob, Norm and Allen talked while Sandy was scooping out the corn casserole.  Lots of comfort food and good old home cooking.

While many people think of camping food as mainly hot dogs and hamburgers, our menu isn't like that at all.  Gay and Erica both contributed homemade tamales for one meal,  Doris cooked steak one evening, and one night Don and I made a German themed meal: brats, wieners and homemade German potato salad.  So many times we hadn't finished one meal before someone was asking about the next!
Last, but not least are the two pics of the hash Roberta and Allen made one morning.

 Beef, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions topped with eggs.  Goodness in one pot!

Charming Catalina

It was time for our annual camping excursion to Catalina State Park.  Before I start posting photos of the different meals and people, I thought I'd start with some beautiful pics from our campground. I was glad I had my Nikon camera along when Doris and I walked the loops.

Sun splashed across the foothills, lighting up the ridge and a beautiful saguaro.

 As the evening approached, the front portion of the Catalinas were a lighter grey color.

And a short time later, this is the way they looked: not quite as foreboding as before, and now a beautiful reddish purple color. 

To the West, dark clouds hovered over the campground.

Now you can understand why return here every year.  The comradery of our camping group, large camping sites, the location of the park and beautiful weather (for the most part) make this our go to place in January.  The only downside to this is the fact that it has become TOO popular. We tried to reserve spots here next January and they were almost fully booked!  There were only a few sites scattered between Campground A and Campground B, which wouldn't work out for our large group.
After many hours of searching the Arizona state campground website, we finally found sites at River Island campground near Parker, Arizona.