Take a Hike

 Someone, somewhere, told Doris to take a hike....and that is exactly what she did!  And she did it without Don and I tagging along.  Secretly, I think she was a bit thankful that she could do the hike with Ken and Lisa and we would stay behind.  She, Lisa and Ken are fast walkers, or should I say hikers?  We might be labeled as "lollygaggers".  We met up in Rocky Mountain Park's Wild Basin area and pulled up right next to Ken and Lisa in one of the parking areas at the same time!

The three of them hiked to Calypso Falls.  Doris had even brought her hiking stick along from Tucson.  She was prepared and ready to go.

Below is Copeland Lake that is situated right next to the parking area and about a mile from the trailhead.

"It will be fine Doris. Trust me."

Actually, I have no idea of what they were talking about, but we knew Doris would be fine with Ken and Lisa since they have hiked the Rockies many different times. Both Lisa and Doris were smiling as we left them.  Good sign!

Off they went and did a 6-mile round trip.

Below is a picture of Calypso Falls that Doris took.  Don and I had done that same hike many years ago and were content to go to Lyons for breakfast.  We consumed calories and they worked them off.

And here is another view of the falls.

Actually, we did manage to get some exercise after our breakfast as we walked around the Bohn Park in St. Vrain. I was tempted to leave out this part of the blog.  However, in 5-10 years both Don and I would be wondering what we did during the time the other 3 went hiking! 😟 Our memory sure isn't what it used to be and it won't be improving.  At least we still know who we are, LOL!

The park is right next to the St. Vrain River.  In 2013 there was a 500 year flood in this area, and many areas were completely flooded.  One life was lost.

This beautiful park has bike trails, lots of picnic tables with BBQs, huge ramadas for large groups and wonderful play areas for children.  This was all built out after the 2013 flood.

Breakfast and Biking

 Morning forecast: clouds, winds and light rain.😞

What do you do when your plans for an early bike ride is not in the works for the day?  In our case, it was going to our favorite cafe in Ft. Collins, the Silver Grill Cafe.

Don's breakfast was delicious. I had the same thing and came home with half of it.  My breakfast for tomorrow is a done deal.
Not only was the breakfast and coffee good, but so were the huge cinnamon rolls that we took home! Don and Doris enjoyed sharing one of these for lunch.

We did a mile plus walk around Ft. Collins to offset some of the calories consumed.  All of the stores were still closed, so there was no browsing or shopping for us.  Don was relieved!  LOL

I think Don was trying to point something out to Doris, but as usual, she is WAY ahead of us.  She is a very fast walker.

My favorite ballerina is still in Old Town Ft. Collins.

Don and Doris checked out the Cache la Poudre River that runs through north Ft. Collins.  We had walked all the way to New Belgium Brewery.  That was also closed since it was 9 AM.  

After checking out the current weather report, we found out that the clouds would dissipate by 11, so we made the decision to return to Windsor, pick up our bikes and head to Boyd Lake.

After decades of hearing that sites would be added to the campground it was finally happening.  

We were camp hosts for 

 6 years here, always staying in site 19 in Loop A.  The whole loop is gone and they have developed the grassy fields that abutted up to our loop.  The path Don was standing on used to go into the campground.  What a huge change!  One of those huge cottonwood trees was right next to our trailer.

We continued on towards the north end, struggling at times because of the strong headwind and going uphill.  At that point, we wished we had some cloud cover, because it was getting mighty warm.  We were a hair shy of doing 10 miles when we got back to the truck. That was good enough for us.😊

Days with Doris

 More days, more bike rides!  There are so many biking trails over here and we are trying to do our favorite ones while Doris is here.  As we headed west on Thursday, we met up with Kim, Nate and their dog Phineas.  He's a handsome dog, but he sure is a lunkhead!

The clouds were still hanging in there, but we took our chances and hoped we wouldn't get wet.

We made it to the River Bluffs trailhead.  Right behind the sign is the Cache la Poudre River, which runs through Ft. Collins, Windsor. Greeley and beyond.

Coming back home, a Windsor policeman passed us up on an electric bike.  We assured him that we sure weren't speeding nor making any illegal turns.  After all, how fast could we go on our self-pedaling bikes?

On Friday our destination included Eastman Park and then biking east.  And we met up that day with Bret, Nate, Kim and Phin.  They were heading back home and we were heading out for our ride.  As usual, Don was in the lead, with Doris in the middle and me at the back (taking pictures while I rode).

Below we are in the Water Valley subdivision, heading back to the house.  We got in twelve and a half miles that day.  We sure are thankful for the MUCH cooler weather that Colorado provides us each summer.

Ft. Collins Ride Your Bike to Work Day

This year we asked Doris to join us in our annual trek to Colorado during the summer. And she agreed! She's an avid walker and bike rider, and I was pretty confident she'd enjoy riding various trails in northern Colorado. But first, we had to get to Colorado...... 14 hours straight....... 5 stops for fuel and bathroom breaks.... snacks in the truck....... and we arrived in Windsor at 9 PM Monday night. 

Our first long ride was in Ft. Collins and we did the Ride to Work Day on the Spring Creek Trail.

The trail was mighty crowded with riders of all ages, sizes and shapes.  Fast ones zipped past us, families rode with their small children and there were even some older people in our age group.  Lots of free food was awaiting at various locations:  coffee, power drinks, breakfast burritos, donuts, watermelon and even mini-smore's made out of tiny pancakes

. We rode through water, under roads, through meadows and forested areas, over wood bridges and through tunnels.  Trust me, it is a lot more enjoyable without all the crowds!  Maybe I am just getting old and crochety...😏

 

 Below was one of the busiest areas since it's where the Spring Creek Trail meets up with the Mason Street Trail near downtown Ft. Collins.  Bikers were coming from the east, west, north and south!

Don shared his white powdered mini donuts with Doris.  I picked up a lip balm and half a banana. (not shown😅😅)

This stop had the mini Smore's and one lady was busy making tiny pancakes that would be spread with Nutella and Marshmallow Fluff.  Gooey and delicious according to Don.

Our bikes are out here somewhere....

Alas, all the breakfast burritos were gone by the time we turned around and headed back to the parking lot.  Next year we have to plan better!  

Reno side trip

 About 70 miles south of Reno is the small town of Yerington, Nevada.  We had planned a side trip there on Wednesday to visit a high school friend that we hadn't seen for decades.  Marilyn Mott Brown was the person who pierced my ears when Heidi was 9 months old.  Yep, a needle, thread and some ice cubes were all that were needed.  I wonder if anyone does it the "old fashioned" way anymore?  Heidi will be 54 in June.  Guess that is a very long time!

The trip took almost 2 hours.  Traffic is not your friend in Reno.  Lots of construction and traffic delays happen daily.  We decided to wait until the rush hour traffic was over, so it was after 9 AM before we headed south to see Marilyn.

Which one is not like the others?  Is it the gray hair, or the shirts that set as apart?😏

Of course, I had to take a picture of the beautiful tulips in her front yard.  No trip is complete without some landscape or flower picture, at least for me.

Our short visit included lunch at the local Mexican restaurant.  It provided us with excellent food and a chance to talk some more with Marilyn.

We proceeded to head southwest and then north, making a large loop up towards Carson City.  Allen lives north of there, near Washoe Lake.

Below is a picture that Doris took through the windshield of beautiful Smith Valley with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.

Allen explained to us how he designed, rebuilt and repositioned his house after losing it to a wildfire started by his neighbor.  In the end there was a silver lining, and his house is perfect for him.

He posed by his favorite picture of Lake Tahoe that is in the entryway.

The view from his living room looks west towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The back yard included a gorgeous peach tree full of blossoms.  Looks like he'll have plenty of peaches this summer.

Per Joan's request, we made a stop at KFC on our way back to Reno.  She treated us to dinner, and it was a win-win for all of us.  No cooking and no clean up!

No trailer? No problem!

 After weeks (or maybe months) of planning, we made plans to visit cousins in Reno.  Also going along are Doris, Sandy and Jerry, Don's two sisters and brother-in-law.  We all decided to rent a 7 passenger van and drive there while we were still "young" enough and not senile!😅😅.  Between the 5 of us we should be able to figure out the directions between Google and a regular map.

We started out at 6 AM on Monday.  It was the day of the solar eclipse, so we all had our special glasses on hand.  Stopped at the infamous Area 51 in Nevada to take a look at the sun....

No aliens were seen, but then again, we were only interested in seeing the eclipse.

Thirteen and a half hours later and numerous stops for gas and potty breaks we finally coaxed our tired old bodies out of the van and into Joan's house in Reno.  Sandy and I took turns in the very last seat in the back, thankful that we left the driving to Don, Jerry and Doris.  I can attest that back seat driving is much easier. 😉

Joan's daughter Shelly and her husband Jim live just down the street from Joan.  On Tuesday they invited all of us for dinner, her brother Allen and his companion Cheri.  Also invited was Roberta Ross affectionately known to us as Birdie. She became part of our extended family after camping with us many times.  

Shelly and Doris shared some good wine in the kitchen before the meal.

The afternoon was perfect for sitting out on their porch.  Looks like Allen and Don were into some deep discussion.

The hosts: Jim and Shelly Tresley.  They had a few moments to relax before dinner.

From the left: Joan Forbes (cousin), Birdie, Cheri Love and 2nd cousin Allen.

Jerry, Allen, Don behind the pole and Jim.  We sure enjoyed the sun and windless afternoon.  The previous week it had snowed and the coming weekend there was colder weather predicted.  Talk about good timing.

The excellent dinner of pulled pork, baked potatoes, tons of toppings was topped off by the peach cobbler made by Shelly.  She even made it without butter so I could have some.  Plus non-dairy ice cream.  It was a dessert I couldn't resist.  All of us had some, even though our bellies were full.

And here we were...all wearing the same shirts.  We had not even talked to each other about bringing and wearing the same tops!  Over the years we have collected matching shirts from various places.  That way, if one of us gets lost, the other two can tell the police what to look for.  So much easier than trying to remember what they wore when they wandered off from our group.  

And then we added Joan into our group.

And last, but not least, Birdie, Shelly and Cheri posed for a picture.  For some reason, I never took one of the guys.  They aren't too keen anyway of lining up for a photo.

All of us have been camping with each other, making lots of wonderful memories.  In addition, we all have a sense of humor when it comes to sharing camping stories (of which there are many).  We are richly blessed to have such great family and extended family members.💓💓