First Winter Adventure!

Mike, Michelle, Ben and I went on our first winter adventure this weekend. We went up to Clarks Peak Yurt which is in Colorado State Forest State Park and run by Never Summer Nordic. That is a mouthfull! Anyway we took off for our adventure after work on Friday, picked Ben and Michelle up in Denver and headed north to Fort Collins and then West to the Park which is just East of Waldon, CO. We got to the winter trail head just before sunset. We all had
headlamps, the weather was beautiful and the snow pretty good which made the 2 mile trek into the yurt a pleasant experience. Once there Mike made us a fabulous steak dinner!

The yurt was a lot of fun! Michelle introduced us to what a yurt was a few years ago and since then we have all wanted to experience one. The yurt is tucked into a grove of lodge pole pines and next to a stream that was still running under a thin layer of ice and snow. We thought about using the stream for water but used snow melt instead. The yurt was outfitted with everything you would need to cook dinner (on a propane stove) and heat the space (wood burning stove and plenty of chopped wood).

Our intent was to snow shoe and cross country ski around the area but Saturday morning as we were getting ready to go out I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses in the car. So Mike and I skied back to the car and Ben and Michelle adventured the opposite direction. We actually only skied half way as the trail became icy and we fell way too many times! We abandoned our skis for the safety of walking. Once back at the yurt Mike took a nap and Ben, Michelle and I played Bananagrams. It was a lot of fun! Ben won twice and I won once. Later that night Ben, Mike and I played Uno and Bananagrams while Michelle read her book. I won Uno the first time and Mike won it the last time. Ben won Bananagrams once and Mike won it twice. Tons of fun!

The moon was fabulous and the stars brillant! Michelle saw the Milky Way for the first time! The moon was so bright in the early morning that there was no need for the headlamps on the way to the outhouse! The weather was also wonderful! The temperature was about 30 degrees during the day and in the low teens at night. We had a great time and cant wait to do it again!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and wish you a wonderful week full of love and friendship!

FALL

In my opinion Fall has arrived. This morning Mike and I went to a balloon rally, The Colorado Springs Balloon Classic. Smaller and much less crowded than Fiesta but very nice. I have not been to a balloon rally in awhile and acted like quite the tourist/balloon rally novice. I took a ton of pictures! It was fun! One of the best parts is eating funnel cake for breakfast! :)

Here are a couple of pictures for your enjoyment:

This is not the greatest picture but I had to take one of the yellow and green balloon, "Flaming Wonder", for my mother. The pilot and the balloon are from McCook, Nebraska, birth place of my Mama. They have an annual rally in McCook~~ family vacation anyone? The balloon in front of it is "Lucy" and is from Albuquerque.






The balloon to the left I believe is "Mountain Breeze" from CO and the one to the right is "Raggedy Ann". These are 2 of my favorite balloons~ the flowers and the patch work quilt.





Many of the balloons did Splash N Dashes in the lake. The reflections were neat. I just could not get the camera to take a fabulous picture of the balloons and reflections but I dont think this one is too bad.




This guy is just adorable!






Now it is time to go find some roasted green chile and put it up for the next year; an apple orchard and pick apples for pie; and a pumpkin spice latte! I love the Fall!!!

Winter

Winter is finally over (in that we are past the Spring equinox) and I am finally posting something. :) Winter has been a ton of fun and we have experienced many new adventures to include settling in our new home. The highlights:

In December we went on our first x-country ski outing at Mueller State Park just over the mountains from us. We had a great time with rental skis and fresh powder. We went home for Christmas and enjoyed our families.

In January we went on our first downhill skiing trip of the season. We stayed with Ben and Michelle at the house of a friend of Michelle's. The house was a beautiful old Victorian! I love the house! An ice sculpture show was going on the same weekend we were there. The sculptures were amazing. A great time was had by all.

In February we took another trip to Breckenridge for some downhill skiing with Ben and Michelle. I am getting better at downhill skiing because I am not as afraid. I dont think I will advance past blue runs but I am okay with that. I dont have any desire to be that "good"/ fast/ crazy.

In March we went to Rocky Mountain National Park to ski but there was not enough snow at the east entrance. We had a great time just hiking around. We also went to Colorado State Forest State Park home to about 600 moose. We rented a cabin in the park for a long weekend and x country skied through wide open fields and up the side of a mountain. We went by several yurts during our adventuring. Next time we go to visit the park we will rent a yurt. In the winter they are skied into and in the summer they are hiked into. Either way they are in the middle of the forest and would be a ton of fun!

That is all for now. This weekend we are having Ben and Michelle over for Easter brunch. I am looking forward to that. I hope you all are happy, health and having a wonderful life!