Rockies Game - Saturday, July 25, 2009

We went to a Colorado Rockies Game Saturday night at Coors Field. It poured when we were driving there, then the rain stopped, but started up again during the game. Even though it rained somewhat throughout the game, they were able to complete 9 innings.

The Rockies beat the SF Giants 8-2, the Red Sox beat Baltimore 7-2, and the Yankees lost to Oakland 4-6 -- was a perfect Trifecta evening!

ATVing Friday, July 24, 2009

We decided to go ATVing in the neighborhood Friday night -- this time, I wanted to try driving.







It was really fun, but being behind Wendy and Troy and driving on all dirt roads -- well, as you can see, I got pretty filthy. Didn't care -- just had to use my MK Microdermabrasion when we got home. We did about 15 miles of back dirt roads!

Views along the way. There sure were many beautiful homes in the area.

Stopped along the way to view the sunset.

Practice run up the driveway..............

Fouth of July Trailhead - Continental Divide, Eldora, CO - July 19, 2009

Sunday, July 20, we went on a hike -- the goal to reach the Continental Divide in Eldora, CO. We left early (6:00 Am), as the Fourth of July Trail head is a very popular hike. We started out at 10, 100 ft. elevation. Adjusting to the elevation was noticeable -- seems I was huffing and puffing at the start. But we stopped many times along the way making the hike bareable.






A couple of our resting stops.

We went through forests, crossed small trickling water and small waterfalls along the way.

There were hillsides of flowers of many varieties including the Colorado State Flower - Columbines along the way.

We were treated to beautiful vistas along the way.

We stopped at an overlook for our granola breakfast overlooking the valley below.

There was an abandoned silver mine along the way with a steam boiler that provided power to raise and lower the elevator of the mine.

We made it to the top of the Continental Divide reaching 11,900 ft. Sure was windy and cold up there.

Wendy and Troy making their way down the trail. We hiked about 7.5 miles that day.

ATVing in the Rockies - Sat. July 18, 2009

On Saturday we met up with Wendy and Troy's neighbor and work friends of his for a day of ATVing - this was a new experience for Rene and I. We were told to wear our hiking shoes, to layer our clothes as it might be cool at the top of the mountain and most important, to wear a kerchief to cover our face from dust. As you can see, the day was gorgeous and offered beautiful mountain views. We started off with Wendy & Rene on an ATV and Troy and I -- as we knew nothing about driving one of those things. Wendy did really well, but eventually Rene took over the driving. I got a wild ride with Troy. I couldn't believe the rocky gorge area in the woods we were driving through.

We were tired and dusty at the end of the day. We got back to our starting point at 4:30 -- what an exhilarating day. We rode about 23 miles round trip.

Wendy is driving -- Rene is filming. We had just taken off for our wild ride!

Mount Vernon Village - Red Rocks Hike - 7/12/09

Funny hat and camelpaks -- do we look like tourists or what!







We went on a hike yesterday that was the Mount Vernon Village Walk and Red Rocks Trail. Mt Vernon Village was established by Dr. Joseph Casto a lay minister from Illionois. The town was established at a stragetic location between Denver and a canyon leading to the mountain mining camps. It prospered for a while and boasted of 44 residents, two hotels, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, a saloon, a feed and livery stable and resident's homes. When a new road was built to get to the mines and also trains, the town declined into obsquerity.



Off we go, Wendy taking the lead






All that's left of Mt. Vernon Village is a small cemetery that we passed on our hike.

We started climbing at 6,300 feet, enjoying the views.

Mid-point applying of lip gloss -- sure is hot and dry out there.

We took a side hike to Red Rock Ampitheater -- where John Tesh held a couple of his concerts. Look at all these healthy people walking, jogging up and down the steps. We sat on the side and enjoyed the sandwiches and chips we had packed and m&m's for energy

Rock formation in Red Rock Canyon. Our highest point today was about 6,800 feet (Rene has a hand-held gps that gave us our elevation, mileage & more. We hiked 8 miles that day. We were all a bit sore and tired.




Besides the beautiful views, the best part of the hike was seeing all the beautiful wildflowers along the way.

I might add that we also saw numerous mountain bikers -- crazy going down those narrow rocky paths. Colorado has the distinction of being the healthiest State -- we saw that today.