Trees Are Down

So,
     In the weeks since we've returned from Colorado we've managed to stay somewhat busy. We went to the beach town of Ventura and to the Mission San Bueanaventura for Teresas class.

Then we went to the beach. It was a fun day.

I've also been doing some hikes to try and be in the best shape I can be in for the High Sierra Trail next week. I did a 16 mile hike from Islip Saddle to Mt Baden Powell ( named after the boy scout founder) I also did a hike up Mt Baldy. This puts me over my New Years resolution goal of 200 miles this year already. I'm also doing these hikes for more free stuff through Adventure 16 like I did with the 51 mile PCT hike.

The monument to Lord Baden Powell

It was insanely windy on Baldy. Nearly windy enough to knock me over. Fun hike though.

We've also been helping Teresa get her room ready for school to start.

OH, and this happened... Luckily the kids and the dog weren't out there when it happened.

Split the trunk.

View from our back door.

Ruined the swing set.

Busted our fence.

Til next time

RTSZA

Colorado.

So,
     Last week we set out for Colorado. On the way up we stopped in Grand Junction which remarkably wasn't as crummy a town as I recalled. The next day we drove through rain and clouds up over the Rockies to our cabin at Horsetooth Reservoir right outside Fort Collins Colorado. It was foggy and grey and rainy.

The cabin we rented was small but it had a kitchen and it was right next to the reservoir. Our neighbor had a pet duck.

The overall grey weather was a bit of a bummer because we couldn't see any of the setting but it kept the deer coming around.

 The next day it was still grey and rainy so we went to the Fort Collins Childrens' Museum which was actually really interactive and nice.

The next day it was still rainy and grey so we went to a trampoline park.

Zoey is the pink blur.

Finally that night it started to clear up which was good because on our last day we were going to Rocky Mountains National Park no matter what the weather was.

The drive into the park was beautiful. The park was beautiful, green, epic, grand etc... We decided to take a hike first to beaver ponds, which didn't have any beaver or ponds.

No ponds, no beaver.

The next hike was a longer one to Alberta Falls. These are in no particular order.

Family Selfie

Shot of the fam selfie-ing

The falls were gushing so standing anywhere near them meant a healthy spray.

There was water everywhere.

Rocky Mountain Park was really lovely and I would love to spend a bunch more time there. It was like a cross of the more arid but epic eastern sierra and the verdant lushness of the smokies.

On our drive home we once again drove the best interstate stretch in the country I-70 between Denver and Beaver. So pretty out there. 11,000ft passes down to the southern Utah redrock.

We arrived in Cedar City to find that it was Shakespeare festival weekend and there was a renaissance faire going on in the city park. We walked around that then wen't to Cafe Rio for dinner. The next morning we set out pretty early and decided to take the Kolob Canyons scenic drive.

At the end of the road we decided to get out of the car and do the hike to the overlook.

Spot the Teresa.

The park was again really beautiful. I would've loved to spend time on a longer trail there but we had to continue the drive home. We made it home in good time happy to see Sam and grateful to grandpa grover for watching him while we were gone.

It was a really great trip to some previously unexplored (by us) portions of the country. Colorado seems like a great state, fort Collins was really nice.

That is all for now

RTSZA