This first picture has nothing to do with our travels, but it’s about some of our cool grandkids and their friends. So I put it in. They completed the 12K (7.45654 miles) Bloomsday run! And Ashlyn came in First (among her friends.) Proud of these kids!!
Aspen Park
We went to Aspen Park Church – up in the mountains west of Denver, and were surprised and happy to see several long time friends! We had thought of going to another church just to see Dena, but decided we needed some mountain time. So we were delighted to see Dena visiting this little church too!
Another awesome thing was seeing Ken and Tonya, and their kids. The children are in high school and graduating 8th grade soon. We haven’t seen Ken and Tonya for many years… and remember when those cute kids were born! We had lunch with them and reluctantly parted when they had to go to a meeting down the mountain.
So on their advice, we hiked Elk Meadow Park.
It was a glorious day, and the trail just led through the forest, and afforded views for miles around. Very nice!
The icing on the cake, so to speak, was having Bill and Brad come meet up with us that evening. They have customized a Can Am trike with hand controls, and attachments to hold Brad’s wheelchair. Brad now has a great set of wheels to go biking with his dad… or wherever!
After hanging at the campsite for a while, we motored to a restaurant – a 2 wheeled motorcycle, a 3 wheeled super trike, and our 4 wheeled car. Always great fun to get together with these guys! [now that I think of it, with Brad’s wheelchair on the Can Am, it is actually a seven-wheeler! Cool!]
To complete the weekend with style, we were blessed with Darrell and Lisa coming to our place for breakfast Sunday! Such fun! We got to talking about traveling to New Zealand, and they said they had pictures and books at their place we could look at. So later in the afternoon we headed off to see them again!
They have this beautiful Mercedes hardtop convertible, which I love to watch in action… so you get to see it too!
After we spent some time getting travel info from their New Zealand trip, Darrell suggested we spend a little while on the dirt bikes, so I got my rusty old motorcycle skills out and had some fun. I stalled my bike several times, but no catastrophes to hurt his nice motorcycle.
A Day in Denver
Monday was a full day with haircuts by pal Dave, and visiting the hygienists at the best office ever, McArthur Dentistry. I have no pictures of either event. You just have to trust me.
That afternoon and evening we spent with Lonnie & Laura. Great time, great food, Super folks. And again no pictures. Sigh.
We were getting ready to leave Denver when we were reminded we were supposed to pick up a guitar for Brian from his teacher Gary. We made a stop at Gary’s as we drove out of town, and picked up a beautiful instrument that Brian will probably master in just a few weeks! (He’s amazing on the Ukulele)
Laramie Peak
Laramie Peak made a nice backdrop at a rest stop as we headed north. A short walk out to a gazebo was a nice break from driving.
Laramie Peak is part of the Rocky Mountains, in the Laramie Range, which was originally called the Black Hills. The peak was one of the first mountain views for emigrants on the Oregon and Mormon trails. Mark Twain wrote, in his 1891 Roughing It: “We passed Fort Laramie in the night, and on the seventh morning out we found ourselves in the Black Hills, with Laramie Peak at our elbow (apparently) looking vast and solitary – a deep, dark, rich indigo blue in hue, so portentously did the old colossus frown under his beetling brows of storm-cloud. He was thirty or forty miles away, in reality, but he only seemed removed a little beyond the low ridge at our right…”
Laramie Peak is named for the early French trapper, Jacques La Ramie. While on a beaver trapping expedition, La Ramie vanished from what is now the Laramie River. Upon learning of his disappearance, other trappers in the region named the river after him. Soon the nearby mountains, plains, and many other areas also took the name.
Buffalo, Wyoming
Our first stop was at Deer Park Campground in Buffalo. I guess it is aptly named, because we saw several deer, but no buffalo, while walking on their nice trail.
Bozeman Hot Springs
These Hot Springs, in Bozeman, Montana, have a nice RV campground attached. They have eight pools, four inside and four out. Some are cold, others various shades of hot so you can find one for whatever mood you find yourself in. Our campsite allowed us in the pool that afternoon/evening, and all day the next day! The place is beautifully landscaped with lots of gorgeous rock.
Missoula, Montana
We have friends from Lincoln who winter in Phoenix, so we’ve met up with them both places. While in Lincoln, they mentioned they were going to Missoula, Montana for a daughter’s doctoral graduation. We said we would be driving through Missoula as well… when will you be there? It turned out we would be visiting this little Montana town the same time as they were! Vicki suggested I find a place to meet for breakfast, and I came up with a place called Catalyst – looked fun and had lots of veggie friendly options.
I liked the cool little guys scaling the wall in the interior sign.
The breakfast was FABULOUS! We started it off with a breakfast bread pudding – made with bananas too, it was not too sweet and just GOOD! The portions were huge, and made for a nice follow up meal later.
This post is dedicated to my Dear Ole’ Dad,
and published on his birthday.
He would have been 98 today.
Enjoyed many things, the beautiful scenery and trails, the beautiful swimming pool, the deer, (even if the buffalo had roamed, and the breakfast. I thought of your dad on the 19th. Wow! 98! Have fun traveling on….