weekend getaway

Chris and I have one car.  We've been married for almost 5 years now (anniversary in just a few weeks!) and we had two cars for about 10 months several years ago, but then went back down to one again. Most of the time it works out perfectly... but it's been slightly more challenging in a bigger city and when Chris needs the car Monday through Friday to drive to Boulder for work. I am thankful that I live so close to my job -- only 1.5 miles away!

So, on Friday, I drove Chris to Boulder (45 minutes), drove back into Denver (45 minutes) to get the car registered (4 different lines and 3 hours -- aargh!!), drove back to Boulder (45 minutes), and got my DMV aggression out with a hike. It was a rigorous uphill trail and I was rewarded with great views of Boulder at the top.

On Saturday, I had a day off work!  Chris and I journeyed up to Rocky Mountain National Park, and I was surprised that it is only an easy hour and 45 minutes away.  Yay!  I foresee many trips there in the future.

We tried to avoid the midsummer weekend crowds as much as possible and opted for a 12 mile through hike and linked up several different trails.  The park has a shuttle system, which was awesome, so we didn't have to backtrack at all.  We started by hiking to Bierstadt Lake, then over to Odessa Lake and Fern Lake.  It was beautiful... water pouring off of snowfields and creating impromptu waterfalls down the sides of granite cliffs.  We walked through snow for a bit, and lost the trail a time or two because of it, but I was glad because it discouraged the less adventurous folks from continuing down our same path.

weekend in the prairie

Chris and I went northeast to the Pawnee National Grasslands for our first getaway together since moving to Denver.  It's funny to me that we went east to the plains instead of west to the mountains, but the Rockies had tons of snow this weekend, which leaves camping areas sparse and crowded this early in the summer.

The grassland was beautiful.... I had never quite ventured into this sort of terrain, and the beauty of it and life that it held caught me off guard.   Did you know that grasslands remove more carbon dioxide from the air than rainforests?


We hiked to the Pawnee Buttes, then drove dirt roads through the grasslands to find the perfect camping spot, investigating windmills and wildlife in between.

Arkansas family vacation

Not the typical family vacation spot, but Arkansas was a pleasant surprise.  It was hot but not unbearable, and the rivers and lakes were just perfect for recreating.  We swam, floated, and boated in several bodies of water during our stay.  I traveled there to meet up with my two older brothers and their wives, 3 little boy nephews, and my mom and dad.  Unfortunately, Chris wasn't able to be there because of work obligations... he sure missed out!

Here are a couple of highlights:

Horseback riding with the women... here I am with Buddy :)

 

Lazy river floating outside our back door.

A heron or crane during our boating expedition on Lake Ouichita.

Jumping off the boat into amazing warm water!

Petting zoo in Hot Springs... we got to see the alligators eat their lunch of raw chicken!

The goats sure liked my shorts.

We found teeny tiny little frogs down by the river on one of the last days... they couldn't have been longer than 1/4 inch!

Lake Ouichita.

I held a baby alligator!

So did Garrett, but he was not as amused.

Goats jumping all over me!

Toni and I admiring the view...

The river outside the back door.

The twins, Owen and Eli, throwing rocks into the river.

Eli doing a funny little dance after he threw .the rocks into the water

Owen choosing his next rock to throw.

I'm totally embarrassed by my ghost white legs, but Garrett is cute enough to make me want to include this photo.

Driving the boat!

The fam, minus Chris.