New Scriptures

 I bought new scriptures to use while preparing my seminary lessons. I love the flowery design and the extra wide margins for making notes.

Poison Ivy or Something Like That

Chris' hands started to get itchy and burn over the course of this past week with redness and small blisters starting to form. On Saturday morning, he called the Online Doctor and she diagnosed it as some kind of contact dermatitis similar to Poison Ivy or Oak. We can't image where he picked it up, but our best guess is when we on the slides in Estes Park. When you go down the slides, there are burlap mats that you slide on. Chris figures that someone with poison ivy or oak touched his burlap mat and transferred the poisonous oils to the burlap and then onto Chris' hands when he used the same mat.

It hasn't been a pleasant experience for sure. He puts some prescription meds on his hands to ease the itching and burning and then some Aquaphor lotion because they are dry. Hopefully it will resolve itself quickly.

Misha's Art

While there aren't kids at the elementary school where Misha works as a custodian, she left a picture for the teachers on the white board in the cafeteria of the school mascot—the Indian Peaks moose—complete with a backpack and a mask in its antlers.

After seeing the drawing, one of the teachers asked Misha if she would be willing to do some artwork for her.

Crazy Weather

 Colorado went from record-breaking heat on Monday to SNOW on Tuesday. SNOW!

Labor Day 2020

I think my working girls were pleasantly surprised to find that they got Labor Day off and that they got paid for it as well.

Chris made a reservation at Rocky Mountain National Park for noon. We packed snacks and drinks and hoodies and rain jackets and started for Estes Park. Our first stop was at Subway on Highway 66 for lunch sandwiches.

It has always been fun to peruse the shops in downtown Estes Park. We noticed crowds of people gathering at the park and decided to walk over to see what they were looking at. The park was filled with elk just enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Both Chris and Misha were looking for a hat (without success though) and of course, there was fudge. Kristen was looking for maple fudge without walnuts and was unsuccessful there as well.

We drove from Estes to the back entrance of RMNP and found a picnic spot in Endovalley. That was the highlight of our day in the park. When we tried to drive up to Bear Lake for a hike, the park rangers were turning everyone back saying the lot was full. That's even with people coming back down from Bear Lake. They rangers were pretty adamant, so we turned around and drove back to Estes Park.

Amy had requested a chance to revisit a childhood memory. Chris stopped at the slides.

Plan B. We drove toward Allenspark and Wild Basin Trailhead.

We hiked with Amy and Kristen to Cascade Falls. Chris and I had just been there a couple of weeks ago, but at least we were able to get in to this park. It wasn't even too busy. Misha stayed in the car while we hiked.

As we were leaving the park, Misha spotted two moose in the trees alongside the road. We stopped and watched and were amazed at the people getting out of their vehicles to get a closer look. Our view was awesome until a guy drove past and stopped, pretty much blocking our view. He startled the moose enough that the moose took off across the road behind us and that darn guy got the best view of all!

Smoke in the Sky

Kristen and I were shopping in Ft. Collins on Saturday when the Cameron Peak fire west of the city reignited and began to fill the sky with smoke.

Saturday

Sunday

It was crazy and smoky so that our sky was orange and eerie looking all day Sunday. It felt like dusk all day long. The wrong color of dusk though.

And the Award Goes To...

Chris went biking with friends and won the award for the best non-crash crash. Chris careened off the side of the bike trail and managed to stay upright.

Not sure if that was the spot, but it looks like a long way down. Nice recovery!

More Pics of Kristen

 Kristen was feeling particularly cute and festive for Fall. She asked me to take some pictures.

Life as a Lexus Valet

Amy was returning a car to a mom and her young son at the Lexus dealership. The boy was about seven years old and as Amy neared, he looked at her and said, "S'up girl!"

Seven years old.

Misha the Plant Lady

Misha seems to be taking after her mom with her growing plant collection. I helped her pick out her first plant, gave her one of my Chinese Money plants, and now she has added three more plants to her room.

Hiking the Ceran St. Vrain Trail

Chris and I have made a concerted effort to get out and hike more this summer. Since he isn't traveling, he doesn't feel as though he has so much to catch up on during the weekend (but talk about someone who misses traveling!). It gives him more time for biking and hiking.

We hiked a lovely trail today—Ceran St. Vrain. It was my first time hiking it. The sky was overcast; the path was surrounded by trees and covered in pine needles. Much nicer than some of the rocky paths we've encountered lately. There were even people camping along the trail.

Seminary

Well, no pictures of seminary. Following the lead of the school district, our stake opted for online seminary for this semester. It isn't ideal, but everyone is making it work.

I still have a team teacher and we currently have a class of 19 students. The stake decided to mix all of the students up, so we only have three students from our class last fall. It is fun to get to know new students, but it would be so much easier in person.

I don't mind not having to drive somewhere for seminary, that part of this is nice. Kristen wakes up around 6:07, sits in her bed, and starts her class at 6:10. I'm just waiting to see how long it will take before she starts falling asleep in class. She isn't in my class this year, so I only know that so far she is getting up and attending.

New Job for Misha

Misha started her new job on the same day students started back to school. She works as a custodian for the school district. She works in the evening and has an elementary school that she is responsible for. While there are no students in the school her job is probably a little easier than normal, but there are still teachers and staff at the school each day.

Back to School

Back to school this Fall has had a few twists. For a while, the students were going to be back in class with staggered attendance so that not all students would be on campus at a time. Then, a week or so before school started, the school district announced that through the end of September, all students would attend online school. 

I am so glad I don't have littles to try and keep on task. Kristen does a fantastic job of starting classes for the day and making sure her assignments are done.

We'll see what decision is made at the end of September, but until then, Kristen has set up her home classroom in Amy's room (Amy sleeps in the basement). She definitely misses the social interaction.

When your dad photobombs your first day of school photo.

Happy 23rd

I remember thinking back on our first anniversary that 20 years seemed so far away. Now, 23 years after the best day of my life, I can't help but think that our years together have been the best years of my life. 

I love us.

Hiking to Ouzel Lake

Shortly after Christmas last year, Chris and I got away for a couple of days. One of the cool things we did was to hike to Calypso Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Falls were cool, but we both remarked that we needed to make the hike in the spring when the snow would have melted and spring run off would be high. We didn't make it in June, but finally got back there in August and the run off was still significant. 

The hike was so much easier in the summer. The parking lot right off the trailhead was packed with cars and even small lots all along the way to the trailhead were filled with cars. It was going to be a busy trail. Chris and I sat and waited and after some patience, were rewarded with a parking spot.

We planned to hike to Calypso Cascades then on to Ouzel Falls. When we got going and saw how far it was to Ouzel Lake, we decided to try and make it. Ten miles would be a good distance; we hoped we could make it.

I was taking pictures of Ouzel Falls and suddenly Chris popped up right under the cascading water.

After we moved on past Ouzel Falls, the trail opened up and we saw fewer and fewer hikers. I was a little dismayed when the trail started moving downward (knowing of course, that we would have to hike back up on the return trip), but it evened out for a mile and half as it seemed we walked the ridge pole of the mountain top. 

We finally reached Ouzel Lake after a couple of hours of hiking and were happy to sit and rest for a bit. Smoke from a fire in Ft. Collins had been filling the sky for the afternoon, thus the pictures are a little hazy.

It was about 4:30 as we began to make our way back to the parking lot. It was getting cooler with less hikers on the trail. 

Chris and I walked at a fairly good clip and returned to the parking lot dusty and dirty and quite exhausted.

Sunset at Pelican Shores

Chris and I walked around the lake Sunday evening after a week away exploring Southern Colorado. It was nice to be home and nice to be out enjoying a beautiful evening. Chris snapped this photo as we walked. Isn't that a fantastic sunset?

State-cation Day 9: Archuleta Trailhead

Chris and I were headed home today, but since we had to pick up Kristen from the airport at 9:30 pm, we weren't in much of a hurry. We had a leisure morning before packing up, nice since we had so many early mornings throughout the week.

Chris found a hike for us that would give us about three hours of hiking on the way home. We packed up a lunch, loaded up the Pilot, and were on our way between 10 and 11 am for the two and a half hour drive to Creede and the Archuleta Trailhead.

We parked at the Big Meadows Lake parking area and started walking around the lake to reach the Archuleta Trailhead. It was almost a mile circling the lake to the trailhead. The lake or reservoir seemed to be quite popular with lots of people fishing along the banks and a campground close by.

Once we passed all of the people fishing, the traffic on the trail thinned out; we did not pass too many people throughout our hike. It was a last great adventure on a week full of excursions.

We drove the rest of the day and arrived at the airport two minutes after Kristen texted that she was ready. Can't beat that timing.

State-cation Day 8: 4x4 and the Alpine Loop

If I had really known what I was in for in driving the Alpine Loop in a jeep, I am not sure I would have gone. Chris rented the jeep for the full day and we made an early 7:00 am start. I was thinking we would be driving some bumpy roads, but nothing in my mind suggested that our ride would be switchbacks up the side of mountains. 

Let's just say I unnerved me. A lot.

We stopped first at Animas Fork, a preserved ghost town at the beginning of the Alpine Loop. 

Look at the craftsmanship of the door hinges.

They were proud of their "indoor" bathroom facilities. I'm thinking it must have smelled pretty awful in the house all of the time.

I watched as some jeeps and side by sides started taking off on these small roads up the side of the mountain. I had no idea this was the plan for the day. It was pretty much a grim, white-knuckled day for me the entire time.

However, there were a number of old mining ghost towns, a broken dam, and numerous waterfalls along the way.

Chris mentioned that there would be fields of wildflowers at the top of the mountain. Looks as though we had just missed the most brilliant blooms by a couple of weeks.

Chris got a number of great photos as well.

I was happy to return the jeep at the end of the day and finally relax.

State-cation Day 7: Mesa Verde

Chris and I have lived in Colorado for nineteen years and have always wanted to visit Mesa Verde National Park. 

It was recommended to us that we make an early start for Mesa Verde to avoid crazy crowds and to visit at a cooler time of the day. We left the hotel 8:30 am. I'm not sure we managed to avoid the heat, but the crowds did increase as the day progressed.

We arrived mid morning and from the visitors center just outside the park, we still had a twenty minute drive to reach the top of the mesa.

We spent most of the morning checking out the ruins and cliff dwellings on the Chapin Mesa, starting first on the Cliff Palace Loop. Since all ranger-guided tours were canceled due to Covid-19, we only had the luxury of looking at each of the sites from a distance.

Cliff Palace

Soda Canyon through the telescope

After a stop for lunch, we explored the Mesa Top Loop with the featured Square Tower House. I found myself wondering how the Pueblo people climbed down to their homes using small footholds and ladders? What about small children? Did these homes keep intruders out?

There were markers at different locations noting three different fires over the years. Much of the mesa top was pretty barren and dreary.