Rocky Mountain High

Becky and I were fortunate enough to take a much needed vacation this summer. We have been wanting to go to Colorado for some time now and this was the year. We were joined by our good friends from Nashville, Mike and Jeanie.

I will keep the dialog to a minimum because we took about 300 photos. Colorado is amazing and the scenery almost seems fake. There is something to be said for being surrounded by beauty all day long.

Our trip started on Wednesday. Upon arriving in Breckenridge, we went right to the bike shop and rented some mountain bikes. We then hit up Breckenridge Brewery which had a great happy hour. We ended up there 5 out of the 7 nights were in town.

Thursday
We took out the rental bikes on a trail suggested by a local. We had a blast and the altitude wasn't too bad. The scenery was inspiring. That evening we drove to Vail, had some pizza and took the Gondola to the top for some incredible views. To quote Becky on the ride up "Wow"!


Friday
Mike and I rode bikes again and the ladies went shopping. We cooled of in the stream, then hit the hot tub. Happy hour at the Brewery, then a carb loading dinner at the condo.

Saturday (race day)
Yeah, I said race. For some odd reason Mike and I thought it would be a good idea to compete in a mountain bike race. I entered in the 32 mile distance and had a great time. I met folks from Oregon, Arkansas and of course Colorado. Finished in 4 1/2 hours (good, I think). The highlight, other than the scenery, was calling Becky with 7 miles to go (so she could meet me at the finish) and her responding "Already, were having lunch". Cooled off in the creek again and enjoyed some Mexican for dinner.


Sunday
Quandary Peak, we wanted to hike a 14er and it fit the bill. We grossly underestimated the difficulty, but had fun none the less. 3000 ft in 3 miles, guess the direction. Yep, straight up. Saw the new Batman movie, Awesome.

Monday
White water rafting on the Arkansas. Class IV rapids the whole way. Tons of fun, complete with Becky whacking me numerous times in the back of the head with her paddle. On a side note we saw a guy mining for gold on the river. They say there is a million dollars per mile on the Arkansas. We then took a road trip on the Rocky mountain scenic highway.

Tuesday
We decided to hike up to a couple of Alpine lakes. It was by far the most scenic trip we took and it was beyond awesome. The pictures will not do it justice. We enjoyed a beer at the top and wished the week in Colorado would not end.

Wednesday
Return home to look for jobs in Colorado (just kidding, I think)

I will try and get a slide show up soon.

Family, Food, Fireworks & Fun

Below I posted all the pics Becky and I had from the long weekend of Kicklighter fun.

Aunt Becky and I loved having just about everybody at the house. It got a little quieter after Mom, Dad and Jacob left on Sunday morning. Then it got very quiet and very sad after our goodbye dinner with John and his crew. We now know how Mom feels after Thanksgiving and we all leave after a visit. It was almost emotional.

We enjoyed having everyone and needless to say all are welcome anytime. Good thing we were able to catch some of the fun on film.

Some of the highlights:
Ethan riding the tube for the first time
Becky catching some crazy sic air on the tube, your welcome
Dave's yard catching on fire
Natalie and Matt riding the tube
Matt catching a fish
Dave, Matt, John and Kristy eating 4-5lbs. of rainbow trout.

Enjoy the pics and click on them to make them larger. Let me know if you want high res. copies

4th of July

4th of July 2008