Golden, Colorado

Joni was ready to go.

 We moved from the Cherry Creek State Park RV Campground to the Dakota Ridge RV Park in Golden, Colorado.  Dakota Ridge is a lot closer to Ken and the mountains, since it's on the west side of Denver.

We spent more time with Ken.  Hiking, bike riding, eating and just having a good time.

Delton needed a rest

 The Apex Trail was very close to our park.  As a matter of fact, it was walking distance away.  It starts out with a very steep uphill climb without shade, so it was a tough climb.  About 1 1/2 miles in, you arrive at the Enchanted Forest, a heavily wooded, very pretty area.  We hiked Apex one day by ourselves, and with Ken on another day.

The Apex Trail is also a mountain biking trail.  It's amazing to see how the mountain bikers travel over the rocks, tree stumps and tough terrain.  Sorry I didn't get any pictures of that.

Keri, Joni, Delton and Loren

We got to see our nephew, Loren and his family a couple times.
They moved to the Denver/Boulder area recently and are very happy to be in Colorado. Loren is a youth minister at Flatirons Community Church, so we decided to attend a service at Flatirons.  It's a very large church, with services held in an old Walmart.  After renovating the facility, it accommodates the church very well.

Loren and Keri, his wife, have 4 absolutely adorable daughters.  I'm so sorry I didn't get pictures of them, but we did get a picture with Loren and Keri in the lobby of Flatirons Church.  The girls are Abby, Emily, Rachel and Hannah.  It was fun to be around little girls as most of our family is all boys.  

Downtown Golden is a cute little historical town.  Walking along the river one afternoon, we saw some people enjoying kayaking in the river.  They had short river kayaks and were practicing their river techniques.  Sometimes they would tip over and have to right themselves in their kayaks.  A little scary to us.  I think it's called rolling over.  We'll stick to our open white water kayaks - (see previous posts).

 Our walk along the river continued.  Trees were  finally starting to turn.  Too bad we couldn't stay longer and see the Aspens in full fall color.

Strolling by the river

And now we are on our way back to Texas for the fall season.  Looking forward to seeing friends and family.

With Ken in Denver

We left Salida and headed for Denver.  Joni's son Ken lives in the heart of the city, just a few blocks from downtown.

We enjoyed walking to the downtown area from Ken's house and having diner.  We also took a bike ride around a small lake which was close to his house.  See the photo of us with our bikes and the mountains in the background.

Hiking is the best.  From high up on the mountain trails, there are some beautiful views of Denver.  See the picture...though it's a little hazy.

Resting

No matter where you go in Colorado, the mountains and views are wonderful.

View of Denver

We drove to a trail head just west of Boulder one afternoon.  The last few miles of the road were quite rocky, bumpy and very narrow as the road turned into a dirt road where 4 wheel drive vehicles should be used.  It was like 4 wheeling.  We decided to turn around and hike at a different location.  Mostly it was because Joni was getting very nervous, especially when we had a car coming towards us and there wasn't much room to pass each other.  We got very close to the edge........ with a big drop off just a few "inches" from the tires.   Joni was out of her comfort zone.  Ken and Delton thought that was pretty funny.

Our hike turned out to be great as we made our way up along a beautiful waterfalls.  Reaching the top, we found a mountain lake, where we turned around to head back.  What a day!

Playing with our Apples

Some of our time with Ken was spent just chill in out.  Joni and Ken have just gotten some new Apple MacBook Pro computers.  Both of us were still learning how to use them.  There is a learning curve as we change from the PC.  See the photo of us working hard at it!  Actually Joni is taking the picture !!!  iPhones, iPads, and Macs!  Apple is doing well by our family.

Taking a Rest

Biking with Rockies in Background

We discovered a very funny app on our Apples called Photo Booth.  Taking a picture of ourselves, we began to edit the picture.  We used the feature where we were transformed into Aliens!!!!  Aren't we cute!!!!!  We must be very smart.  Our brains swelled!

We also got to visit with our nephew and his family.  Loren and Keri Jones just moved to the Boulder area.  They are so happy to be in Colorado.  Leaving Houston was hard for Keri as she left her family, but they have a love for the mountains and skiing.  It was very welcoming for them to leave the hot hot hot hot Texas summer this year. I think they will have many visitors, so they won't get too lonely.   It's been good to be able to see our family as we travel around the country. Family and friends are everywhere!

4 Wheelin'

 Delton had a blast!  Dana Lemmerman has 2 four wheelers.  He was kind enough to take Delton out a few times

Karen loves to go 4 wheeling.  Joni - not so much!  We have gone with the Lemmermans in the past, but this time Delton went with Dana.  It was a guy thing that day!

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.  Just look at the views.  God knew what he was doing when he created such beauty.

They went to Marshall Pass on the Continental Divide.  Elevation 10,842 feet!  They were sucking air.  Actually they were sucking a lot of dust!

There's not much more to say.  Pictures say it all!

Kayaking the Arkansas River

 Karen and Dana got new white water kayaks.  We decided we would try them out on the Arkansas River.

We have a couple of inexpensive Coleman inflatables we purchased at Walmart.   Joni has been wanting to get a new good quality inflatable.  This was her chance.  With Dana and Karen's encouragement, we tried out some good ones on the river too.  What a difference!  Joni was sold.

We kayaked a 7 mile stretch of the river.  Dana, Karen and Delton were using the Aire Tributary Kayaks.  Joni used a smaller version of the Aire Tributary Kayak.  It was very stable and fit a smaller person real well.

We floated in rapids rated II and III.  The IIIs were quite scary at first, but we got used to them and then they were thrilling, although we don't think we want to attempt them again.

We're All Done

Karen is ready to start

There were quite a few large rapids where we bounced up and down and took on a bunch of water. Our kayaks were self bailing so that wasn't a problem.  There were areas where the river was narrow and there were quite a few rocks to maneuver around.  We couldn't get any good pictures.  We were too busy staying a float!  Good thing we weren't using our Colemans.  We never would have made it through the III rapids.

We had a near disaster near the end of our float.  We were coming around the last bend as the water was rushing towards a wall of rocks.  Karen was leading the way and heading right into the rock wall.  She stuck out her leg to "bounce" off the rocks and ended up dumping.  The water was rushing very fast and she got stuck under her kayak for a few seconds (which seemed like forever to her).  She came up next to the kayak and floated across the river.  Very shaken and very cold, she floated to the edge of the river.  All is well!

After a very fun day, Joni was sold on the little yellow kayak.  We bought it!  Can't wait to use it again.  Kayaking anyone?????

Fun in Salida, CO

 Leaving Fun Valley, we headed to Salida, Colorado to visit some friends,  Dana and Karen Lemmerman.

Golfing in the Rockies

Delton always enjoys playing golf.  Playing in the Rockies is an extra plus.  No matter how well you play, you can always enjoy the game, especially when you have the beautiful mountains all around you.

Joni and Karen 

Our friend, Karen Lemmerman, always enjoys hiking.  Joni joined her and her Monday hiking group for a beautiful day in the mountains.  Who could ask for anything more.

Tennis is a game you can play till you're old and gray.  Are we old and gray yet?  Playing tennis is different at elevation.  In Salida, we are at about 7000 feet elevation.  Guess what happens when you hit the ball?  It moves very fast and bounces VERY high.  It is a game changer.  Much different than playing in Florida, but every bit as much fun.  We played with Dana and some his friends.

Learning to Fly Fish

Getting ready for lessons

A new experience for us was fly fishing.  Dana and Karen have a friend named Larry Ford who volunteered to give us all fly fishing lessons.  We had played tennis with Larry a few days earlier.  We went to a very beautiful lake in the Rockies to begin our lessons.  Larry was very patient with all of us.  There is a learning curve to whipping that fishing rod over the water.  With a fly on the hook, the fish think there is food flying over the water.  Boy did we fool them.  We caught a bunch!  But, Larry suggested we just catch and release.  So, no fish diner that day.

As you can see, we all had a great time and thank Larry for all his patience and time.

We had one incident where Delton had caught a very large fish.  He called Joni over to take a picture but Delton lost the fish before Joni could get to him.  When he lost the fish, he pulled his rod back and ended up catching his butt!  He called Larry over for help to unhook the hook from the butt of his pants.  Can't believe we didn't get a picture of that!