Happy Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day, I went for a hike in a new park in Colorado. It was nice and flat all the way along the creek down below...for about a mile. Then, it started going up and up and up! I got to the point where the trail started going down when a couple of guys appeared out of the woods and said there was a great view if you hiked up a little further. I stood there for a moment trying to decide if I really wanted to go there. After much mental debate, I decided a little more up would not kill me. It was worth it! The view was fantastic!!









As we were hiking back to the car, I came across a castle by the stream. I couldn't help but stop and admire the beauty as well as snap a couple of photos!





On our way back to Denver, I took the scenic route and was able to take a photo of the mountain I had just been climbing.



It was a blast! I wish that my Dad and my husband could have been with me to celebrate the day. Know that you were both there in spirit the entire time!!

Anyone who is getting tired of seeing all of the hikes that I keep posting, raise your hand. Now, put your hand down and start planning your move!

C'ya!

Unofficially Official

The University of Phoenix graduation: Colorado Springs, CO: 10 AM today. As a member of the staff, I have the pleasure of joining the team in making sure the entire event goes off without a hitch. As a member of the leadership team, I have the pleasure of joining the administration and faculty on the stage during the ceremony. I felt a little odd joining everyone when I haven't officially graduated yet; even though I have all of the regalia already. So, in order to feel like I should be there dressed up in all of my Master's garb, Rebecca set up an "Unofficial Master's Hooding" in the faculty room before the ceremony. That way, I could feel a little more comfortable about wearing my tassle on the left...








Jeannine graduated for real so we grabbed a photo quick after the ceremony. It was a ton of fun but I am certainly glad it is over. I get to do it all again next weekend in Denver. I got the first taste of it today in a very short ceremony so we will see how it goes next week with 2 different ceremonies!

In case you are wondering, I actually have one class left to complete my Master's Degree. I am waiting to walk across the stage to receive recognition until Mike can also complete his degree. I think it would be cool for the two of us to walk together...so keep next June open so y'all can come visit us in Colorado!!

I've been up a long time today and Sedona and I had a busy couple of days (more to come on that another day). I'm going to call it a night!

C'ya!

Nap Time

What an uneventful day...went to work, did my job, rode the bike home, sat in the hot tub, and now I am ready to go to bed.

Since today was not exciting, I figured a video of Sedona going to sleep on the mountain would be just as entertaining...

C'ya!

The Top

This is a video I shot yesterday on the hike that shows the view of the mountains from the top of the "hill" I was climbing. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!

Turns out that one of my employees was hiking the same path I was at the same time. He had to have walked right past me when Sedona and I stopped for a nap. Wierd, huh? You know what they say..."Great Minds Think Alike".

Not much exciting today (my weekends are the real play time around here right now). I guess I will call it a night!

C'ya!

The Hike According to Sedona

Maw Maw came home today and started putting items into the backpack as she does when she is going out on a bike ride. I took my spot on the bed and gave her that really cute face of mine to see if I could persuade her to do otherwise. She gave me the normal peck on the head and told me to 'come on' when everything was put into its place. I reluctantly headed up the stairs, thinking I was going to be shoved out the door with the other dogs to spend the day outside behind those white fenced walls. I was wrong today! Instead, we headed out the front door and jumped into the car. My next thought was that we were going to head down the street to the park with all of the people and all of the dogs. Wrong again! We drove for what seemed like forever up into the foothills. I didn't see the sign for where we were going but I know we went through Golden to get there (Maw Maw was talking to Paw Paw on the phone until she lost the signal). I was so excited I could hardly contain myself!!

We jumped onto the trail and headed out. Of course, it wouldn't be a trip into the mountains if Maw Maw didn't bring her camera. I'm glad she did because she got some really pretty photos. The first one below is just as we started on the trail.

We went down and down and down for what seemed like forever. Of course, in the mountains, you know once you go down, you must go back up!

We went up and down several times. It was really quite exhasting! We stopped at one point at a watering hole; which was something that you had to pump in order to get water out. It was quite tasty and I was glad to have something to wet my palett! Not long after, we stopped on a nice flat rock and had a little lunch and a short nap. It was a much welcomed rest. We had a fantastic view of the rocks over the hill so Maw Maw pulled out the camera and took another shot or two...



We were also quite amazed at the view of downtown Denver from where we were. It was absolutely amazing. Of course, we have photos:


As we were winding down the hike, Maw Maw played around with the camera and shot a photo of herself. I swear she is the goofiest lady I have ever met!

I ran ahead to make sure the way was clear. Of course, I had to keep stopping because Maw Maw is so slow sometimes!

Finally, we rounded the corner toward the bottom of the hill and headed back for the car. One last fantastic view of the mountains and we were on our way.

Right now, I'm so tired, I'm going to crash out on the bed and call it a night!

C'ya!

The People's Fair

Downtown Denver had a People's Fair today. Lots of arts and crafts and food. I figured I didn't have anything else to do today (that I felt like doing) so I hopped on the bike and rode on down. Found lots of stuff to spend my money on but didn't spend a dime.

I decided after that I would ride the rest of the way to my favorite downtown spot; Confluence Park. I sat outside and chatted on the phone with Mike for a while. I finally brought the camera along so I could show him where I keep describing:


The above photo is of the REI store (kind of like Cabella's) with the Starbucks attached. I like to sit right out front of those windows and people-watch.


The above photo is looking out over the park from my normal spot. People swim, bike, walk, kyak, play with their dogs, you name it!


The above photo in the same area just looking a little more upstream. People come here to practice rafting and kyaking. It isn't too deep and the rapids are short but good for practicing.


The above photo is looking even further upstream toward Elitch Gardens (the amuzement park).


The dreaded Invesco field - home of the Broncos....They are SOOO going to lose this year!

I bought a bike trail map while I was in REI so now I have all of the bike trails in Denver. I have a ton of work to do in order to ride them all...

I need to go make a birthday card for Alyx (yes, I know her birthday is today...)

C'ya!

Going Green

You are never going to believe me but here it goes: I'm going green? How? I rode the train to work this morning with the bike then I rode the bike home. The great thing about Denver is that there are bike trails EVERYWHERE! So I don't have to spend much time on major roads and as long as I stick to creekside trails, it is relatively flat so I can handle the ride. I'm not sure the total distance I rode but I will tell you that I am beat!

As I got closer to the house, the clouds above started looking pretty scary. By the time I got home, they had moved to the East and put on quite a show. I shot a video of it so hopefully you can see the movement. There are tornado warnings out to the East right now; I'm not surprised at all!:

I also took a picture on high resolution because the colors were just amazing!

I am sure the ones in the path of this storm would disagree but what an amazing sight!

Okay - I can't sit around and play on my computer any more tonight...and I have to go to Phoenix tomorrow...

C'ya!

My Pastor is a Techie Geek!

I have been going to a church just down the street from where I am currently living. I really enjoy going for several reasons; the people are friendly, it reminds me of 'home', as well as many others. Last week, I found out that the Pastor of the church is really into technology. Until tonight, I hadn't had the time to look at his web site. Well, I have discovered he is a serious tech. Check it out at http://joeburnham.com/. He has blogs and podcasts and flickr (Oh My!). WOW! That's all I have to say...

On another note, I rode my bike to downtown Denver again today. Nice relaxing ride but the sun sure did a number on my shoulders and face...It is making me sleepy...

C'ya!