The Loon State Skier

Photos from last weekend's ski with Dave:


Check out those shorts!


Andy Mapple I ain't.

Back to MN

I flew back to Minnesota this weekend. Mostly to see Holly and Lilly and partially to take care of a couple things we needed to fix for our inspection. I also fixed the lid switch on the washing machine.

When I got of the plane there was a surprise waiting for me:


Fairy Lilly

They waited at the bottom of the escalator for me and everyone that went by couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing in the world.

Saturday morning we went on a family bike ride to get the replacement part for the washing machine and to eat lunch at Panera.


Team Mom and Lilly

We played in the river all afternoon on Saturday. What a great weather day.


River kids

Dave Hoglund stopped over for a quick ski pass on the river and we all hit Q-Fanatic afterward. Thanks for buying my ribs Dave! Lilly didn't make it through her meal:


Sleepy fairy

After the Q we headed home and had Neil, Andy and Dave over for a fire.

I opted out of biking with the group on Sunday morning to get the washer fixed and knock off some of the other items on our inspection list. In hindsight I shouldn't have spent all day Saturday lounging around. Sounds like I missed a good ride.

One bummer of the weekend was getting stung by a bee. I must be a little bit allergic as I swell up pretty bad right by the sting.


Which one is swollen?

Weekend Recap

Highlights from the weekend...

This morning Beth and I walked to the dogs to the Stapleton dog park and then grabbed some coffee. We walked back through Stapleton looking around for ideas on possible houses.

I went for a bike ride to Lookout Mountain. I only went part of the way up as I wanted to get home for...

Geoff smoked a brisket yesterday (around 12 hours on the grill) and we ate it this afternoon while watching the PGA Championship. It was incredible.

Geoff and I spent a few hours yesterday trimming back tree limbs that were touching their roof and their neighbors' roof.

Next weekend I'm flying back to Minnesota to see Holly and Lilly. I'm already excited and will have a hard time thinking of anything else this week.

Holly in DC, Lilly in South Dakota

Holly traveled to Washington DC this weekend and part of this week to go on college visits with our niece Kalie. While she is in DC Lilly went to Teresa and Russ' house in Harrisburg, SD. Holly said she talked to Lilly and she was really having fun.

Best Evening Ever

A great bike ride

PLUS

Jimmy John's telling me to take home all of the day old bread

PLUS

A care package from Lilly

EQUALS

A near perfect evening.



Sedalia Sunset

Holly & Lilly's Weekend

Holly and Lilly had a fun weekend this weekend. They went to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America and went for two bike rides. Unfortunately Lilly wasn't hanging on while riding on her tag-a-long and fell off. She is pretty scraped up but was a little trooper and rode the 6 miles home after the accident. Poor kiddo! Here's some pictures from Holly:


Mountain Biking in Elm Creek


Fun!


Bumper Cars


Click on this one...

Great Ride

I rode from my sister's house to Lookout Mountain and back yesterday morning. The out-and-back was around 60 miles. Sustained climbing (2,500 feet) with multiple switchbacks. Wow.


Lookout from East Denver

Here's a picture taken from Buffalo Bill's gravesite. Below is Golden, CO, home to Colorado School of Mines and Coors Brewery.


Golden, CO

Rockies Game & Buffalo Creek

Last night Beth, Geoff, and I went to see the Rockies beat the Cubs. Coors Field is beautiful and the weather couldn't have been nicer. Geoff asked when was the last time I had watched outdoor baseball. It was probably in high school when we went to see the White Sox. Wow.


Great View 1

Today I mountain biked Buffalo Creek again. One of the trails linked up with the Colorado Trail. I rode it for a while and turned back just shy of Durango (500 miles from Denver). :)


Great View 2

Charli is a itchy lion

Beth's dog Charli gets a shave in the summer to keep him cool.


In the jungle...

After his shave he gets so itchy they put a t-shirt on him. I took him to the dog park with his shirt on and he got beat up. Actually it got tangled in his legs on the way there and I had to take it off.


XL

I had planned to bike in the foothills by work today but saw some serious cloud-to-ground lightning and decided to bag it and ride in Cherry Creek State park. Turns out a girl was hit by lightning yesterday riding her bike in Boulder and there were flash flood warnings in the county I would have ridden in had I not turned back. I make the right decision once in a while.


Stormy

Biking

I got out mountain biking yesterday at the Buffalo Creek Forest area. What a great area. Tons of climbing, fire roads and singletrack. Just technical enough for me. There was a large fire here in 1996 and the damage can still be seen.

I got a flat tire halfway through the ride and threw in my spare tube. About 2 miles from the end I flatted again. Instead of flying down the last 2 miles I walked. Time for new tires and tubes. I think the tubes were 7 years old and the tires even older.


Fire damage


Fire road (shortly before 2nd flat tire)


Along the creek

Today I rode east of Denver. A 50 mile loop out towards the Denver airport and the Front Range Regional Airport. After about a half hour from my sisters I was on a two lane road with a traffic load of two cars an hour. The roads were okay to get out there but very nice when out of the city. That could become a regular route.