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Making our way to Utah with our first stop in MOAB. Here are our favorite memories:

• Well, we looked for a truck stop to spend the night but found nothing.  We ended up parking on a side street in downtown Moab with the slides in so we didn’t atract too much attention.  Found out in the morning our campground was only 3 miles away.  Luckily, we didn’t check in because we found a better campground with a front row spot with the best views.
• Andrew and Ken mountain biking on the most famous mountain biking path in the world - Slick rock! The 12.7 mile path is suppose to take 5-6 hours (so they did the short loop which still took an hour+ to go 2 miles)
• The family bike ride was in downtown Moab along a riverwalk trail.  It ended in a park with very large musical instruments that we had fun clanging on (oops, it was a little early)
• Sallie sleeping outside in cots with Poohnut (Lauren ) and having her tell me all about the different constellations
• Driving through Arches National Park and counting all the arches and taking a hike to see “Delicate Arch” in 105 degree weather!  There are suppose to be over 2,000 arches in the park but we only managed to get to 20 or so.
• Driving through Canyonlands National Park and seeing canyons cut from the Colorado and Green rivers as far as the eye could see.  
• We also took a drive up the mountain (10,000′) to get out of the heat.  Seeing a sign for a lake, we took a dirt road up the main path and found a great spot.  Lots of fish rising to the surface but no keepers.  Hobie got excited about all the cows we passed on the road.

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Highlights of our trip to Colorado River State Park Island Acres just outside Grand Junction:

• Riding bikes to the truck stop across the highway for ice cream
• Who knew Grand Junction was the center for Peaches and Wine?  So we had to go check out some cool local winerys and pick up a bottle or two.
• The next offramp from the campground had a canyon where there are suppose to be some wild horses.  Biking very early in the morning up the canyon to find the horses but saw nothing but horse poop.  At least the down hill portion was fun.
• Watching the girls become “Indian girls” and set up a “fort” while the boys continued up the steep path and back.
• Driving up from 96 degrees to the mountains and “Mesa Lake” where there are more than 200 lakes and it was only 58 degrees!  The boys had to go after some trout splashing in the water.
• Watching the kids float around in the swim beach (small lake) in their big inner tubes.
• Andrew met a new friend, Austin, by sharing a mutual interest, monster trucks (remote control!)
• Getting a hydraulic jack replaced due to leaking fluid. The 65lb jack was sent from Oregon in 3 days and the guys at the truck repair took only an hour to replace it.  Then it was off to Utah instead of going back to the campground.  Our first night cruise with no reservations….  Where will we spend the night?

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We took some wonderful bike rides. One of the best was when the kids and I went DOWN HILL that same dirt road about 9 miles and Ken picked us up. Was that ever fun!! Lauren kept talking about how beautiful the whole area was and how it was as if angels lived in the trees. So innocent and beautiful. We also too many walks on the trail around the lake. We saw some raccoons, dear and many small creatures.

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Nikki’s 11^th birthday was during our stay at Sylvan Lake. We had planned to take her to Vail until the local espresso owner told us to check out Glenwood Springs Canyon and the town. Ken and I drove through the canyon and to the town (had to do some birthday shopping!) and were SO amazed that the I 70 goes through this canyon! An engineering masterpiece as it wrapped along the steep mountain cliffs. BEAUTIFUL beyond words.
There was an amazing bike trail that hugged the Colorado river along this canyon. So we surprised Nikki and all took a bike ride along this path. We rode 10 miles of this path (which goes all the way to Aspen) and loved it. Colorado is so committed to health and providing excellent bike paths. We are so impressed!! After a yummy lunch at a Brew Pub in town we then did a little bowing before returning to our campground. A happy birthday all the way around! Next stop Colorado River State Park!! I hear the area we will venture to next is home to some great wineries!!

Hugs to all!!

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Andrew took a free fly fishing class one morning along the river. He is such a fisherman!! That evening, we went to “Lily’s Lake” (a piece of heaven) and Andrew caught his FIRST fish using his FLY FISHING pole!! He was SO excited!! Now he can really say he’s a fly fisherman!

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 Our urban experience in DENVER. . .After spending several wonderful days at Elk Creek State Park, we took off for more of an “urban” experience. Cherry Creek State Park is located just minutes outside of Denver. Our camp spot had so much space around it which seems common at State and National Parks. We took a day trip into the city, with little more than a map in hand. We started at “Cherry Creek” which is SOOO cool! It’s a “village” of sorts with lots of great little coffee places and boutiques. The neighborhood surrounding Cherry Creek was filled with unique older houses. After my coffee fix, we headed downtown. We walked up “16^th street mall” (an outdoor mall with free trolleys up and down the wide streets) and made our way to LoDo (a funky newly revamped area). Feeling a need for some Denver history, we took a tour of the State Capitol and grew in our appreciation of this great state.

Other highlights of our time outside of Denver include:

A reconciliation with my dear friend from Naperville days (1999!), Holly Biggers and her family. They came and BBQ’d with us one evening as the kids all played tag well into the night.

A day trip to Boulder. Such a cool town. We really loved it. Sat outside on a patio for dinner at a Nepalese restaurant. Love that nan!

Had a great lunch of . . .Pho? I didn’t know about Pho either but Ken is crazy about it and we found a Vietnamese area with lots of restaurants and markets. Pho is a Vietnamese soup full of yummy noodles, meat, bean sprouts, lime and basil. Looking forward to having it again soon!

Took a family bike ride down a great bike trail in downtown Denver along the river. Ended with a trip to a big farmer’s market. YUM!!

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