Setting out from the Maroon Bells trailhead on Saturday morning

Marcy and I just had a fantastic weekend hiking in the Colorado mountains. We did the famous Aspen to Crested Butte hike on Saturday and then back on Sunday.

Looking back down the valley from near West Maroon Pass

This hike had been on our bucket list for many years, as many people say it is the best hike in Colorado. It didn’t disappoint.

We drove to Aspen on Friday, staying at the Limelight Hotel in Snowmass (thank you Chase points). Because the Maroon Bells are so popular today, you can’t drive there and park your car overnight, there is a shuttle from Aspen Highlands that takes you there. We were up bright and early and on the West Maroon Pass trail around 8:40am.

The wildflowers on the Crested Butte side were nothing short of spectacular

We had a deadline because I booked the 2pm Shuttle from the Crested Butte trailhead so we knew we had to move quickly to make the 11-mile journey (with 3,000+ feet of elevation gain) in 5 hours. We were both feeling strong and made the 7-mile journey to West Maroon Pass by noon. A quick lunch and it was all downhill to the Crested Butte Trailhead.

Marcy among the fireweed

Once we got below treeline on the Crested Butte side, the wildflowers were amazing, particularly the pink-purple fireweed, which dominated many of the hillsides.

We made it to the Crested Butte trailhead with time to spare, completing the hike in just under five hours. Then it was a shuttle to our The Lodge at Mountaineer Square, along a narrow road that hugged the mountain – it was harrowing at times. That night we got the free bus to the town where there was an art show. So, we caught some of that and then had a delicious sushi dinner.

At West Maroon Pass on Sunday at 12,500 feet

We were back on the trail by 9am on Sunday and it was good we had no deadline as I was not feeling as strong as day one. Marcy is a machine with a backpack on so she was ahead of me for a good chunk of the day. And then on the long downhill towards Aspen, my feet started bothering me, so I was even slower. We made it by 3pm, an hour longer than Saturday.

Our ending photo, happy to be done

We both commented that it was so nice to stay in a hotel instead of a tent, which is what we typically do on our hiking trips. We will continue to do backpacking, but we might intersperse those trips with something a little more comfortable. The Aspen to Crested Butte hike lived up to the billing and it fully deserves its 4.9 stars on AllTrails.

Anna gets a welcome sign from Baba on arriving in Des Moines

We just arrived back from visiting Marcy’s family in Iowa. Due to work commitments, we couldn’t manage a trip with all four of us together. So, Anna went out 10 days ago and came back last Sunday. Marcy visited from last Saturday until today. And then Jude and I flew out on Thursday and came back today.

Anna stayed at Baba’s house, so she spent most of her time there, playing games, bowling, swimming in the pool, and enjoying good food. Marcy had to work most of the last week, but she took Friday off, and they all went bowling.

Jude driving the MG with Grampsy providing instruction

Jude spent the afternoon on Friday learning to drive a stick shift on Grampsy’s MG. There was a car rally for the British Car Club of Iowa, and we were taking the MG and the Jaguar (and Baba had her beloved Smart Car).

Jude mastered the MG by the end of Saturday

We drove to a British Pub for lunch and then visited Iowa State’s campus in Ames, where we went to the botanic gardens and then ended with ice cream. Jude then drove all the way back from Ames to West Des Moines via the backroads and by the end of the trip he had it down. I drove the MG around Ames and it is not an easy car to drive, so if he can master that, he can do any stick shift.

Enjoying our dinner at Simon’s

On Saturday night, we had a delicious dinner at Simon’s. It provided a wonderful end to our summer trips to Des Moines.

Having fun in the Snake River near Keystone

Last Saturday, we met the Dahlens in Keystone for the annual family vacation. It was a wonderful week. Jude didn’t get back from his work in North Dakota until Tuesday, so he joined us then. Lily’s boyfriend, Owen, made the trip this year, so for the first time, we had two young men for much of the week.

Jude made the most of his time in Keystone

The one downside of the week was the smoke. Wildfires were burning in Utah and near Leadville, which caused several days of bad smoke in Keystone. And the rivers were all running low due to the record low snowfall this past winter. So, we ended up doing more exploring and hiking close to Keystone.

On the 14th tee at the River Course

As we have done every year, Nathan and I played some golf at the River Course at Keystone. But for the first time ever, we had our own foursome as Owen and Jude joined in. It was a really fun day on the course, with Nathan proving too good for all of us this year.

Playing Codenames, kids vs adults

Of course, many games were played: Codenames, Hitster and Wavelength to name a few. We also watched a LOT of the World Cup. I have been really into it this year, so we had the TV on for pretty much every game.

Anna climbing down the rocks near the top of Buffalo Mountain

On Friday, most of us tackled Buffalo Mountain. I was not one of them as I was feeling a little off color for much of the week. Then it was on to the Farmers Market in Dillon where a delicious lunch was enjoyed by all.

We forgot to take the traditional photo with Jude, so Owen subbed for him

It was over way too soon, as we all made our way home on Saturday. Despite the smoke and the low water (no rafting this year), we all had a great week.

On the Mule Deer Trail in Golden Gate Canyon State Park on Father’s Day

It has been a while since our last update, and I wanted to include the above photo from Father’s Day with Anna. We did a really fun hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, even Anna said she would do this one again.

Anna with her good friends on Ice Girls

Last weekend was the final cheerleading competition of the season. It is always a bittersweet time, but this year was a little more bitter than sweet. But before we get to that, Anna was asked to fill in at the last minute for another team called Hail. This involved having to take a red-eye because she had practice in Denver on Wednesday at 5:30pm and then a practice with Hail at 9am in Orlando.

So, Jude drove Anna to the airport (I was in NYC) on Wednesday night and then Marcy flew out on Thursday to catch the flight that Anna was originally booked on. It worked out well for Anna because others on her team were also catching the red-eye.

Anna competed with Hail on Thursday and Friday, and the team came in 4th, a solid finish. Then Anna’s regular team, Winter Soldiers, competed on Saturday. Unfortunately, this was the bitter part of the trip. They had a stunt fall, which meant they did not “hit zero”. Consequently, they did make it to the finals on Sunday.

At Disney with some of her Winter Soldiers teammates

The great thing about going to this competition is that it is in Orlando. Which means you get to go to Disney, if you don’t make it to Sunday, which is what Anna’s team did. They ended up having a great day and evening.

With her teammate Shosh watching the fireworks from a boat at Disney

On Monday, Anna and Marcy drove to Anna Maria Island near Tampa Bay. This is a place that Anna discovered, so they rented a car and booked an Airbnb for a couple of nights. On the drive there they stopped to check out the University of Tampa. Anna thought it had potential so it is now included on the list.

After a sunset swim at the beach on Anna Maria Island

They both loved Anna Maria Island. They were staying just a block from the beach and the entire town was tiny so everything was within walking distance. They arrived back in Denver just after a late spring snowstorm. Needless to say there were grumbles about wanting to be back on the beach.

Jude and I did a hike in the foothills called Plymouth Mountain Trail

Meanwhile, Jude came home from his two weeks of work. I arrived back home just a few hours after Marcy left, so I was able to hang out with Jude for a few days. We watched a lot of soccer and one day went for a nice hike in the foothills in some gorgeous weather.

Then on Monday morning, I drove Jude back to the Halliburton office where he was getting a bus back to North Dakota for another two-week stint.

Celebrating Mother’s Day

Today was Mother’s Day and so it was all about Marcy. She biked to yoga in the morning and then we worked a bit in the yard in the afternoon. Marcy and Anna did a bit of shopping in Castle Rock but Marcy didn’t want to go out anywhere to eat, so we just had a charcuterie board of meat, cheese, vegetables and hummus for dinner. And we played a new game called Wavelength.

Jude has very full days at work in the oilfields but it was great to chat with him when he called this evening. He was in good spirits and I know Marcy was so happy to talk with him.

Anna’s Winter Soldiers Cheerleading team (she is in the middle of the middle row)

We are in the thick of cheerleading season. Since our last update, Anna and Marcy have been to Palm Springs and Houston for cheerleading competitions, where Anna’s team, Winter Soldiers, did very well. In fact, they should have won the Houston competition, called NCA, and the biggest cheerleading competition of the season, but for some weird judging decisions. They ended up coming in third, after hitting zero both days and leading after day one. Anna was bitterly disappointed, but accepted the loss gracefully.

Marcy and Anna at NCA in Houston, all smiles at the end of day one

Marcy’s long-time friend Elizabeth lives in Houston, and she came along to support Anna all day, and to catch up with Marcy. They hadn’t seen each other in many years.

Catching up with Elizabeth in Houston

Last weekend was a special one for Anna. She has been filling in at practice for the level 6 teams, Black Ice and Lady Suns, and Lady Suns had a competition in California where they were short. So, they asked Anna if she would fill in, and we knew this meant a lot to her, so we said yes. So, I decided to go to Anaheim with her, as Marcy had just been to Houston two weekends before.

Lady Suns in Anaheim (Anna is again in the middle of the middle row)

This weekend, Anna would get to perform three times, as there was an additional performance on Friday night. Anna did really well and quickly gelled with the team. While Lady Suns were not able to “hit zero” on any of the days, they looked good, and the level 6 stunting was so fun to watch. Anna more than held her own.

Anna with three of her best cheerleading friends

At cheerleading weekends there is not much downtime as you are supposed to watch all your sister teams compete, but we were able to take some time on Saturday night and head down to the beach. We had dinner in Huntington Beach and walked along the pier there. It was a little chilly, but great to smell the salt air again.

On the pier at Huntington Beach just after sunset

Finally, Jude started a new job this week. He has decided to take a semester off from school and get a real job. He is a trainee at Halliburton and will be working in the oilfields either in Colorado or possibly North Dakota. But first comes two weeks of training that he is doing at their Fort Lupton offices.

Jude with his new car, a 2011 Toyota Rav4

Jude has decided to take this semester off at CU. He is burned out on study and he wants to earn some money. He has a job lined up at Halliburton in Fort Luption (about a 45-minute drive), that he starts on Feb 16. To do that job, he is going to need a car.

So, we fronted him the money, and we bought a 2011 Toyota Rav4 this week. He is going to pay us back half the cost when he starts getting a regular paycheck. He loves the car. It really doesn’t feel like it is 15 years old and it only has 108,000 miles. We took it for a spin down to Colorado Springs this weekend for Anna’s cheer competition and it did really well on the highway.

Anna’s team, Winter Soldiers, performing at Spirit Sports in Colorado Springs

We are in the thick of cheer competition season and Anna’s team was performing at Spirit Sports in Colorado Springs. They did well, “hitting zero” today with a strong routine after a solid performance yesterday that saw them make just one mistake. The coaches are still not satisfied but they will get to do it again soon, as the next competition is this coming weekend.

KODAK Digital St

Fondue and snacks, our traditional Xmas Eve dinner

We had a wonderful Christmas in Denver. We had our traditional fondue meal on Christmas Eve and watched Love Actually, one of our favorite Christmas movies. It was unseasonably warm on Christmas Day, so after our Christmas lunch at Little India’s, we went for a walk and then watched the Broncos game.

The next day, Boxing Day, we drove to Iowa in a rented SUV – since we only have two electric cars now. It was a long day, but we arrived at Marcy’s parents’ house just before 9pm. And like she does every year, Baba had baked birthday cakes for Jude and Anna, of their age.

Their birthday cakes from Baba

In Iowa, there was plenty of great food and wine, as always, and we watched a ton of football, Premier League soccer, and played games; Code Names and Hitster were popular this time. The weather was also reasonably nice for Iowa, so we also did some walks and a couple of runs. There was a day of bowling and then, of course, the big New Year’s celebration. Because Ella and Chloe were traveling to China on December 29, we had the kids all do their Christmas crackers on December 28.

The five kids firing off their Christmas crackers to celebrate the New Year.

On the actual New Year’s Eve, we had a lovely smörgåsbord of delicious snacks and some celebratory wine and beer as well. And we dragged out an old game of Trivial Pursuit, a game many of us had not played in decades, or in the kids’ case, ever.

Enjoying some Shirley Temples on New Year’s Eve

We drove home on New Year’s Day and then Marcy and I were back at work on January 2nd. This weekend was another incredibly warm one, both days were sunny and in the mid-60s. So, Jude and I went for a hike this morning on Green Mountain, taking advantage of the great weather.

Hiking in early January with shorts and a tshirt

Celebrating Marcy’s birthday at Tavernetta

On Monday, we celebrated Marcy’s birthday. She took the day off work and booked herself into the Four Seasons spa for a massage (a present from last birthday). And then we all came downtown to meet her for lunch at Tavernetta, a restaurant she had really been wanting to try.

The food was not as good as expected, although I really liked my meal. Afterwards, we wandered along the 16th Street Mall and had some ice cream. That night, Marcy wanted to relax at home.

With her favorite kids on her birthday

This weekend was the start of competition season for Anna. The weekend before Christmas is always Champs, the competition at the Gaylord Resort, which Anna missed last year because of our trip to Australia. This year, with her Winter Soldiers team, Anna was not going ot miss it.

With her teammates Ava and Spencer before the first competition

The first night of competition, they looked great but didn’t “hit zero” because of a fall near the end of the routine. Tonight, they did fantastic. No mistakes whatsoever, so they hit zero and had one of the best scores of the day, leading to a victory. Anna was over the moon.

Marcy, the cheer mom again

The Winter Soldiers routine

A chocolate birthday cake for Jude

Today, Jude turned 19.

He arrived home from college for Thanksgiving break on Thursday night, while I was still out of town. And he was good enough to pick me up at the airport late morning on Friday. It was so great to see him, it had been over a month.

It has been a pretty chill weekend. Jude wanted to make shrimp tacos last night and today, he decided that we would have home-cooked steaks. So, we went to Rugby Scott, our local butcher that gets their meat direct from their farms, and Jude chose some rib eyes and filets. Marcy cooked up some carrots and chard and we had a delicious dinner.

Today, Jude wanted to watch soccer and football. We had Arsenal playing Spurs this morning, a game the Gunners dominated, which was a wonderful birthday present for Jude. The Broncos were off on a bye week but Jude watched some of the other NFL games on today. We went downtown for the Chriskindlmarket, which was on the campus where Anna goes to school at Community College of Denver (they share a campus with UC Denver and Metro State University).

After dinner, we did gifts and Jude loved the watch that Marcy chose for him.

With his new birthday watch

Arriving in Times Square for the first time

I have been going to New York several times a year for over a decade. Anna often asked to go on one of these trips, because she loves New York. Marcy took her there a year ago for her 16th birthday and the stars aligned for Anna to come along on my latest trip and do some college visits.

Visiting the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University

On Wednesday, we visited Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus (in the North Bronx) and NYU. Anna loved Fordham and surprisingly disliked NYU. Fordham has a beautiful campus, is a smaller school but has great international programs, including a campus in London and Madrid.

Walking back from NYU, we came across a bizarre wedding, and we got cake!

As we walked back from NYU we came across this scene with dozens of people crowding around taking photos. It was Kevin from The Office, and he was officiating a wedding of a Ramp employee. It was all very strange, and we just happened to sit down in the right spot and the wedding party came really close to us. And they gave out cake.

The Book of Mormon on Broadway is about to start

On Thursday, I had to work and Anna spent some time in exploring the city by herself, that she just loved. We did one more college tour that day, at John Jay, which Anna also didn’t like. Both NYU and John Jay were high on her list before this visit but they have both been ruled out now – that is why you do college visits. That night, we got tickets to the Book of Mormon musical. It was fantastic.

Walking through Central Park

Friday, was the day I took completely off. We started walking to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. Then we walked through Central Park and took the tram/gondola over to Roosevelt Island in the East River. I had never been and it was a wonderful change of pace from the bustle of Manhattan. Lots more walking including a stop by the Arconia (the building in Only Murders in the Building) and then dinner on a rooftop restaurant near the Empire State Building.

Dinner at A to Z on the Fifth Rooftop on our last night

It was over too quickly, and we were up bright and early on Saturday morning for our flight home. Then, we were home for barely 30 minutes before we drove down to Colorado Springs for our annual Air Force Falcons football game – the tickets were bought before we knew we were going to NYC. It was a fun game, but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing into the stadium, so we left a little early.

Cheering on the Air Force Falcons

Today, I was back down in Colorado Springs for the annual Manitou Incline hike. Jude came home Saturday night, and Marcy, he, and I drove down this morning to tackle it. It was perfect conditions and we all made it up there, although no one broke any records this time.

At the top of the Incline

The busy weekend culminated in a crazy Broncos game where they came from 18 points behind with six minutes left to beat the Giants.