Great Day In Estes Park

Even though we got a later start (about 11:45), we made the scenic drive to Estes Park today. We had a nice lunch on the patio at the Wapiti bar and grill, and followed it with a walk through some shops as we made our way to the Scandinavian Festival. The Vikings were battling on the lawn. An axe went through a shield, but there were no serious injuries even though swords and knives were flying. The Big Thompson River is higher and faster than either of us have seen before. It was a great sunny day to follow it along the golf course and to the lake where Elk were lounging and swimming from shore to shore. A curious drake (mallard) kept checking us out as we sat on the edge of the lake watching the Elk. Since the weather was ideal, we decided Rocky Mountain National Park was our destination for the evening. A quick trip to pick up Naked drinks at Safeway and we were on our way to the park. Aaron brought his camera and we hiked down the Cub Lake trail around the morraine area. The sky was blue and the water was really running.

Things were quieter as we moved further from the river. Aaron looked back and me, "Shhh. Marmots. A mom and some babies." What cuties!

Across the morraine meadow, we could see a small herd of elk (at least 20). They were too far away to get any good pictures, but we kept on the path hoping we could get a closer view. (We didn't have our camera earlier in the day when the elk were swimming in the lake). On we walked, always keeping our eyes out for little critters and beautiful flowers. It seemed as though we may get the chance to see those elk closer up -- just down the path a little further. However, once again Aaron reached back toward me, "shh, bear." And sure enough, just in front of us a mother bear and her two cubs were coming down from the forested area to the path. They were wandering our way, so we moved slowly back and over to the side. She lead them from the human path to a game trail just a few feet up. We were able to keep our eyes on this wonderful little family for about a half hour. Thankfully Aaron had his camera and was able to get many cool shots. Carefully we kept our distance, once having to trudge through the swampy water 30-40 yards away from the path so they could have their space. She had brought them back to the path -- now in front of us on our way back. I think Aaron thought it was great fun having me manuever in the smelly, muddy swamp grasses. Good thing I had my Chacos on.

Summer 2009 Begins

It's been a busy beginning to our summer.
Nothing kicks off the summer like a concert at Red Rocks (in the pouring rain).

The best act of the evening was: Styx

I spent almost a week attending conferences: Highway 21(2 days) at our local district training center and Tointon School and Teacher Leadership Academy in Vail (at Lion Square Lodge) Both experiences proved to be motivational and jam-packed full of learning! The brain muscle was truly exercised!

My mom came for a visit. YEAH!!! It was wonderful having her around. We enjoyed hanging out, creating bags out of repurposed material, checking out the shops in Denver and Boulder, visiting with my cousin Brian, and staying out of the stormy weather. We had a fun theater evening, eating at Osteria Marco on Larimer (yummy) and seeing RENT at the Denver Performing Arts Center. (Check out this Denver Post article about the show.)

Aaron is still working, but I don't think he is complaining. Check out where he has been this past week: Belize

Caring for Children of Uganda