Camping on the Western Slope

After the Fourth of July in Crested Butte, we headed over the pass to meet my parents at Erickson Springs Campground, just outside Paonia.   I'm not sure if Paonia counts as the Western Slope, but it seems pretty far west to me.  We had a nice drive over the pass.  Noah broke down once so we took a little walk outside of the car but after that it was smooth sailing.  We got to the campground and picked out our spot and my parents showed up about an hour later.  This was Noah's first night in the tent this summer and he did great!  We had pancakes for breakfast in the camper the following morning!  And then stories with Grandpa!

Big Bite!

After breakfast we decided to drive into Paonia.  We really wanted to go see a few of the wineries that are around town and also decided to have lunch on the river.  We had a very nice time sampling some wines before lunch.  At the second winery it started pouring rain so we hung out for a little while and learned about the town till the rain stopped.  We then headed down the hill to the river for lunch.  Noah really enjoyed throwing rocks in the Gunnison River.  After lunch we drove through town and looked for their local brewery but they were closed.  While we had been waiting out the rain the lady at the winery told us that we needed to stop for some of the best strudel, so we grabbed a few slices and hit the road to the next winery  which was the last winery.  It was nice and had a great patio with a wonderful view of the valley.  It would have been a great place to take a picnic lunch.  After we tried their wines we headed back to the campground to get some dinner cooking!

Enjoying the view

The last day we decided to head over to Marble and have a picnic and see if the rain would hold out for us to get a trip up to the Crystal Mill.  We walked around the old marble mining area and then had a picnic lunch before it started to rain.  We skipped driving up to the Mill and drove to Redstone just to look around while Dad went fishing.  

So excited to Drive Drive!

Family photo on some marble in Marble

Come this way Mommy!

Throwing rocks

We got to stop by Hayes Creek Falls on the way and then explored the little town while Mom looked around the antique store.  Then we headed back to find Dad along the river and went back to the camper to get out of the rain!  It rained all night so we slept in the camper and then headed home in the morning.

On our way back home we had a bit of a traffic jam with the locals!  Noah has so much fun Maaa-ing with them!

A Crested Butte 4th of July

Well I wrote these next two posts about two months ago.. figured I could just add some pictures and post them now anyways!  We decided that we enjoyed our last trip to Crested Butte for the Fourth of July, so this year we packed up and hit the road again to celebrate in Crested Butte.

We started off the Fourth of July with a fabulous pancake breakfast at the fire station.  It was held by all the firefighters for a small donation.  We ate a lot of pancakes and Noah really enjoyed his pancakes with sprinkles and whip cream.  We also got to see a fire truck and Noah and I got to climb in the fire truck and drive.  He was very excited!  He did not want to climb around the back of the fire truck, so we stayed in the front with the huge steering wheel.  Noah also wanted to talk to a firefighter, so we said hi and everyone was very friendly.

Noah playing in the fire truck

Watching the parade in the backpack

After breakfast we headed over to the parade route, we had Noah in his backpack and we took him out at the beginning of the parade.  He got pretty scared of the parade, so we put him back in the backpack and he had a great time on dad's back.  After a little while we caught our twinkies and headed to find some lunch.  Noah was all about some pizza  and after lunch we headed back for naps and a quiet afternoon.  Then we went and joined hundreds of other people to watch the fireworks!! We stopped by a bar to get some dinner to go and got to play shuffleboard.  We headed to the park to enjoy a picnic dinner and listen to a local band.  We then took turns to head back to our hotel to get warmer clothes on and get Noah some other clothes too.   Then it was time for the fireworks!  Noah did great, even though he did seem scared at the beginning of the fireworks, he really seemed to really like them once he got used to the loud booms!  After that it was back to the hotel day get some sleep before our camping trip.

Our little musician

Waiting for lunch

Jelly BEANS!

Noah was so excited about Easter this year!  Every time you asked him about Easter or the Easter Bunny, he would half say half scream "Jelly BEANS???"  It was so fun to celebrate Easter with both his Great Grandmas this year.  He was so excited with every egg he found and it was just a joy to watch him!  We tried to have a quiet morning, but the amount of M&M's that he ate during the first three minutes of him being up for the day didn't really set that up to work.  He had two Easter egg hunts and was just as excited for the second one as he was the first one!

He still asks to find Easter eggs, eat some jelly beans or M&M's, and will ask please very nicely when doing so!  He also loves to tell people about the airplane ride, what the airplane sounds like, and how it flies in the sky.  We were sad his Dad wasn't there, but we had a great time!

FOOTBALL!

Sharing with Great Grandma

Hiding the eggs to find them again

Found some in the drawer!

Easter kisses from Great Grandma

Our trip to Texas

Throughout September my Grandfather was in the hospital in Texas and on the 20th he passed away with family at his side. We found out on Thursday that things were not looking too good and they were wanting to move my Grandpa to hospice.  They moved him on Friday.  My parents had just gotten back from being in Texas the weekend before, but they packed up their stuff and headed right back down there.  On Friday I spent some time changing our travel plans and we headed down on Saturday morning.  We were already planning on going in mid-October to celebrate his and my other Grandmas 90th birthdays, so we just changed our flights.

We got in Saturday afternoon and he passed away that night.  We spent that night saying our goodbyes with the immediate family.  It was a very sad time, but I think we were all really glad to be there for each other and my Grandma.  Although I know Noah won't remember it, I am really glad that Noah got to meet him last Thanksgiving.

From last Thanksgiving, Noah really enjoyed his Great-Grandpa

Reading with his Grandpa's

Over the week, we saw family and met more family!   We got to celebrate my Grandpa's life and say a final farewell.   He was almost 90 and had been married for 64 years.  He was a great loving Grandpa and I am so thankful for all the memories and time I got to spend with him!  He is dearly missed.

While we were there we did celebrate my other Grandma's 90th birthday, it was a little early, but we still had a great time celebrating her!  Noah also got to spend a lot of time playing with her and we hope he didn't wear her out too much!  Noah loved playing with her and even asked to sit with her in her chair several times.  We did have some down time to enjoy the warm weather and spend some time with both sides of my family.

Noah with his Great-Grandma a few weeks before she turned 90!

Enjoying a nice day in East Texas

Noah on Great-Grandpa's tractor

I don't think Mikey got the memo...

Spending time with the cousins

Angel of Shavano camping

We enjoyed our last camping trip so much, we quickly scheduled another one!  The main point of the trip was to try to meet Jim and Amanda and kids since they missed the last trip with us.  Unfortunately, our schedules aren't that compatible these days, so we actually didn't get to see them at all.  That seems like as good a reason as any to go camping again soon!

Anyway, B+D again scoped out good camp spots and found one in our first choice, the Angel of Shavano campground outside of Salida.  Julie, Noah, and I made it to the campground fairly late because we left after we both got off of work.  We had planned to leave about 600PM, but last minute details meant we left town about 700PM.  Bill helped us set up the tent and we got to bed at a fairly reasonable hour.  

The drive out was beautiful, we don't typically drive these roads at twilight, but it was really pretty.  The valley west of Colorado Springs was green from a recent rain storm and the low light made it look wonderful.

Great valley pictures

Wonderful sunset

The next day we woke up and found a nice hike.  We did a short hike up to a small waterfall no more than a mile from our campground.  After that hike, Julie and Bill had some books that needed reading, so Debbie, Noah, and I hiked up the Colorado Trail and got some great views of the valley we were camped in.  We also got some great views of the strong thunderstorms that were headed our way, but hearing the thunder echo in the valley was something special.  

Noah leaving the tent in the morning

He really liked the backpack

He is almost asleep here!

The valley we camped in, the site is just off the picture to the right

Those storms made it to our campground after lunch, and we hunkered down in the RV while it hailed and poured on us for a while.  The tent held up great, but with lightning in the valley we decided not to risk it and slept in the comfort of the RV.  B+D know how to travel, it was nice!  

As luck would have it, my parents scheduled a bed and breakfast weekend in Salida, so we met them up for dinner at Amica's, the best pizza place in town.  

The whole family by the river

A rainbow in town, but the storms weren't done yet!

Unfortunately, the next morning meant that we had to leave to go back home.  As before, Noah had a great time with all of the rocks and loved hiking on my shoulders.  We couldn't ask anything more from him in the great outdoors, and that gives us confidence that he'll like camping for years to come.  

4th of July

For the the 4th of July, we made our way to Crested Butte so we could check out the wildflowers in the area.  Crested Butte hosts a wildflower festival every year after the 4th of July, so we figured we could check out part of the festival and get out of town on a long weekend at the same time.  B+D were heading back from their long camping trip and it worked out that they could meet us there for a few nights of camping. 

The first night we actually spent in a hotel because it was the 4th of July and we didn't want to pack the kid up after the fireworks and wait in traffic to get out of town.  We arrived in Crested Butte about 1030A, which worked out well because the parade started at 11!  We joined about 20,000 of our closest friends and watched a pretty good parade go through town.  They have a tradition of wearing cabbage leaves during this parade, I don't know what it is about, but plenty of people had them on!  

Everyone in their cabbage leaves

No parade is complete without a guy on stilts

We went back to the hotel for a few naps, then we went down to claim a good spot to watch fireworks.  We had a picnic dinner in the park while their bluegrass festival kicked off.  The music was fun and Noah had a good time walking around and watching all the people.  The fireworks were excellent and after a short walk back to the hotel we were all sound asleep despite the unofficial fireworks show going on around us.

Playing in the field

A lot of people came out for the concert and the fireworks

The phone camera did OK taking pictures of the fireworks

The next day enjoyed the playgrounds of the town before packing up and heading over to our campsite on the Taylor River.

"I found a bench guys!"

He's a great musician

B+D were already there and had scoped out a premium spot by the river.  We spent most of that day hanging in our hammocks and enjoying the outside.  We woke up the next day and went back to Crested Butte for a hike to Judd Falls, just north of the town.  The falls were a little underwhelming, but Noah really liked the hike and being outside with all of us.  We ate a picnic lunch in town afterwards and got caught in a pretty heavy downpour for about 20 minutes.  We decided not to attempt another hike with dark clouds still looming, so we headed back to the campsite with another successful day in the books.

Getting botanical lessons from Grandpa

Noah had a good time on our hike

Noah really likes the outdoors! 

A full parking lot and a great view

Grandpa teaching Noah the proper way to roast marshmallows

We still had more time camping, so we packed up the Jeep again and headed west of Crested Butte over Kebler Pass.  I had never been over that pass, and it was an amazingly beautiful drive.  The views were astounding and we have earmarked it for a trip in the fall when the leaves change.  On our drive we ran into a herd of sheep grazing along the road and Noah loved the noises that they made.  We then made our way to Lost Lake campground to have lunch and enjoy the views.  I took a quick mile hike to find another one of the lakes up the hill.  Great day all around.  

The sheep along the road, there were a few hundred of them

Grandma teaching Noah to throw rocks in the lake

Unmatched scenery

On the way back we ran into a herd of cows being moved between pastures on the highway.  Noah loved moo-ing at the cows and it was a nice way to end the day.

Moooooo!

The next day came too quickly as it was time for us to head home.  We had a wonderful trip and will definitely make our way back to this area again soon.  Noah had a great time camping and even did great sleeping in the tent, good job little man! 

Happy waking up!

"I don't need my hat Mom!"