After multiple weeks of travel, found myself content/happy to be home & enjoying our fair weather summer. With the exception of two hot weeks, temps have been super mild this year — in the 70’s to 80’s with short bursts of rain most afternoons.
Recommitted myself to running on Saturday (felt really good after 4 weeks of healing the knee & laying low). Running outside shirtless reenergized me – yeah, I think I do like summer…snow can wait for another month, maybe even two 🙂
Woke Sunday with the same Colorado endorphin rush & wanted to hike. Eldorado Canyon (hiked in May 2012) – I remembered amazing canyon views & a river where Ro could swim. In the car, done.
Eldorado Canyon is a hidden treasure right in Boulder’s backyard! Whether it’s hiking amidst the towering sandstone cliffs, picnicking along scenic South Boulder Creek or climbing Eldo’s sheer golden walls, Eldorado Canyon State Park truly has something for everyone!
Sunshine, fair temps – gorgeous weather. Let Ro take a quick dip in South Boulder Creek, then hit the trail.
Ponderosa pines, amazing canyon views and only 25 minutes from Boulder. Next time I host flatlanders in Colorado, we’re doing this hike. 3-4 miles roundtrip, not a lot of elevation gain – and did I mention the amazing views? HA!
Soaked in the river after our hike return until my feet started to numb (mighty chilly water). Medicine for the soul 🙂
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- Eldorado Canyon State Park
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- rock climbing paradise
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- Colorado fly fishing
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- Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead
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- mighty nice day for a hike
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- beautiful vista – only 25 minutes from Boulder
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- Continental Divide overlook
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- yep, my dog CAN smile 🙂
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- view from the top
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- scoping my climb down
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- lotta natural hand holds (climb UP was much easier)
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- summer & butterflies – happy August day
Ran 26.2 miles in Anchorage, kayaked to the extreme tip of Cape Cod, summited 2 Colorado 14ers & hosted a family reunion (which included Ash & Tom’s engagement on top of Pikes Peak) – lovin’ Summer 2013 thus far!
End of July is Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming – an hour half to the North. I’ve always been a huge fan of county fairs – and this one came with a rodeo. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!
Fell hard off my ‘vegetarian diet’ within 15 minutes inside the park. Elk, beef, bison & wild boar – lotta choices all grilled & served with a side of chuckwagon beans. 20 minutes ‘til rodeo time. Grabbed a pitcher of lemonade to wash down my bison burger topped with elk bratwurst and paraded into Wyoming’s largest outdoor stadium. Took a quick look around. Only a quarter of us weren’t wearing cowboy hats – and that included the women 🙂
Next life, I’m coming back as a Cowboy!
Fireworks, smoke & 3 World Champions with hats tipped low, walked into the large dirt arena. An announcer trilled their names and achievements. Folks on their feet, clapping, cheering. I’m thinking – who are these guys? Like superstars from a parallel planet. Who wouldn’t want to be a cowboy? WOW!
Each sport had its own unique rules: 8 seconds on a bull to qualify the ride, calf roping in under 30 seconds and the calf must stay tied/immobile for 6 seconds or the score doesn’t count. Some sports targeted a low score, others a high score, certain events combined scores over 3 days. Bull riding, steer wrestling, pistol juggling, buckin’ broncos, steer roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping – all ending with a wild horse race where teams saddled a wild horse, attempting to ride once around the arena. (Only 2 succeeded.) FANTASTIC fun!
And if cowboys, bulls & horses weren’t enough, our Oklahoma-based announcer came with his own all-rodeo lingo:
- There’s a guy not afraid to shake loose and shake his boots
- He stuck to him like spots on an Appaloosa horse
- More moves than my city cousin peeing on an electric fence
- He stepped off that broncing horse like he was stepping out of a barber shop
- That lasted as long as a Hollywood husband
- He rodeos in the summer time (‘rodeo’ used as a verb)
Took a quick stroll through Indian Village & checked out the Chuckwagon Cookoff before heading home.
Thinkin’ this is gonna be an annual tradition. LOVED it!
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- Cheyenne Frontier Days
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- carnival food & cowboy hats
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- bison, beef, elk , boar — so many choices
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- bison burger topped w/ elk bratwurst
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- World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo
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- Next life, I’m coming back as a Cowboy!
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- bull riding – 8 seconds of fame! LOVE this!
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- saddle bronc (on every Wyoming license plate)
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- ‘He stuck to him like spots on an Appaloosa horse’
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- Rodeo Clown (from Arkansas – he came with a goat)
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- steer wrestling
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- Wild Horse roundup – AMAZING end to the day!
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- Indian Village
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- Chuckwagon Cookoff
Arrived East Coast just after midnight, couple hours shut-eye, then to Boston Harbor for a quick ferry ride across Massachusetts Bay. Far faster than hours spent driving around the boot, the fast ferry sails directly across the bay in an hour half. Snoozed for an hour on the trek over while my friends soaked in sun on the deck. Vacation!
Docked, disembarked, tagged my favourite food shack just off the pier & paid $16 cash for a fresh (whole-belly) clam roll. Same Portuguese lady has worked this stand for years — not the warm n fuzzy type. She takes orders only from the ‘IN’ window (food is served from the ‘OUT’ window) & only accepts cash. That said, there’s still sand in the clams on this roll – that’s how fresh this New England treat is. So…how was it? I’ll be back – highly recommended 🙂
Changed clothes & still logged a few hours of beach time. Outdoor seating for dinner. Aw, yes – this is the life.
Started Day 2 with a run to the beach (Cape Cod Bay) & Day 3 with an even longer beach run to the Atlantic. Came back soaking wet each time — humidity on the Cape is crazy thick but loved that sea salt smell in the air 🙂
Quick shower, breakfast on the deck, then rented kayaks for a 2-mile trek to Long Point lighthouse – the tip of Cape Cod.
Long Point is a peninsula located in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, as it curls back in on itself to create Provincetown Harbor. The Long Point Light was built on this point in 1827. The lighthouse once shared this peninsula with a settlement of fishermen that came to be known as Long Point, Massachusetts. This Provincetown village grew and thrived from 1818 until the late 1850s.
Took 20-30 minutes to regain a comfort level but ultimately LOVE LOVE kayaking. Super fun sport.
Landed near Long Point lighthouse, snapped some amazing shots (including a pirate ship), then completed my 4 foot hike up to the cross commemorating a fallen WWII soldier. Ok, I’m using the word ‘hike’ a bit loosely here. LOL! From Longs Peak, Colorado to Long Point, Massachusetts in a week – that’s a drop from 14,000ft to just over 4 feet. What a crazy, fun life.
Different day, different beach then dinner & a show. Tea smoked duck was just as good as I remembered. WOW!
Spent Monday afternoon in Boston – fish n chips at the Black Rose, followed by a touristy stroll thru Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, the New England Holocaust Museum & Union Street (one of Boston’s oldest).
3-day weekends end quickly; sad to tell folks good bye. Quick hug, then hailed a taxi to Logan.
So long Boston, I had a wicked good time!
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- Boston Harbor
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- hour-half ferry trek to Cape Cod
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- (whole belly) clam roll – AMAZING!
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- …and a lobster roll too!
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- New England beach day
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- Pilgrim Monument – they landed here first, who knew?
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- ocean kayaking
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- next stop, Long Point
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- paddled ahead to Wood End lighthouse (photo far right), then followed land tip around to Long Point
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- Pirates!
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- tip of Cape Cod
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- Long Point lighthouse
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- WOW shot – love Cape Cod!
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- 14,000ft hike last Saturday, 4ft hike this day
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- hike SUCCESS!
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- Boston return
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- fish n chips @ the Black Rose
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- outdoor entertainment
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- Faneuil Hall stroll
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- So long Boston, I had a wicked good time!
