Hanging out with family in Colorado

Sorry, I'm giving up on editing this post in case it disappears again.  Here it goes:

Visiting family in Loveland

We have vacationed in Colorado a lot over the years because we have family here.  It was usually a 4-day weekend and we drove straight through (900 miles on highway 70 from St. Louis to Boulder--through Kansas!).  It was surreal to spend three days driving and then get to stay a MONTH!  The Colonel was eager for some high-altitude bike rides and I was looking forward to the wonderful grocery stores and restaurants.  We will spend most of our time based at Boyd Lake State Park (see Boyd Lake Campground Review).

The Colonel doing some mountain training.  Elevation 5000 ft.

Boys and grills...

We arrived just as our family finished installing a new grill with an awning and new patio furniture!  Lucky us.

Reverse seared steaks!

Grill master grilling veggies!

Yes, even Prevost people stop at WalMart.  It's an "rv thing"!

Heading north along the lake from the campground

My bike riding was a little more low key.   There is a bike path along Boyd Lake and it joins up with a network of bike paths through Loveland.

Along the campground

Heading into town

My favorite coffee shop

The campground doesn't have wifi, but our T-Mobile is working well enough to watch TV.  To conserve data, my bike rides were usually into town for coffee and to upload photos.  Chai from scratch--2 pumps, no whip!

The Colonel does a quick run up to the top of Boreas Pass (Breckenridge elev 9600)

That says 11,482!

A friend was up in Breckenridge, so we unhooked the car and headed up the mountain (Sorry, Odin the Winnebago.  We should have taken you to Dillon Lake Campground.  We weren't thinking!  Next year.)

And then Breckenridge Brewery for lunch.  (He earned it.)

On our way back we saw some crazy $h!t driving up the mountain on a Friday.  Pickup pulling a 5th wheel pulling a trailer!  Little Class C pulling a horse trailer.  Class C pulling a pontoon boat!  Craziness at this altitude!  (Sorry, we were so shocked, I didn't get any pics!)

He's at it again.  Remember, that 1198 ft of climbing AFTER starting at 5000 ft. 

The Colonel at Crater Lake after dogging boats and Rv's.  Woof.

Boyd Lake Campground was full for the weekend, so we took the opportunity to pop down to Lyons to visit more family.  Interestingly enough, when I called the Meadow Park campground host, she said it would be grand reopening weekend (after the Lyons flood) and locals stayed free.  "We're kind-of locals!"  We slid in after giving our family member's name and address.  Woo hoo!  (see post Lyons campground review to see more pictures and to see if we ever found the lost flip flop).

I always snap good pics of our home at WalMart (Longmont).  Interesting.

Meadow Park campground.  Lyons, CO

Scarlet trying to pull The Colonel into the St. Vrain river

You can't walk around Lyons without a dog!  This is our "niece" Scarlet.  Luckily, her Mom isn't on FB so she won't know about the swim in the river!  "No really.  Mom always throws me rocks to chase in the river!  It's totally fine!"

Bathroom at The Stone Cup

Parking lot of The Stone Cup

This is a great campground because we can walk to our family's house, the coffee shop or the grocery store.  You'll usually find me camped on the patio at The Stone Cup while The Colonel is out looking for steep gradients...

Not his normal training ride out of Lyons.  Yes, that's 4000 FT OF CLIMBING!

One of his stops along the St. Vrain

On the way into town, we saw a large Class A at this tiny gas station.  Yep, we needed diesel and the price was $2.19 a gallon so we swung through on the way back to Loveland!  (Did you notice old-style gas stations used to have the pumps parallel to the road and now they're perpendicular?)

I went for several walks while we were at Boyd Lake State Park the first time and decided that I wanted a mountain view out our large front windows this time, so here's spot #2:

The combination of a clearance table at Barnes & Noble and a few rainy days...

Dug out the new picnic tablecloth. Lit a fire. And then the thunder started...Doh

We though that after Labor Day the State Parks would slow down, but not here.  This park is wildly popular with locals and boaters on weekend.  However, the Park Ranger took pity on us and extended our stay (from 14 days every 45 days) by 5 weekdays--but only if we were GONE by the next weekend.

Our stash

Feeling a little guilty about our lack of museum/culture lately, we scooted over to Benson Sculpture Park before we left.  Loveland is known for their sculpture parks and we were advised this was the best, but I wish I'd left time to visit more!  Check out the separate blog post (special-report-benson-sculpture-park.html).  Apparently, we're saving the hike up Devil's Backbone for next year...

Good night, Colorado!