Hello from Estes Park, CO

Hello from Estes Park, CO

Tuesday evening   June 18, 2013   (First travelogue of this trip).

We have been staying at the Spruce Lake RV Park (map).  We left Evergreen Friday morning and arrived here about 1:30.  It was a bit over 100 miles.

This is our family vacation.  Daughters Lisa and Kelly and their families are here.  Judy and her family could not make the trip, as Austin had to have surgery.  It is getting very difficult to get the kids and grandkids together with all of their complicated schedules and activities.

Because of those schedules, we were only able to plan four nights.  This vacation has been a bit different from other times, in that we mostly relaxed.  We did do a quick tour of the amazing Stanley Hotel (website).  I lifted this description from their website:

The Stanley Hotel, known for its architecture, magnificent setting, and famous visitors, may possibly be best known today for its inspirational role in the Stephen King's novel, "The Shining." This Colorado hotel has been featured as one of America's most haunted hotels.

Here is a view of the hotel:

The view from the front verandah of the hotel is equally amazing:

As has often been the case, I am finishing this post at home.  For the route up and back, we traveled I-25 up to US 34.  US 34 takes you through the Big Thompson canyon.  This canyon was the site of the horrendous flood in 1976 that killed 144 people (info).  Today it is a beautiful canyon.  Driving the bus up the canyon was a bit of a hand full.  Between controlling the shifts in our ten speed transmission and hitting the mister to keep the charge air cooler withing reasonable range, there was little time to site see.  Conversely, driving down the canyon was very enjoyable.  The Jake brakes made use of the service brakes minimal.  I was able to enjoy the beauty of the canyon.

That is all for trip

Hello from Evergreen, CO

Hello from Evergreen, CO

Subtitled:  Ten Grandkids!

Sunday evening   July 8, 2012   (Second travelogue of this trip).

We have been home since 1:00 PM on Thursday.  I have stayed in “vacation mode” for the past few days (AKA being lazy). 

This family vacation was a bit different from past ones.  We all took it pretty easy and did not try to cram a bunch of activity into the week.  Pat and I were the most laid back of the group.  I got to catch up on a lot of reading and Pat got to have a lot of special time with the grandkids (to be clear, we both enjoyed our time with all the family members).

It was so fun to have Irina, Matthias and Viktor with us.  Viktor is so friendly and even though he had no idea what we were saying, he found fun ways to communicate with us.  Pat and I got to spend a lot of time talking to Matthias about the medical practice in Germany vs the US. 

The weather continued to be pretty good.  The evenings were cool (down to 44 degrees one night) and the days were not too hot.  We only ran the AC in the bus one day.  We did have a bit of rain and some pretty good winds at times but it would be hard to complain about the weather considering all the terrible hot weather and flooding in other parts of the country.

The terrible drought in Colorado forced cancellation of many fireworks shows on the fourth.  That included both the Dillon and Frisco shows.

Now, lets talk about 10 grandkids.  Those of you know us, know that we have 8 “natural” grandkids.  However, we claim and love two additional grandkids:  Austin (the Jeute's have legal guardianship) and Viktor (we consider Irina and Matthias as part of our family).  I have attached a photo of that wonderful group taken at our campground.

Our ten very special grandkids!

That is all for this trip.

Hello from Dillon, CO

Hello from Dillon, CO

Saturday Afternoon   June 30, 2012   (First travelogue of this trip).

We are the Heaton Bay Campground (map).  This campground is located between Dillon and Frisco on the shores of Dillon Reservoir.   We are having our annual family vacation.  This year is special in that we have our extended family ('81/'82 German exchange daughter and her family). 

Irina and Matthias and their three year old son Viktor flew to Denver on Thursday 6/21.  We met them at the airport and had a quick reunion before taking them to their hotel.  The next day we met them at the Cruise America RV rental facility so that they could rent a 25 foot motorhome.  They have been camping at a few locations before joining us here on Thursday.  We will be here until 7/5.  After they leave here, they will be doing some additional camping in the Crested Butte/Taylor Reservoir area.

We have kept in close contact with Irina and her family over the years.  We have been fortunate to have all of her family visit us.  Irina has made several return visits.  Pat and I have also visited Irina several times.  In 2004 Irina and Matthias joined our family vacation in Ouray, CO.  On the way, Matthias proposed to Irina on Monarch Pass!!!!  In 2005 we traveled to Karlsrhue, Germany to attend their wedding (Kelly, Damon and Madison also got to attend the wedding).

We arrived here Thursday afternoon (6/28).  Kelly, Lisa and Irina and their families will be here the full time and Judy and family will be here part of the time.

This campground was decimated by the pine bark beetle a few years ago, but it is showing signs of new growth.  It is surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides.  The campground is at about 9100 feet, so the days are much cooler than the terribly hot weather in Denver and the evenings are chilly (lower 40s).  I have attached a photo of the bus in the campground.  The photo does not do justice to beautiful mountains in the background.

Bus at Heaton Bay Campground

So far, we have mostly been relaxing and having fun with the kids and grandkids.

That is all for now.

Hello from Dillon Colorado.

Hello from Dillon Colorado.

Sunday morning June 26, 2011 (first travelogue of this trip).

Tuesday, we drove all of 60 miles to the Heaton Bay Campground (map). Our daughter Kelly and her family camp here every year around the fourth of July. They have fantastic fireworks over the lake and it is an area where there is lot of fun things to do.

We decided to make this our family vacation. Kelly and her family will be here the full two weeks and our reservation is the same. Our oldest daughter Lisa and her family will come up the 29^th. Their two boys have been with us a couple of days. Youngest daughter Judy and her family sold their motorhome a couple of months ago, so they are staying in a condo that Pat “rented” as a part of our timeshare. We arranged the condo, as it give us all a place to swim and do some laundry.

When we were getting ready to leave for the campground on Tuesday, the morning news showed a picture of the campground with 3-4 inches of snow on the campers. By the time we got here, everything was melted off. Judy's older boys and a friend are going snowboarding this morning, as Arapahoe Basin is still open on the weekends.

I took this picture of the bus on the day after we arrived. There is still a lot of snow on the mountains.

Last night four of the kids slept in the tent. They came into the bus about 4:00 AM as they got cold. The weather service said that the low is supposed to be the mid-40s at night, but they said that our outside temperature thermometer was in the thirties. I think they had a great time. The youngest granddaughter (5 years old) had not slept in a tent and was really looking forward to sleeping with the cousins. I think they still had a lot of fun.

My new project is getting pretty hot and we are scheduled to do an install in California as soon as we get back. I will probably have to fly out the day we drive home. I have been spending a few hours most days testing all of the components here in the campground. I also had to make a trip to Denver to get a couple of things done at the house and meet with the person who has done such a great job designing the new system. This install threw us a bit of a curve, as they want a dual suppression system and an automatic battery disconnect. Our system needs a minor modification (provisions already built into the design) and some special relays for the battery disconnect. So far everything seems to be working very well.

It is a bit of a bummer to have to work during the family vacation, but it is so beautiful here that the working conditions almost make the work fun {grin}

That is all for now.

Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Wednesday afternoon August 4, 2010 (First travelogue of this trip).

We are at the KOA Lakeside Resort for our Family Vacation (map). During parts of this week we will have all three of our daughters and their families here in their RVs. That includes 8 grandkids.

Each year we plan a week long get together. For some, that may seem strange, as we all live within a 50 mile radius of our house and we get to see them often. However, this week is special, as we get to just relax together. Judy and her family were only able to make it for two days. However, we get to keep two of their kids for the week.

Two families arrived on Saturday and two on Sunday. Because of hectic schedules, the last two families will leave on Thursday (we leave on Friday).

We are only 87 miles from home. Kind of nice. Two of the husbands have been able to work a couple of days so that they don't have to count it as vacation (actually, one is a real estate broker, but he is able to keep up with some important business).

This campground has a ton of things for the kids to do. Some cost money, but they got a wrist band for $44 (for the entire length of stay) and they have gotten their monies's worth. There are paddle boats, electric bumper boats, a huge jumping bag, large playground, etc. They also get one free meal at the “chuck wagon”.

Yesterday, we took an eleven mile bike ride along the Poudre river. A wonderful trail culminating at the fish hatchery. The kids have been riding their bikes a bunch in the campground area (including riding around the lake) and I have enjoyed riding with them.

The weather has been a mixed bag. During parts of the day it gets uncomfortably warm. Several afternoons, it has rained. As I write this, it is very windy and raining pretty hard.

Because of all the water in the area, the mosquitoes are pretty bad. Fortunately, they only come out late in the evening.

That is all for now.