Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Saturday evening   February 9, 2013   (First travelogue of this trip).

Well, actually I am cheating a bit, since I am writing this from Evergreen, CO.  However I wanted to document a fun day trip that we took yesterday. 

Our granddaughter (Amanda Kassel) qualified for two relays and two individual events in the 5A Girls State Swimming Championships.  The event was held at the Edora Pool Ice Center (EPIC) (map).  This facility is in Fort Collins, CO – about 90 miles from our house. 

From the time she was very young, we have been amazed by Amanda's swimming skills.  She has worked very hard to develop into a competitive swimmer.  Her goal this year was to make it to “State” in one individual event.  She exceeded that goal by qualifying for both the 50M and 100M freestyle.

The big challenge was getting tickets for the event.  Our daughter Kelly camped on the computer and got 4 ticket for her family.  I was also camped on the computer but the tickets were gone within minutes and I missed out.  We were bummed, but resigned to follow the event via texts.  However Amanda's mom (daughter Lisa) was able to get us two tickets and we were elated.

Tickets for these events are generally in tight supply, but this also happened to be Missy Franklin's last high school swimming event.  We got to witness, firsthand, what an amazing swimmer she is!

Amanda did not qualify to go to the finals in the individual events, but her relay team did qualify for the finals. 

As an added note, both of Amanda's brothers are on swim teams and seem to be wonderful swimmers.  Kelly and Damon's two daughters have just started swimming in club competition this year at ages 9 &7.  Looks like we will be going to more swim meets!  Then you add in Judy and Tom's kids band events and basketball games – these grandkids keep us hopping.

Attached is a photo of Amanda and Missy:

That is all for trip

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.