Colorado getaway, day three

Since we were heading home, we bummed around a bit in the morning.

First stop - The Huckleberry in Louisville, CO
My cousin recommended this place for brunch. It was pretty busy on a Sunday morning. Nonetheless, the food was excellent. The "wing king" suffered NO after effects, as evidenced by his chicken fried steak breakfast. I had french toast which was equally tasty with a side of homemade sausage.




Second stop - Denver International Airport
We had an uneventful flight.

Colorado getaway, day two

With full bellies and a Starbucks in hand, we headed into the mountains.

First stop - Nederland, CO
We stopped in to pick up Michael and head further in and up.

Second stop - Brainard Lake (elev 10300 feet) The area was popular on beautiful Saturday, but not too crowded. I was ready to hike!





We decided to hike to Lake Isabelle. The first stop was at Long lake, which we didn't think was that long until we had to hike around it. Lots of wildflowers in bloom. Beautiful day.





We took some time to goof a bit too....



It was up, up, up to the glacier and Lake Isabelle (elev 10900 ft). The pictures really don't do justice to how gorgeous it was. Amazing!












We had lunch at the lake and goofed for a bit.






After lunch we wandered a little bit further, then headed back down.




On the way back, we went around the other side of Long lake, which offered more amazing views.






More goofiness on the way down....






I don't know how many times I asked "Is that smoke or is that clouds?" In this case it is smoke from the wildfires.




Third stop - Nederland
We made a quick stop before deciding to head back into Boulder for happy hour and dinner.

Fourth stop - Pearl St in Boulder
Up in the mountains we were treated to nice temps -- high 70s, maybe 80. Back in Boulder, it was 102F. Wowza. We made our way to Pearl Street to wander around, find a beer and a snack. Boulder Cafe drew us in with patio seating (right by street performers) and happy hour specials. I enjoyed a bbq pork slider with an Avery IPA.

Since T was enamored with the Avery Maharaja, we found a pub - West End Tavern - with it on tap and walked up there for dinner. The real excitement started however, when T read about the "Wing King" challenge -- 50 wings in 30 minutes. After much contemplation and consulting various friends and family, T decided to take the challenge.





That's ALOT of wings. He finished 35 wings in total before deciding it wasn't that fun anymore. So Michael and I tried to finish what was left. ....and there were still leftovers.



After that, we called it a night. T and I went back to the hotel to drink a St. Lupulin Extra Pale, which had been chilling the frig all day.

Colorado getaway, day one

Arrived at DIA around 10:30 AM Mountain time and headed immediately to Ft. Collins.

First stop - Odell Brewing
We didn't make it in time for a tour at 1, so we decided to taste a couple of the flights. The pilot and the co-pilot were mostly beers we had not tried before. I liked all but a couple (out of 13 total, I think).







Beers tasted: St. Lupulin Extra Pale (seasonal & my favorite here), Tiger's Blood IPA, Parry's Emperical Pale Ale, Stitch: Hopped Coffee Ale, Hiveranno American Wild Ale, Pond Hopper, Locale Belgium Saison, Leprechaun Flute, Mercenary, Pedal Push Pale Ale.


Second stop - New Belgium Brewing
We had NO idea that it was a 90 minute tour. It was well worth it. They explained the origins and mission of New Belgium, one of the largest craft brewers. Lots of fun stories, tastes of 5 brews, and a slide at the end made it a great tour.





Beers tasted: Pink peppercorn IPA (session), Sommersault (seasonal), Abbey, Tart Lychee (my favorite), Fat Tire, Shift

Third stop - Avery Brewing
We navigated traffic to Boulder and met up with my cousin Michael. He led the way to the Avery Taproom, which was packed full late on a Friday afternoon. We managed to find a table and enjoy a beer before heading to dinner.



Beers tasted: Avery IPA, Maharaja IPA

Fourth stop - Southern Sun
The three of us headed out for some food at this local Boulder brew pub. The food and beer were good. ....but to be honest I had enough of beer tasting by this time!

Beer tasted: FYIPA

Fifth stop - Disc golf
No more breweries! Instead we ended the day with some disc golf. I had never played before, so it was an entirely new experience. ....and I need more practice! It was fun though.



And we tried our hand at the "puzzle" before heading to the hotel and calling it a day.






Lunch: Peppercorn Jack's (?) - a dive attached to a gas station en route to Ft. Collins. Food was not memorable.

Dinner: Southern Sun. Crab cake sandwich.

this week in short

I started the week on Monday morning with Power Yoga! It was a great way to start. I discovered I like yoga at the end of the day too.


I met Nicole for lunch this week. What a treat! Getting Jordy's favorite toy back was a good excuse to see my friend for lunch.



Jordy was very happy to have his toy back too.


I started brick workouts (bike then run) this week as training for the Minneapolis Duathlon (Aug 26). The transition from bike to run was not great, but I did find good run form and pace in under a mile ....of course I only biked 3.5 miles before the run, so things might be a bit different as the miles increase.


There have been lots of storms the past few days. Last night I was treated to a double rainbow. Beautiful.

the weekend chronicles

I realized today that this weekend is starting a day early for me (tomorrow) and I haven't even finished updating on last weekend!!

Thanks to morning rain, the beach was empty when we arrived. The kids feed the ducks -- and chased them a bit too before deciding to play instead. We had a picnic and enjoyed the sun and lake for a couple hours.



After the beach, we got ice cream and played in the backyard for a while before grilling out and making s'mores.

Pretty good for a Saturday.


Sunday was more of the same. T and the kids came over for the afternoon. The kids played in the neighbor girl's blow up pool for a bit before they all came back to the slip-n-slide in my yard. Grilled food. Kids playing.

Then a thunderstorm rolled through and put a damper on the fun. ...or moved it inside anyway. Another good day.

Happy 13th Birthday Jackson!

Jacko turns 13 today. We celebrated by eating popcorn and chasing the ball. He chased the ball. I did not.

Twins win. Ok, not really.

It was a winner night though as I met up with the Barnes' at Target Field to watch the Twins and Brewers face off.

Spent 9 holes with 3 good friends at Highland National this week. One of them is NOT Charlie Brown. Continued on to finish 18 with T. Got tired. Great day though.

the rest of the weekend.

Saturday: First BBQ of the season with friends.
The Barnes' hosted a backyard BBQ with tacos, margaritas and more! It was great to get everyone together -- and kids, dogs too! Luckily the weather was great. The food was excellent. And the company was the best.


Sunday: Twins vs Cubs. The real excitement though was biking to the game. Creek, lakes, then commuter trail. The game was lackluster (of course the only game of the series they lost). The wind seemed to have picked up (from 20 MPH on the way there to 30 MPH on the way home). It was an interesting ride home -- mostly into the wind :) We made it. Then grilled and chilled for the rest of the evening.

Friday rocks..

I played the first round of golf of the season on Friday. Braemar, 9 holes. I played ok. Putting was ridiculously bad -- as per usual.

The quick round was followed by a trip to Steel Toe Brewery in St. Louis Park. It was a great tour - lots of beer to taste and took home 2 growlers of Size 7 IPA.

apparently nothing interesting happened all of last week. ha ha.

I did have a day trip to Chicago where I caught up with several friends and colleagues.

Also, volunteer orientation for Youth Farm and Market. And dinner with Frank, who was in town for work.

Sunday - aka Race Day

Minneapolis half marathon






Start time: 7:30 AM
Nicole and I met up at the start. It was at least 15 minutes after the gun before we crossed. The weather was great at start, which meant it would be hot at the finish. Nicole and I ran together -- chatting and catching up -- for the first 6 miles. Then we ran along for the rest. Thanks to all the folks that came out to cheer on the runners, especially the folks at the hill at mile 7! My timer chip didn't keep my time. Thanks to Nicole's finish time, I estimate I finished in 2:25.



I waited for Nicole at the finish. Then the two of us waited for Brandi. Post race breakfast was in order. Cheers to the sausage bread at Hell's Kitchen. Yum!

Saturday

In addition to packet pick up for the Minneapolis Half, I spent some time in the yard. I added sprinkles of color to make it great.

Friday night

Pizza. No cheese. Yum.

this week ....

...I managed to pinch both index fingers in the window while trying to close it. ....at the same time. One has a small gash, the other has a black and blue fingernail. I probably couldn't do it again if I tried.

...I picked up a frog in the yard thinking it was a bit of Jackson droppings. As I was about to pick it up, I thought that kinda looks like dog poo. When I picked it up, I looked closer and went "nope, that's a frog". Oops. I let him go.