Wild Basin Trail

Our next day in Estes Park we decided to head to Wild Basin for some more hiking at the advice of my Uncle Jerry. This trail was along a river with multiple waterfalls so we were excited to see it and we liked the fact that you could tailor your hiking distance to any distance from .3mi up to 10mi.  On our way to Wild Basin we saw Lily Lake and decided to take a look.

 

The walk around Lily Lake was .9 miles and it was gorgeous. The boys fed the chipmunks and we stopped to take pictures probably 15 times.

Eventually we made it to Wild Basin for our hike to the waterfalls.

 

Amarillo to Estes Park

Day 2 we began by checking out Cadillac Ranch on our way out of town.

 

 

We spray painted our names on the cars and then headed on our way to Colorado. We arrived that evening and setup just in time before it was dark. Made a trip into Estes Park for some groceries and dinner (why we chose Mexican food in Colorado is beyond me, not that great) then we were ready for bed. Our first full day we decided to drive the Trail Ridge Road through the Rocky Mountain National Park. We had driven this road a few years ago but we were in a hurry last time since we were meeting family that day, so we decided this time we would stop often and hike if we decided we wanted to.

 

We stopped for  a snowball fight, although we did not see as much snow this year due to it being late summer. We also hiked 3 trails along our drive including Alpine trail and Medicine Bow. By the time we got back into camp we were wiped out so we started a fire and turned in for the night shortly thereafter.

Palo Duro Canyon

Our latest vacation was a camping trip to Estes Park, Colorado. I am going to break the trip into 3 parts since we camped at 3 different locations and I have many pictures from each leg of the trip. We began our trip on July 20th(6am) heading to Amarillo(which is approx. half way between Houston & Denver). The drive was very boring with very little to see for miles and miles and miles. As we arrived near Amarillo(and miles of nothing) we came up to Palo Duro Canyon seemingly out of nowhere. We setup our camp at the base of the canyon and decided to do a little hiking(with Molly). After hiking, it was time for dinner so we headed into town to the Big Texan restaurant. While it was very touristy with lots of photo ops, it had one of the best steaks we have ever tasted. We headed back to camp around 11pm and realized we must have missed something big in the canyon as there  were miles of cars coming out of the canyon at this time. We found out later that there was a musical put on by college students at the base of the canyon which depicted the settlers coming into Texas and their life in the area. We were told there were around 2600 in attendance, Jill was pretty bummed we missed it. By the time we arrived back at camp it was time for some sleep to get ready for another long day of travel to Colorado.

San Marcos River

This past week we camped in San Marcos, TX at the San Marcos River Retreat. This was our first chance to tow the camper in the the new truck. It was so much better than the mini-van. Our campsite was #14 on the river. We arrived on Tuesday around 1pm and setup camp quickly so we could make it to the Fish Hatchery for a 2pm tour. We were shocked at the detail that goes into "producing" millions of fish each year to stock lakes throughout the country. We met Rob, the fish hatchery manager from Parks & Wildlife, who was a friend of a friend and we would met up with him later in the trip. After the tour we headed to the city park where the river runs through and they have a few waterfalls. The boys enjoys swimming in the cool water and swinging on a rope to jump in the water. That evening we tubed about a mile from the bridge drop off to our campsite. The next day we met Rob to Kayak 7 miles down the river. Once again we were surprised, the amount of upper body workout to kayak the river was exhausting. We saw a good portion of the city traveling the river and it was peaceful. For the record, Jill & Jake flipped their kayak. Once back at camp, the boys wanted to head back to the city park and Mom took a nap. That evening we went out for our 14th Anniversary dinner at Garcia's Mexican restaurant then headed back for our final evening camping. The boys convinced Mom to tube 1 mile down the river but from my understanding she was more worried about snakes than enjoying the river. (I forgot to mention, 2 minutes after we arrived we walked over to the river and the first thing we saw was a snake directy where we would get in the river) Great times!

Lake Somerville State Park

We spent 2 nights at Lake Somerville. Activities included fishing, hiking, volleyball and enjoying smores around the campfire. We stayed at the Birch creek unit lot 40. We saw a dozen deer(the boys chased one) and had raccoons visit us on the first night. Even though our trash was hanging, they were able to tear the bottom corner of the bag and create a huge mess. The weather was 65 degrees during the day and around 38 degrees at night. Josh and I slept in the tent while Jill & Jake were in the camper. The last night as we put a couple of logs on the fire, a scorpion came out from the center of the log. This is the same log Jill was sitting on for about 15 minutes prior to us putting in the fire. This park is a definitely one to revisit as the sites are exclusive and the lake is great.

Dellanera Park Galveston, TX

We took a couple day trip to Galveston before the boys got back into school. We arrived there Tuesday afternoon and spent a good 5 hours in the water and on the beach. Then on Wednesday we went to Schlitterbahn from 10am-6pm and then a few more hours in the gulf. The campsite was right on the beach and only 3 miles from the waterpark. This trip was a blast and we will definitely be back to visit. It rained both nights we were there and also as we were packing up on Thursday morning, but during the 2 days we were there to enjoy to water the weather was perfect. We went out to eat twice while in Galveston, first to Mario's Pizza and then to Gino's pizza. The food was amazing at both places. We stayed a campsite 40 but next time we are going to try to get site 44, right next to the beach entrance.

Camping at Lake Raven in Huntsville, TX

This weekend we went camping at Huntsville State Park. There were 32 families from Josh's scout pack camping. We did several activities including flag football, frisbee golf, raingutter regatta racing, and of coarse campfire cookouts. All in all we had a blast. . . . For the record, Josh and I slept in the tent all weekend.

2011 Update

Just a quick update on what is going on in the boys world. Both Jake & Josh are playing baseball this season. Jake is on the Astros and Josh plays for the Angels (or according to the league website the Angles). Jake tried out for the lead role in his 2nd grade play of "Its a Jungle Out There" and he landed the role of King Leo the Lion. I never would have imagined he would thrive in performing in front of others, but he seems to be extremely confident in his rehearsals and he memorizes lines like an elephant. We couldn't be more proud. Josh is beginning the 3 week tryout for the community swim team and has started off with a bang. He has terrific form and we are excited to see him on his way to many swim competitions this summer. He also has made several outs on the t-ball field (outs are hard to come by at this age). In Jake's coach pitch league, he is batting leadoff and has hit the ball in every at bat so far through 5 games. Their record may be 0-5 but they are having fun.

The Mexican Fisherman

An American businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

“How long it took you to catch them?” The American asked.

“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The American then asked.

“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.” The Mexican said.

“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”


The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”

“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own can factory. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”


The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”


“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”


“Millions, senor? Then what?”

The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”

School Party

Josh and his buddy Kowen and Jake and his class book exchange.

Sunflower

1st Place Athletics

Jake's team finished in 1st place as his team played their best game of the year in the championship game. Jake had 2 hits, 2 runs batted in, & scored his first run of the year! He was on third when the ball was hit to the pitcher. The pitcher tried to tag him out but Jake beat him to the plate.