Made it to Breckenridge today mid afternoon. Plenty of great views of the Rockies on the drive from Colorado Springs.
Thanks a whole lotta tons to Jesse Parker for the hospitality and taking time to show me some of the local tracks at the Red Rock Open Space. Apparently the area used to be a quarry and a trash dump, but you wouldn't know it now. Totally different trail than I have ever been on and pretty awesome. The altitude burned me on the insides a little, but my legs surprised me with some stamina after the long hours of sitting in a car the day before. After the ride I got some grindage (homage "Encino Man") at Front Range Barbeque. Fantastic pulled pork smammich, and yes, it certainly rivaled any that I've had in DFW. The beer taps behind the bar wielded nothing I recognized (pretty much everything in this part of the world is microbrew it seems) so I requested something "light". The lumberjack to my left immediately let me know that the Cucumber Saison from Trinity Brewing was a must, so I did. He wasn't wrong, it was really good and very refreshing. He also let me know that the brewery, which happened to be just a few miles away, was running low on the batch and that he was on his way up the hill to get a growler full before they ran out. I think I beat him to it though, hope they had enough for him after I got mine!
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| Growler of Cucumber Beer |
Also big thanks to the ride and dine crew who put together a delicious buffet meal last night after they got caught in a rainstorm. On our way to their place Jesse and I caught a DOUBLE RAINBOW!!
Thanks Kennon, Braden, Jess, Christine and Tim. Good eats and good peeps. Good poem at Kennon's place.
Before heading to Heather's, and after some confirmation of it being a good idea to check it out from Jesse and Drew, I figured I would go see what Pike's Peak was all about. Very glad I did. Here's a link to my drive up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q1JlhEnh8I It was 78 degrees at the bottom when I started, and 41 when I got to the top. I'm also glad my sleep clock is on Dallas time, because that got me up good and early to start the trip. There wasn't much traffic on my way up, but right when I got up there, two of the tram/trains were just arriving so the super touristy store/restaurant at the top became a zoo very quickly. Coming down showed much more traffic on the way up. At the bottom, waiting in line to pay the $12 fee to drive the road, was a long line of Porsches ready to make the climb. I pretty much played manual transmission in the FJ the whole time as the altitude and steeps were a bit much, as I imagine it would be for most. The ranger at the bottom said "Keep it in 2nd and 3rd on the way up to save your engine, and keep it in 1st on the way down to save your brakes." She wasn't kidding. On the way back down I took a lot of shots at some of the overlooks. For a split second thought I was going to see Tyler when I saw this sign, but I guess they just had a statue of him....I'll start uploading my photos to Picasa, which is a google minion now, if you want to see all the raw photos and such.
It was a rainy arrival into Breckenridge. I'm trying to post a video of the trip up Heather and Drew's driveway, for all of those who haven't had the pleasure of that challenge. And of course a large raindrop lands RIGHT in the middle of the lens, but you can still get the hint.
Cope had made it quite apparent to Heather that I was to be the one to pick him up from daycare. He didn't even want Heather to come it at all, just Uncle Kyle. However I don't know the password to get into the little red fun place and I don't think they would take kindly to a stranger walking in and telling them Cope was coming with me. Anyway, home safe, and after some heated playtime with MatchBox Cars and LEGOs in his room, it was dinner time. It was then that he let us know that instead of napping like he was supposed to, he stayed up and talked to his teacher, Michele, the whole time. As I sit here writing this, he is doing sing-along with Ozzy Osborn in preparation for bedtime. I'm going to have to remember that one for the next time I have a hard time falling asleep. Well it's off to the pop-up camper for Uncle Kyle....zzzz
Day 4 coexisting with the Goldsmiths. Three days of riding some amazing trails with many more to come I'm sure. Thursday I went solo just kind of exploring, having no idea how my lungs would do up here but I was pleasantly surprised. After the long ride I attacked one of the projects on my list that has been growing daily via the Goldsmith's requests. This particular project involved cutting up some deadfall trees that fell below their house. Factoring in the slope of their "front yard" and having just finished that ride, my legs were screaming, but the manual labor was enjoyed. I then split some of the wood to round out the "man work" for the day. Next day I worked with Drew up at one of his projects, at the business end of a shovel and pick-axe. The coush desk job I've been working hasn't done much for my landscaping skills but I powered through. He's putting together a pretty cool water feature project up on Peak 8 at the resort. Drew then showed me around to some other bike trails for a couple of hours, continuing to kick my ass for the day. About 45 minutes from the end of our ride, Drew had already started talking about food so by the time we showered up we were both looking for grub in a serious way. Cope's daycare had beach-day on Thursday and at this point he really wanted a hula-hoop. As we were famished, there was obviously no time to go purchase him one, so Drew quickly fashioned him one out of irrigation pipe and duct tape before we went to town to find some grub. This hoop accompanied us for the rest of the evening.
