Riding out past Glade Park

Went for a ride up the monument this a.m.

Fall Rides on the Monument

 Fall color crossing the Colorado River looking at the Monument.

 The 2013 Trek Domane 4.0, Bike=AWESOME, Tiagra=poop

 Snow:(

 The new Hi-Vis Defeet shoe covers.  I got a 'compliment' from the ranger manning the entrance about them.  Also, the wool leg warmers are looking a bit thin...

 Clouds coming up over the road on the west side of the monument.  There is about a 800' drop there off that side of the road.

 Twisty road.

Independence Monument

Otto's Trail

Saturday morning we went for a short little hike on Otto's Trail on the Monument.

 Kelly with spectacular use of the timer feature. 

Lake Enoch

Tuesday we were bored and decided to go on a little adventure.  We had heard through friends about a lake not too far from our house that was supposed to be pretty cool and not well known.  So we hopped in the car, stopped by k-mart for some $3 rafts, filled the cooler with Mikes Hard lemonade and sandwiches and off we went. 

It took us a few tries, different routes, and a little off roading, but an hour and a half later we were there! 

The lake was very quite with only a few other groups fishing or camping.  At 8,900 feet the air was a little cooler (about 75) and the sun was bright so we laid along the lake or half in the water on our rafts and got some sun. 

Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday :)

Sunday Road Trip

This morning we packed up and headed out to the mesa to go hike Crags Crest. It turns out we should have brought snowshoes because there was about 2 feet of snow on the ground.

So we got out and wandered around for a little bit.

Waaaay off in the distance to the East you can see the Rocky Mountains.

We ended up driving all the way over the mesa and ended up in Delta and had lunch a Hoolies, a nice little townie sports bar. We watched the Bronco's lose again and headed back to GJ.

Before we went home, we swung by the monument to do squeeze in a hike since it was warm out. It turns out you may get creeped on if you use the bathroom outside the Serpent's Trailhead.

Pointing out the geology of the area ( REDLANDS FAULT!!!! GET EXCITED!!!)

Schweet frozen waterfall and icicle. It was 54 degrees out but I guess this thing hid from the sun in its little crevice. Super Awesome.

Vino

It has been a crazy week! The movers arrived last Wednesday morning and luckily we had a house to more everything into! Will has been busy riding his bike since his helmet and shoes arrived and I’ve spent my time pulling my classroom together and going to new hire orientation! Weather everyday has been a perfect 90 degrees with super ridiculously low humidity. In other words, awesome.

Friday afternoon my mom and dad came into town to help out with the move and check out the new place. Woohoo! We spent most of the weekend unpacking and experimenting with a few of the local restaurants.

Ridley was a huge help with school work

Sunday morning we planned to go for a hike, but at the last minute changed the plans and went for a drive on the Colorado National Monument.

After the monument, we got ready for an afternoon of wine tasting! We decided to do it right and got a driver to take us over to the nearby town of Palisade, home to at least 18 vineyards! Randy (our super driver) came and picked us up, and gave us the grand valley tour. We stopped at 4 vineyards and a peach farm. A couple of the vineyards had wonderful outdoor seating overlooking the vineyard where we were able to stop and enjoy a bottle of wine.

School begins Monday for the both of us... back to the real world.