Paonia

After Glenwood Springs, we headed to Paonia.
This place is destined to be my future home.  There are only a couple of places that feel more like home than this place- Table Rock Lake and Sheridan, MO.  Paonia reminded me of Sheridan so much, expect it actually has a downtown with businesses. 

While we were in Paonia, we checked out the relatively new National Park (since 1999), Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and went on a hike around Black Canyon.  That point on the right was our destination. 

Leland slept the whole hike there and back.  He had a brief awake time while we ate lunch. 

My favorite flower along the trail. 

A lizard is hiding out on the rock.  He has a bluish belly. 

The canyon bottom and river. 

Jeff's uncle Bobby

Bobby and Ruby

Being his cute self. 

Group photo! (Leland is hiding in the ergo)

Photo op before we headed back home. 

His favorite thing at their house, the pig!

Flying!

This trip was much needed, it was soo relaxing, even with a sick baby.  There were no plans, no one to see.  We just decided what to do each day as it came.  Very slow pace.  Another reason we need to get to the Western slope as soon as possible.  Hopefully it isn't too much longer before we can leave the city and move to a much smaller town.

Glenwood Springs

We decided to take our first family vacation a couple of weeks ago, and yes I am just getting around to posting about it.  I had to catch up from our KC trip first and whine about a crappy weekend.  Since we haven't seen everything that is wonderful in our own state, we decided to stay in Colorado and visit the Western slope.  It just so happens that Jeff has relatives that live out there we rarely see and who we really enjoy, so double score.  Leland slept almost the entire time we were in the car. 

To start the trip off we spent a day and night in Glenwood Springs.  It was okay.  We picked some meager restaurants to eat in.  Leland's sickness began on night we got there.  It was pretty touristy, which is a bit off putting. 

While in Glenwood, we decided to do the Hanging Lake Trail.  It was the best part of this portion of the trip.  It was a pretty intense hike, especially while carrying an extra 20 pounds.  But I like to think of it as a really good workout. 

But the end is worth the struggle.  It was basically rock climbing at the end. 

The beautiful hanging lake. 

A very tired (and sick) boy, hence the binkie.  He kept trying to sleep on the way up, but he was on my back and every time I took a big step up his head would move and wake him up.  Don't worry on the way back down I put him on the front and held his head so he could sleep. 

Apple snack, this photo is so cute. 

My tired sleepy boy.

Back to normal?

I am finally back home.  We have been gone the past two weeks.  First we were in KC visiting family, then we went to the Western slope for a long weekend.  The last part was a much needed vacation from being a single parent for 10 days.
Leland has been going through a heavy mommy phase.  I can't leave the room without him freaking out and crying.  I think all the traveling is making it worse.  He could also be teething.
Then once we got back from KC Leland came down with a fever.  This made him extra fussy but it also meant he took three naps a day for a few days (awesome).  But I think he his better now.

And now we are back to normal?  Not with our old routine, since tomorrow I start nannying.  I think Leland will really enjoy it but, it will be a new schedule for sure.  Hopefully he will keep with two naps a day.  

Spain Part 4

So finally I am getting around to finishing off the trip.

On Thursday the 13th, we had churros and chocolate for breakfast, which were really good.  We also went to the market and wondered around.  The fish smell was getting a little too strong for me so I had to steer clear of that area.  After the market we went to the aquarium, which was decent.  A large part was more museum than aquarium.  Then we walked along the beach for a while. 
For dinner that night we went from bar to bar and ate tapas, some of Jeff's favorites were bacalao, foie, risotto, lobster over rose oil and beef cheeks. 

On Friday the 14th, we had crepes and french toast for breakfast.  Then we walked to the hilltop park in San Sebastian. 

Today was also the day that I had the best chocolate croissant of the trip, which I ate one everyday.  Then we had to take the bus back to Bilbao which was an awful ride, I wish we would have taken the train back.  Then for dinner we made sure to have one more plate full of Serrano jamon. 

On Saturday the 15th, we flew all day.  We first had to fly from Bilbao to Madrid, then Madrid to Philly then Philly to Denver.  It was a long day, but at least when we got to Denver we could sleep since it was 9pm.  The kitties were very happy to see us.  Overall it was a good trip and I now miss eating a chocolate croissant everyday and Serrano jamon. 

Spain Part 3

On Monday the 10th we took a walking tour of Sevilla, hosted by an English speaking local.  Later that afternoon we visited the massive Gothic cathedral of the town.

 

Later we walked to the river, ate some really good chocolate cherry gelato and ate more tapas for dinner.  The best tapa of the dinner was pig cheek.  

On Tuesday the 11th we walked across the river to visit another part of Sevilla.  On the way we found a market and bought some spices ( saffron and paella seasoning).  Then we went to the Palace and its massive gardens.  We were on a time limit since we had to return the rental car and fly to Bilbao that night, but you could have spent an entire day in the gardens.  

Once we got to Bilbao we ate more tapas for dinner, which in that region of Spain (Basque) they have their own language and tapas are pintxos. 

On Wednesday the 12th we then traveled to San Sebastian by train.  There was a lot of traveling involved once we got to Spain, I felt like I was taking Dramamine every day.  We then walked around the town for a while.  That evening we had a very good and relaxing dinner and we all agreed that we ate too much that day/dinner. 

Spain Part 2

On Saturday the 8th we visited Alhambra in Granada.  This is an old palace and fortress that was built in the 14th century by Moorish rulers.  It was really impressive and massive.  By the end of the day we were ready to just leave even though we didn't see everything.  It just became too much after a whole day of wondering around it. 

Spain Part 1

On Wednesday the 5th we started the journey to Spain by leaving Denver around 7 am on a flight to Charlotte, then we flew from Charlotte to Philly and then Philly to Madrid.  We arrive in Madrid on Thursday the 6th at about 7am.  We were really tired but knew we had to stay awake to avoid jet lag. 

Breckenridge Family Vacation

Just got back from a week long vacation and it was very pleasant.  It was with my husband's family.  They all drove from Kansas City while we had just a short drive.  We did some hiking, mini golf, a train ride, lots of relaxing around the house, horse back riding, etc.  My husband climbed a 14er, his first.  I cooked all the meals but I slacked in actually taking pictures of the meals.  But I did happen to capture the two favorite meals- baked french toast ( will post recipe later) and pizza.

Along with many other pictures of the trip.  All the photos will be on my shutterfly site.

Vacation

So if you read this, you may have noticed I have been slacking on the posting lately.  This was a combination of moving and a vacation.

We are all moved in and are working on getting everything situated, can I just say we have way too much crap.  And we got rid of a lot before we moved, it is pathetic the amount of stuff we have.  Some stuff that Jeff insists we keep that he hasn't touched since we moved.  But anyway, we have a lot of rearranging to do.


And then I went on a vacation with my family, Jeff decided not to join us.  We went to Table Rock Lake in SW Missouri.  This was the lake that my grandpa had a house at when I was growing up.  Because of this I love this lake, it is one of my favorite places to go.  One of my Dad's brother and his family also went.  It was a very nice and relaxing trip.  I didn't really want to leave but I know we will be going back next year.  I am already looking forward to it.  While at the lake I swam in the lake, the pool, rented a boat, jumped off a cliff, drove a jet ski, and went to Silver Dollar City.

 Harley and Skylee in the pool, my niece and nephew.

And once we returned from the lake I had just enough time to stop by and see Henry, my other nephew.  

And that is about how many pictures I took the whole time, I kept forgetting about my camera.  

I also took a couple videos of Henry that you can see at my YouTube page.

Visitors and a Trip

This past weekend we had some visitors, the in-laws to be exact.  Friday night they arrived and we welcomed them by making some real fried chicken and it was delicious.  Saturday they enjoyed the Denver Art Museum and that night we went to dinner at Solera, in celebration of my graduate school admission and Jeff's birthday.  Solera was wonderful as usual, I had the truffle macaroni and cheese with scallops, and oh my goodness it was amazing. 

Sunday we went to Estes Park, walked around their art fair.  Bought a photograph to add to our art collection.  Then went driving through the Rocky Mountain National Park.  There was an insane amount of elk!  You can see how close they were in the photo below.   

We then went on a hike.

The hike ended up at a massive waterfall.  That night we stayed in Estes and ate at Mama Rosa's, some very good Italian.  Then relaxed in the hotel room.

Monday we woke up early and went on another hike, this time not in the park but right next to it.  It was Lily Mountain and at the top there were some very impressive views, and awesome 360 view of the entire area.

Then we took the scenic route back to Denver.  That night we had some amazing asparagus pesto and relaxed some more.

Overall a good weekend, but a tiny bit sore now.  If you wish to see all the photos, you can visit our Shutterfly site.

First Year Anniversary Trip- Bay Area

For our 1 year anniversary of being married we decided to take a trip to the San Fran area to see some sights, taste some wines, see some friends, and relax.  And so that is what we did and it was great!  Here is a breakdown of what we did while we were there.

Day 1(Thursday 22nd) : 

We arrived rather late and then we needed to rent a car for the next day so we didn't get to Becky and Rylan's until around 11pm.  But since it was Becky's birth week and happened to be her actual birthday on Thursday we went to a bar to celebrate. So this trip started off to a late but good start.

Day 2 (Friday 23rd) : 

Jeff and I made sure to wake up somewhat early this day so we could get an early start at wine tasting.  We decided to go to Healdsburg, CA which is 1.5 hours north of San Fran on 101 North, which is a beautiful drive.  We got to Healdsburg and starting tasting around 11 am.  In Healdsburg there are many local wineries that have tasting rooms so that visitors do not have to drive to each vineyard to taste wines.  We went to four tasting room in town and then visited one vineyard. 

We got some good food at a French bakery and then began the tasting at Toad Hollow Vineyards tasting room.  And let me just say it was bad, terrible.  I was just hoping that the rest wasn't going to be this bad, which it wasn't thankfully.

Next we headed to Kendall-Jackson tasting room.  They had some great wines to taste!

From them we bought 6 bottles: 2  Highland Estates Voignier ' 07, 1  Highland Estates Chardonnay '07(we actually found some Chardonnay's that we liked!), 2 Highland Estates Seco Pinot Noir, and 1  Grand Reserve Zinfandel.  These were their wines that they don't sell in stores. 

The next tasting room was La Crema tasting room.  We weren't going to buy anything since we have just bought a lot from Kendall-Jackson but their Pinot Noir we tasted was so good we couldn't not buy some.  So from them we bought 2 Los Carneros Pint Noir '07 and 1 Los Carneros Pinot Gris '08.  We didn't actually try the Pinot Gris but we are a big fan of all Pinots so we figured it would be a good choice.  We also didn't want our red:white ratio to be too skewed.

After that we took a water break and walked around the town and square a bit.

Jeff sitting under a Redwood

  This car drove by during the picture.

Then we went to our last tasting room before venturing out to a vineyard.  We stopped in at Muprhy-Goode.  They had decent wines but nothing that we had to have, so we left there shortly after with no added purchases.

We headed over to a market place to grab some lunch.

It was an excellent lunch of French bread, homemade garlic brie, and granny smith apples.

We headed out to Armida Vineyards, and the vines looked so gorgeous since their leaves were changing colors.

Armida had some pretty decent wines to taste also, the best was their Cabernet Sauvignon, so we bought a bottle of that, which is their Reserve from '05.  We also bought their signature wine Pozin from '07, this is a really good Zinfandel.

At this point we could have kept tasting but we knew we wouldn't really be able to taste much more so we called it a day on that.  We took the scenic route home down 116.  It was a very nice drive.

That night once we got back we went out for sushi for Becky's birthday with some of her local friends.  It was very good sushi!

Day 3 (Saturday 24th):

In the morning the rental car had to be turned it and Rylan had a great idea that I turn it in and he follow me on his Harley so we could take a scenic ride around the area.  And it was awesome!  I love riding on motorcycles but Jeff does not so the rides are few and far between but each time they are awesome.  This was my first Harley experience and it was the best ride I have ever taken.  After we dropped it off at SFO we headed South on 101 until it met up with 92 west.  Then we ran into 1 North that ran along the Pacific Coast.  It was just awesome, there really is not other way to describe it.  It was cool and foggy but there were still terrific views.  Then we stopped in San Fran for a cup of coffee and then headed back on the Oakland Bridge, where you could see some more great views.  Overall it was awesome and I am so glad I did it.  I think I must own a Harley now.

After that we meet back up with Becky and Jeff and headed back to San Fran to go eat some Mexican food on Mission.  We both got burritos and they were so good that Jeff now describes his hunger in how many of those burritos he could eat.

They also had real Coca-Cola with sugar, it was great!

Then we went through some neighborhoods in San Fran and headed over to Haight and Ashbury.  We saw the Grateful Dead House and walked around the area.  Went to Amoeba Music and bought 11 used CDs for $28.00, we thought it was a pretty good deal.  We then went to the beach area to see the Golden Gate and an awesome sunset.

And then we went to a really good Italian place for dinner.  We then we to buy some more wine and rented a season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and stayed in for the night drinking wine and relaxing.  Another great day in the fantastic trip.

Day 4 ( Sunday 25th):

That morning Becky made us all breakfast, scrambled eggs with veggies and cream cheese and peanut butter sandwiches with strawberry dipping.  It was very good!  After that Rylan had to go to work for a few hours so the rest of us headed up to Berkeley to hang out.  And that is all we did, hang out and walk around.  It was nice.  Then once Rylan got off he met up with us and we went on a hike to hopefully see some good views.  Unfortuately the sun was setting and we weren't able to get to the very top of the spot to see everything but we still saw an awesome sunset.

Then we began our night time hike back, which was pretty fun and reminded me of old SEA prairie runs.  Once we got back into Berkeley we ate at a very good Thai place.  That night we watched more Curb but this time with some local beer.

Day 5 (Monday 26th):

Our last day.  Once we got up and packed Jeff and I said our goodbyes and went to San Fran to be tourist before catching our plane.  First we ate some paninis at a small cafe in North Beach. Then we walked over to Coit Tower and went up it to see some views.  We then walked to Pier 39 to see the seals and walked down the bay.  We bought some sourdough bread along the way.  And then continued over to Ghiardelli square.  So pretty much we walked a lot and saw some good stuff.  Then we walked back to the BART station, so we could go to the airport and catched our flight back to Denver.

 

So it was a great trip, very relaxing and a lot of fun.  I hope all of our future trips can be this good.  And I look forward to another year of marriage.