Fort Collins

January 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago Bob and I drove an hour north to Fort Collins. It is a quaint little city/ town. First stop was a place called Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. It is a fast food joint that ONLY sells chicken fingers. No hamburgers, no sandwiches, just good ‘ol chicken fingers. If you only have one thing on the menu, it better be good! Oh and good it was. Yummy. Delicious. Scrumptious.

Next we drove around Colorado University’s Fort Collins campus to check it out. Not to much was going on since college kids were still on winter break.

Our last stop of the day was the Swetsville Zoo. There aren’t exactly live, furry animals at this zoo. Some guy started making dinosaurs and all sorts of sculptures out of recycled farm equipment. It started as a hobby and suddenly he had over 150 sculptures in his yard. He also made the front of his house look like a castle as a gift to his wife.

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun

A whirl-wind weekend in NY

December 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I flew to Rochester last weekend for many reasons. First, Aunt Jodi turns 50 this Christmas so the family held a party for her at the Harmony House in Webster and had a live band playing. It was a masquerade ball so folks showed up in ball gowns, tuxedos, long gloves, diamonds (some real, most fake I’m sure), a kilt, and gorgeous feather masks. With the help of some alcohol, the dance floor was full and I got a taste of the Dron’s dancing skills so I know what I’m in for at my wedding.

After seeing Grandpa Zip bust a move, I immediately knew where my dad and uncle Jimmy got their sweet skills. Lets just say they won’t be winning a mirrorball trophy anytime soon, but they sure do have fun. To our younger friends known for dancing (that is you- Nespeca)- bring your dancing shoes and prepare for dance-offs!

Saturday was spent running errands and was very productive. I met with the DJ and had alterations done as well and also met with the banquet planner at the Golf Club. Sunday our family was supposed to have a portrait taken but due to some unexpected kidney stones and a trip to the ER, mom and dad bailed out. Had mom been able to make it to the photoshoot, she would have been drooling like a bulldog due to the vicodin she had to take. It ended up being Amanda and I posing together. And by posing, I mean I am choking her in one picture and pretending I’m at a photoshoot by “Glamour Shots by Deb” in Napolean Dynamite. The photographer told me not to smile for a few pictures so I look downright cranky.

After a flight delay I made it back to Colorado late Sunday night. I was lucky to come home to a clean house (windows washed and all!), a dog that finally broke the squeaker in his annoying toy, cuddly Paco, and a big hug from my husband-to-be.

Filed Under: Adventure, Family, Friends, Fun, Home

Aspen

November 9, 2008 By 1 Comment

Bob planned a day trip for us this past weekend. We went to ”a place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called… Aspen”. (If you didn’t figure out the Dumb & Dumber quote, watch the movie again).

Since Aspen is quite a ways away, we took Coda with us for his first outing since his leg surgery. He was smiling the whole time. We drove along Independence Pass to get there. It took about 4 hours going the scenic way along the mountains. 

After driving over the Continental Divide we passed a small abandoned ghost town with dilapidated buildings.

We got to Aspen right before sunset. It is a small, old-fashioned town and the buildings are quaint and charming. Even more surprising was that it was already decorated for Christmas and it was only November 1st! Aspen is an expensive town, so don’t plan on buying anything unless you planned on shopping at Louis Vuitton for a $1300 handbag. Perhaps that is why Aspen is frequently visited by Goldie Hawn and Mariah Carey. It was also called “home” to John Denver for a while.

Once it was dark we headed home and Coda was all tuckered out froma day in the fresh mountain air.

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors, Uncategorized

Anderson Farms

October 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Bob planned a lovely day at Anderson Farms today. Its a GIANT farm north of Denver.

First we checked out the farm animals, including some goats, ducks, chickens and alpacas. Then we took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. Along the way we stopped to feed some cows and a buffalo. They eat right out of people’s hands. Bob was excited he wore his Buffalo Bills sweatshirt so we could do this picture. Get it? Buffalo Bills:

Upon arriving at the pumpkin patch, a little girl who looked to be about 4 years old, jumped off the wagon and yelled “We get to smash the pumpkins” and quickly ran over to a pumpkin and kicked at as hard as she could. Her parents must have been horrified and told her that is not allowed.

On the way back the little girl realized she had a splinter in her foot and was whining about it and her dad said “oh, if you want to whine you have to get off this wagon. The whiney wagon is the one behind us. Do you want to get on that instead?”. Her dad said she is starting to repeat whatever she hears on TV and has been saying “Barrack I’ll Bomb ‘ya!”. She was too cute.

After we picked our perfect pumpkin we decided to try the corn maze. We didn’t realize the corn field was over 3 miles wide until we were somewhere in the middle. We were supposed to find 18 stations within the maze to complete it, but we only found about 3 and gave up.

We had a four-stage haunted feature to get to on the farm! The haunted feature was actually pretty good and weaved around a different corn field in and out of these various haunted buildings. It was about 3x as long as any haunted house thing we’ve done before. After we screamed a few times and survived men chasing us with chainsaws, we had a ‘smore and hot cider. Overall, we spent 5 hours on a farm and time flew by.

In other news both pets are doing great. Coda is SO happy that he finally gets to do a little off leash activity, and his leg is holding up great. You can’t tell anything was ever wrong. He’s playing fetch and playing chase around the living room. Paco also seems happy for Coda as he gets to attack him even more.

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors, Pets, Uncategorized

Georgetown Loop Railroad

October 5, 2008 By 1 Comment

Bob and I ventured out to the tiny mountain town of Georgetown this weekend. It took about an hour and a half to get there and I was excited to see a bear on the way… until I realized it was a cow.

Georgetown is another old mining town that now has a railroad that weaves through 4 miles of the mountains for tourist purposes. We saw Clear Creek, pretty trees changing colours for fall, and got to ride over a bridge high above land. Thanks to the freezing mist- we got fashionable ponchos.

After the train ride we explored the main street in Georgetown and there happened to be a festival going on. ZZ Top’s cousin was there performing. The town is cute and still has the old original Victorian feel.

Georgetown is also an entrance to Guanella Pass Scenic and Historic Byway. So we decided to take the drive through more mountains- views we can never get sick of. This pass took us up to about 11,700 feet, which is above the level where the trees grow. We didn’t feel the effects of being up high like we did last time (slight head pressure… little dizzy.) But we did see some gorgeous views.

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors
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