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

Rocky Mountain National Park

September 27, 2008 By 1 Comment

Bob and I took a day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park which sits on over 265,000 acres. On the way there I called Mom to let her know where we were going in case we got lost and she needed to send out a search and rescue crew. One of the first things we saw in the park were elk hanging out and grazing. We even heard a few “talking”. They kind of sound like a yell/screech. Then they started running around. They are pretty big creatures.

We drove up a one-way dirt mountain road to an elevation of almost 12,000 feet- more than 2 miles high! Bob kept threatening to veer off the road.

Along the way we saw a waterfall which was a result of a broken dam back in 1985 and it spilled over 29 million gallons of water. Bob and I tried to climb up a few rocks to get closer to the waterfall. I tried to prove that Croc’s can be used for climbing boulders but that just isn’t true. Note to self: listen to Bob when he tells me to wear sneakers. Bob enjoyed taunting me by saying rattlesnakes were in the park and then we ended up actually hearing a few rattle! I am terrified of snakes. Another note to self: carry a baseball bat to either beat up a snake if attacked, or beat Bob when he lies about a snake being next to me.

We saw another natural waterfall further down the dirt road which was just as pretty as the first. Besides the water, there were too many other beautiful views to count. A few hours later of going 8 mph, we made it to the top of a mountain and it was snowing! There was a small visitor’s center at the top which doesn’t have any electricity – it is run on a generator since it is so isolated. After a brief stop at the top, we found a paved road and began the journey back to the bottom of the park. Overall- a very good day!

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors

YeeHaw Y’all!!

July 13, 2008 By 1 Comment

Bob and I went to our first rodeo today! After several stupid questions on my part (bulls and horses get along well enough to be in the same holding pen? When you mate a bull and horse do you get a mule? Do the horses get kicked in the butt to make them buck?), I finally shut my trap and started paying attention. Yes, bulls and horses get along. You get a mule when you mate a horse and donkey. There is a rope tied around the back end of the horses and bulls to make them buck. First, the cowboys rode the horses, and there were 2 official men that were there to lasso the horses after the cowboy fell off. They were on horses the entire time. 

After a few rounds of that, it was time for the children to partake in the mutton riding contest. Yes, folks, I said mutton. The kids, about 4 years old, were equipped with a safety vest and helmet, thrown on sheep, and told to hold on for dear life. Those kids were determined to get a trophy and were probably ripping clumps of fur (or wool) out of the sheep. They also got to chase chickens around and whoever caught one got a trophy. 

After the kids had their shot at fun, it was time to bring out the big bulls instead of the horses. I was hoping they would go after the rodeo clown because he kept making terrible jokes (why won’t the bulls eat clowns? Because they taste funny!). Alas, the rodeo clown survived. The bulls weren’t as mean as I thought they would be. Their horns were cut down a lot and there were 2 people with a combined IQ of 62 that volunteered themselves to be the distractions when the cowboys fell of the bulls. Why anyone would put themselves in the line of a bull is beyond me. They weren’t even on a horse- they would just jump in front of the bull. At the end of the day, nobody was hurt (except the egos of some of the sheep), and a cowboy went home with a grand prize of $3,000. I was wondering how cowboys made enough money to do that for a living, so I googled Tony Mendes, who was at the rodeo. He is only 31 years old and made over $750,000 bull riding so far. Not too shabby!

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors Tagged With: , ,

Rocky Mountain Hi

June 14, 2008 By 2 Comments

Yes I meant to put ‘hi’ in the title. Its a play on words. So after our short-lived hiking adventure (Jen is lucky if that was 1/10th of a mile,) we headed on the nice little road trip home, but decided to make a stop at Red Rocks. The pictures aren’t the greatest because of the low light. We’ll get some better ones next time we go.

Red Rocks is a national park, and an amazing amphitheater built in a natural wonder of an environment. It was so cool looking, and now Jen and I can’t WAIT to go to a concert there. Dave Matthews performs there almost every year, and now I have to see him there.

After experiencing an entertainment environment like that, you have to think that artists aren’t entirely thrilled when they have to play in boring locations like Darien Lake. Not that I haven’t liked the shows that I attended there… but a show at Red Rocks has to be a treat all of its own.

I definitely enjoyed the trip to the mountains… and can’t wait to go again. Perhaps next time we won’t start on a hike that’s quite that steep. While Jen did her fair share of huffing and puffing, I certainly was no Lance Armstrong… secretly glad when she asked to take a break every 20 feet. ;-) We definitely want to get in shape doing outdoorsy things around here, but we’re going to have to work up to some of these things, especially when we’re not used to the thin air (I’m sure that’s the problem.)

Filed Under: Adventure, Fun, Outdoors Tagged With: , , ,
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