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.)

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We went to O’Fallon park somewhere in the mountains, only 30 minutes from where we live, and took Coda with us.

Bob didn’t warn me that hiking would be involved, but it seemed like it could be fun, so we started hiking up a dirt trail. There were 3 problems here: 1. We are way out of shape. 2. The altitude makes it even harder to catch your breath. 3. My thermos was filled with lemonade (not water) because I didn’t think we would be hiking, thus, I had to spit a lot. Attractive, I know. We reached the top of the “hill” a short time later- Bob had the help of Coda pulling him up. There was purple heather all around (heather is a type of flower for you non-green thumb people) and since the sun was getting ready to set, there was a nice golden colour on the mountains.

We started the descent back down, and I was feeling very accomplished and thought we had hiked uphill for at least half a mile. Bob laughed at me and thinks it was more like 1/4 mile, but according to “Jen’s Encyclopedia for Non-Hikers”, I deem any distance uphill to be double the actual distance. Thus, we hiked 1/2 mile. Go ahead and laugh all you people in flat, upstate NY… but the altitude here really does a number on people that aren’t used to it so any sort of exertion is a big deal. Bob enjoyed it so much he wants to join a hikers group for beginners here. I’ll give it a few more tries and see how it goes. I don’t mind “being one with nature” and all, but can’t I do it sitting on a dock with a fishing pole in one hand and a wine cooler in the other?