Fourth camping

Since we couldn't camp on the 4th, we went up Friday morning for a long weekend.  We've had a month of record heat and drought, but this weekend it chose to rain and rain hard.  Friday afternoon our battery died, so D left to go get another one.  He was gone 4 hours and it rained the whole time.  The Poudre canyon actually was closed due to mud slides in the fire area.  We also had a little river run through our campsite from all the rain.  We spent a lot of time in the camper!!

Saturday was cloudy and threatening rain most of the day, but it stayed dry until just before supper.  So we got 2 really long rides in and only saw one other rider.  The area we camp is near the High Park Fire area (at one point on the drive up we saw the burn area within a half mile of the road), so with the fire ban still in effect, rain in the forecast and driving by the fire still burning scared most people away.  So instead of 50-100 different campers throughout the trails and meadows, we saw 3!!  There were a few day riders, but we really did have the place to ourselves.  We even were the first ones on the trails for the season so we had to do some tree clean-up of fallen trees.  The first ride we went on took us on all the major trails and had us out for over 2 hours.  Both C and I fell asleep!  After lunch we went on another long ride which took us through some streams.  I got really wet!  What a fun weekend.

Fourth of July

With the 4th of July being mid-week and M busy training for her new job, we didn't actually camp on the 4th and instead went up to the Y where we got to be a part of the Y parade.  It is hailed as the shortest but most enthusiastic parade in the world.  It runs about 2 blocks length in front of the main building on property.  All the guests come and watch while every department and some family reunions have floats and decorations.  The Craft shop even had a cheer routine they did in the middle.  The day campers are the first event, so that we can sit at the end and watch the rest of the floats.  M was just a spectator this year so she could watch C and me come down the parade route.

Her little patriotic girl!   

 I was a clown in a car walking with my animal friends.

 No parade is complete without a fire truck or in the case a truck carrying a water gun which sprayed the fire truck the whole length of the parade.  As you can see from the below video, the fire truck guys got the rest of their department back after the parade.  Y employees have too much fun!!

Birthdays

Since April I had been telling M that I wanted to celebrate my birthday at the Train Park everytime we passed it after dropping C off at daycare.  It wasn't until the week that M realized that it would be the hottest day of the year as it was forecasted to be 103 degrees.  But since I was so determined, M decided to go forth with the Train Park.  Luckily everyone was trying to stay out of the heat, so we didn't have a crowd to fight at the park at all.  We got three tables all in a row and in the shade! I had invited a few friends from my Y school, but that morning a fire started in Estes Park (1 of 6 fires which started that day in CO bringing the total fires burning on that day to 12 in CO) and one friend's aunt was evacuated so they couldn't come down.  Needless to say that fire dominated the adult conversation as 2 attendees worked with M up there and it was only 2 miles from the Y and the road was closed going to/from for emergency vehicles only, so they were trying to figure out if they would even be able to get to work on Monday.  The crazy thing--the last time a fire was that close was 5 years earlier when M was in the hospital with me and the SMR facility had a 5 acre fire on property.
My best friend P was able to come since she also lives down in Loveland.

 Waiting patiently for the train to let us board.  Proudly holding our tickets!

 The D's rode the train with the little kids in the open air car.  We got to go on two rides so one time I was in the boxcar and the second time i was in the caboose with my friends.

 

We went through 5 gallons of cool-aid, but as long as you stayed in the shade it wasn't completely unbearable, just uncomfortable!  Next summer M will plan a water party of some sort!!

The next week we helped D celebrate his birthday.  Before having company over to our house, we had to go visit G's gravesite and leave our birthday momentos for her.

 Happy Birthday to a wonderful G that is very missed.

 When we got home, we all changed into our Bronco gear.  M said that D had his girls trained well.  They both picked those out on their own accord for D's birthday!

 After we finished lunch and the adults were enjoying the shade in the backyard, C and I jumped in our new bouncy house I got from G&G for my birthday.  It was lots of fun, even more so after M figured out how to plug up the extra air hole!!

We had a good birthday season, with M celebrating hers with just a family supper at P's house.