Wednesday October 23 - Epilogue

We arrived home last night at around midnight. The flights were uneventful and on time.

We had some bad news awaiting us. One of my best friends and fellow University of Waterloo Mechanical Engineer, Alec Johnston, had passed away during the day yesterday. We have had a lot of good times together over the past 43 years. Here we are enjoying a laugh in Myrtle Beach a couple of years ago.

(That's Alec on the left...)

A great husband, father and grandfather. We will miss you.

This is the last post of this blog so I thought a summary was in order.

Trip Summary:

Distance travelled = 5292 mi (8467 km)
Hours driving = 126
National Parks visited = 7
National Parks drive-thru = 2 (closed for hiking)
State Parks visited = 6
Other hikes = 8
Hiking distance = 129 mi (207 km)
Beds slept in = 21
Camera shutter operations = 3617

Important things I learned:

*How to hunt and kill scorpions
*You can't pump your own gas in Oregon
*Air for your tires is free in California
*It never rains in California except on concert days
*You can come from behind to win when down 8 - 1
*There are some great State Parks in Utah
*There is no such animal as a Jackalope
*The less you play golf, the better you get

October 17 - 22 (Denver Colorado)

We have spent the last several days visiting with the family in Denver.

Sophie, Claire, Isabella, Jenn, Emma & Aaron

It has been a bit unseasonably cold here this year with a couple of rainy/snowy days. This was last Friday ....

The granddaughters have been off school on a fall break all week so we have had lots of time to spend with them. Chris has been able to go and watch them do their dance and gymnastics classes most days. Here are some recent photos from their dance classes.

Isabella

Emma

Sophie

Claire

Saturday was a fairly warm day and I was able to get out for a round of golf with Aaron and his neighbour Chung. We played Red Hawk in Castle Rock CO. A great course with lots of elevation change and views of the snow covered Rockies. I had one of my better games, playing for the first time in 7 weeks without golf shoes and a set of borrowed clubs. What does that tell you? This is hole 18, 512 yd par 5. Got on the green in 2. Amazing how far you can shoot at 6500 ft elevation.

Sunday, we made a trip about an hour north to Anderson Farms which has a huge Halloween theme park with a three mile corn maze, farm themed activities and a giant pumpkin patch. It was cold and started to rain so we had to cut our visit short.

We were home in time to watch some football which was enhanced when Aaron became a winner of the football pool he and I participate in. Too bad it involved a Bronco's loss.

Monday we got in a bit of last minute shopping and then the chore of packing in preparation for our flight home today. It will be a late day, arriving in Buffalo at 11:00 pm.

Wednesday October 16

Today's activity was a trip to Canyonwood Canyon State Park, about 30 minutes from Jenn's house. The girls had such a good time hiking at Hanging Lake, we decided to give it another try.

This trail was a loop following Cherry Creek to a failed dam, then a climb to the ridge at the top of the canyon.

Here we are at the top of the canyon but still with over half the distance to go.

Lots of colour but unfortunately, the Aspens had all lost their leaves so no brilliant yellows.

The girls did really well, completing 4 1/2 miles but they were a bit tired.

Tuesday October 15

Time for the final leg of the journey to Highlands Ranch CO. Our original intention was to spend a couple of days near Rocky Mountain National Park but the floods of September and the current weather have transpired against us. The forecast is for below freezing temperatures overnight and daytime highs around 40F with snow on the ground. We didn't bring any real cold weather outdoor clothes so we are off to Jenn's house in Highlands Ranch.

We got underway around 11:00 AM and had a stop in Avon to let the kids run around followed by lunch in Vail. On the way through the mountains we encountered several snow events.

This is Dillon Lake with an approaching snow storm.

Daytime temperatures were 26 F.

Monday October 14

We awoke to snow falling. The view from our hotel window....

The weather was supposed to improve later in the morning so we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before heading out to ride the gondola to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. It was a cold ride to the top of the mountain.

Most of the rides and amusements were shut down for the season but we wanted to take the girls on the cave tour.

It was a pretty good interpretive tour, the girls really enjoyed it.

After that it was time for lunch then a trip to the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. I think we were in there for 2 1/2 hours. There was intermittent rain all afternoon while we were in the pool and temperatures a little under 40 F.

Back to the hotel, out for supper and by then, everyone was ready for sleep.

Sunday October 13

Today we rendezvoused with our daughter Jenn, Aaron and granddaughters Isabella, Emma, Sophie and Claire at Glenwood Springs Colorado. We left Moab UT and arrived there around noon just before they arrived.

We had lunch and then went to the trailhead for a hike to Hanging Lake. Isabella was taking note of the precautions.

This was a very steep trail rising 1,250 feet within about a mile and a half. We weren't sure if the girls would enjoy it but were surprised when they scampered up trail with eventually, the six year old in the lead!

There were some great views of the canyon and this marvellous little lake at the top with some cascading waterfalls.

Here we all are at Hanging Lake.

The trip back down was a bit slippery but we all made it, albeit a bit tired.

The sun came out again and illuminated the Colorado River.

We checked into the Hotel Glenwood Springs, got settled and then went out to a Brewpub for supper. After returning to the hotel, it was time for some water fun in the indoor water park.

Four exhausted girls were out cold by 10:00 pm.