The One With Tom & Gail

Tracy's parents, Tom & Gail, arrived Monday afternoon for a week of activity before driving to Park City, Utah for Kelly Brewer's wedding.

Tuesday morning we headed to Breckenridge's Peak 8 Fun Park. We all rode the SuperSlide and took the Scenic Chair Lift up to mid-mountain for the beautiful views of the Rockies. Tracy took a break in order to take pictures of her parents in the Human Maze. A little more hustle and they may have made the 8 minute mark, but at least they found their way out. After lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Breck, we headed to the Country Boy Mine. The guided tour takes you over 1000 ft. into a century old authentic gold mine. To keep us entertained before and after the tour, there were burros (mom and 3 wk old babies) roaming the property, gold panning and a chute we took back down to the parking lot. We ate dinner at The Boatyard in Frisco, one of Tracy & Stan's favorite restaurants, then a friendly game of "Screw Your Buddy" before bedtime.

Wednesday, Dave & Teri Butz from Denver arrived in the morning. We biked from the house to Keystone Resort. We had a quick lunch at Kickapoo then headed up the mountain with our bikes. Everyone started off on the green run, Girl Scout. Not sure who rated these trails, but Green is supposedly the easiest?? Yikes. When we met up with the service road Gail & Teri took that detour, while Tom, Dave & Tracy continued on the not so easy green trail. Though he was holding his own, Tom decided to take the next service road detour and try to catch up with Gail & Teri. Dave and Tracy continued on the green trail. We all ended up meeting up at the bottom all in one piece...only a few minor cuts and bruises. We then biked back to the house. We measured it to be approximately 20 miles total. Not bad for Tom & Gail's 3rd day in high altitude... Dinner was at Dos Locos, another quick game of "Screw Your Buddy," then some well needed sleep.

Thursday we walked over to Arapahoe Cafe for breakfast, then headed to Vail. After a nice jaunt through the Center Village, we walked over to Lionshead and rode the Gondola up the mountain. We ate an average lunch at the restaurant at the top, then walked around admiring the views. After Vail, we drove out to Eagle airport to pick up Tom & Gail's rental car for their trip to Utah. A quick stop at Copper Mountain for a "big chair" photo op, then dinner at Dillon Dam Brewery. Of course a game or 4 of "Screw Your Buddy," then we were off to bed.

Tom & Gail left early Friday morning for a nice ride through Steamboat Springs, Dinosaur National Park finally arriving in Park City. All in all an active, fun week with the 'rents. Hope you guys had fun!! Thanks for visiting...come back soon!!

Stan got in Friday night...earlier than usual. The weekend has been pretty overcast and rainy, but we have been able to get some housework done.

Tom & Gail at the top of the Breckenridge SuperSlide.

Gail & Tracy at the bottom of the SuperSlide.

Tom in the middle of the Human Maze at Breck. He finished in 11 minutes...the goal was to beat 8 minutes to win a prize. At least he found all 4 letters (MAZE). Gail only found 3, but she was proud of herself for finding her way out...so in a way, they both won.

Riding down the Scenic Chairlift ride at Breck.

Hangin' around at the Peak 8 Fun Park.

Inside the Country Boy Mine in Breck. Was closed in 1948 and reopened in 1994 as a tourist attraction.

Our new pet.

Is this how you pan for gold?

Playing "Screw Your Buddy."

At the top of Keystone's 1st mountain...the 2nd peak (North Peak) is in the background. There are a total of 3 mountains to ski at Keystone.

Gail on her way down Keystone.

Are we done yet?

That first part was a cinch...Let's check out the view before we head the rest of the way down!! See Lake Dillon in the background?

We all made it down in one piece...

Tom got a little cut up.

No trip is complete without a visit to Copper Mt and the big chair.

The One of Home Time

The past 2 weeks were spent at home in Dillon, enjoying the last month of Summer. Got our surround sound speakers finally set up. Found out that we have access to the West Coast HD Directv channels now. Other than that, a lot of relaxing, hiking, biking & grilling going on.

This past weekend, our friends Mark & Philip took part in a 24 hour bike race, called Montezuma's Revenge. Our house was used as a base for their crew & friends. With 7 dogs and several people going in and out of the house Friday night and Saturday morning it was an exciting 24 hours. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep this weekend.

The Summit BBQ was this weekend as well, which is right in the Town of Dillon, so we got to sample some delicious pulled pork, shrimp & keilbasa kebobs and frozen chocolate covered bananas. Good fun, even though it did end up pouring on us. Kenny & Stacy, part of Philip's crew, who we met in New Orleans also (Kenny is a fellow Hokie) from Aspen stayed in town for the weekend to enjoy the BBQ. Sat night they grilled up some delicious bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp. YUMMY!!

Sunday we went hiking with Erica and Sage (her black lab) in Blue River. Lots of Smurf like mushrooms on the trail.

Want to send out a Congrats to Jessica, Craig & Hunter who are celebrating the arrival of baby #2 on August 8th...Jacob Andrew (Jake). Can't wait to meet him!!

The One of San Francisco

While Frisco hung out with Chewy & Mark in Denver and Dillon, Tracy & Stan went to San Fran to visit Tracy's sister, Kel. She lives right in the city on Green St, 1 block from Union.

Tracy arrived at the Oakland airport on Wednesday night and took the BART (SF metro) into SF. Kel picked me up and we headed to dinner in North Beach at Tomasso's.

Thursday, after Kel got home from work, we went mountain biking at China Camp State Park. It was foggy in the city all day, but once we crossed the Golden Gate bridge and turned a corner it turned into a beautiful, warm sunny evening. Tracy borrowed Joanna's (Kel's roommate) bike, first time using clips. Did pretty good except when we got to our turn around point. I forgot my right foot was still clipped in...tried to do a 180 turn, when I started falling, I tried to put my right foot down, and because it was still clipped in, I ended up falling flat on my face...hand, elbow and knee.

Friday, Kel worked from home, so after she got some work done, we went and got pedicures, then went for a run with Charley (Joanna's 9 mo old Australian Shepherd dog) at the SF Marina. Stan flew into Oakland Fri evening and also took the BART. We picked him up and headed to the Mission for Tapas at Cha Cha Cha's with Kel's friends, Sara Manson, Emily and a friend of theirs, Cassie.

Saturday, we drove to Muir Woods and went for a nice hike on the Ocean Trail. Unfortunately it was foggy again (a normal SF summer day), so we didn't get to see the great view, but Muir Woods was fun and we got yet another good workout. For lunch we stopped at Horizon's, on the water in Saulsalito. After lunch, we picked up Charley and took a driving tour around the city. Saturday night we did a mini bar crawl to a couple of Kel's favorites, Buccaneer's for a game of pool, Shanghai Kelly's for some Liar's Dice (you'll see a bit of this game in the new Pirate movie) and Columbus Cafe.

Sunday we got up early to head to Napa. We went to Joseph Phelps (overrated), S. Vatui (for lunch), Grgich & Cakebread. Before leaving the Valley, we drove up toCastalago to check out the Old Faithful Geyser of California. Not as outstanding as Yellowstone Old Faithful, but still kind of neat, plus we got to feed the fainting goats and say hi to the llamas and sheep. Random. Sunday night Joanna got home from her brother's wedding so we got to visit over sushi at Godzilla's.

Monday, Kel went to work, while Stan and Tracy went to Alcatraz, said hi to the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf, and took a cable car to Kel's work for lunch. After lunch, we wandered all over the city by foot before finally making it home just before Kel got home from work. We had a quick pizza dinner, then Stan was off to the airport via the BART.

Tuesday, Tracy chilled at the house with Charley who decided to chomp off the plug off the iron cord while Tracy wasn't paying attention...thinking he was being a good boy...all quite. I then took a cab to Kel's office to have lunch with Kel and her co-workers...Jen and Kristen. After lunch I wandered around the Financial District, then took the BART to the airport. Flight was delayed, so I got back to Dillon at midnight to a very excited Frisco. The rest of the week I have been spending my time "moving back in" after we rented our house out while we were gone.

Kel, thanks for the hospitality and for being such a great tour guide!!

Kelly & Tracy on their mountain bike ride at China Camp State Park.

Tracy, after her fall...

Tracy & Stan hanging out with the Redwoods at Muir Woods.

Tracy & Kel hanging with Charley at Baker Beach.

Hanging in the Vineyard.

Enjoying our wine tasting at Joseph Phelps Vineyard.

Old Faithful Geyser of CA erupts every 20-40 minutes.

Stan in the slammer at Alcatraz.