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.

The One of Crestone & the Great Sand Dunes

It's been a wild week or so in the lives of the Wards. We got back from VA, had a weekend at home and a few days to clean up the house again for more renters arriving on July 22nd and staying until July 29th. With this in the plans, we decided to take our friend Kristi up on a camping trip in Crestone, CO.

Stan flew into town a day early, arriving Thursday night. We left Friday for Crestone, located about 3 hours south of Summit County. Arrived at Crestone Campground and found ourselves a campsite, outside a campground located at the bottom of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and outside the very small town of Crestone. No toilets, water or showers, so we were really roughing it. There were 10 of us total coming from all over...Denver, Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Durango and Dillon.

Friday night we set up camp, ate brisket tacos at the local bar, then chilled around the campfire.

Saturday morning after Mary served a delicious breakfast of french toast, we went on a 10 mile round trip hike into the mountains. Our destination was South Crestone lake...3500 vertical feet from where we started. Unfortunately, we missed the mark by about a mile because of a lightening/thunderstorm that hit. A little scary, but we all survived!!

Saturday night Kristi made buffalo burritos for everyone and then we again hung around the campfire...not as late as the night before. Everyone was a little exhausted from the trip.

Sunday morning Stan & Tracy were in charge of breakfast...eggs, bagels & cream cheese, bananas, yogurt and oj (the sausages got water logged in the cooler:(). We broke down camp then, Stan, Tracy & Frisco drove an hour to the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado. After tromping around the Dunes, we started our trip back North. We stopped in Fairplay that night and stayed at the Hands Hotel.

Monday morning we decided to head towards Denver stopping at several State Parks, Red Rocks, driving through the city, then finally arriving at the airport where Tracy & Frisco dropped Stan off and picked up Kelly's friend Colley, who got stranded in Denver on her way back to DC from Laguna Beach. Tracy, Colley and Frisco went to dinner at Bennigans near the airport. We then dropped Colley off at a hotel and headed to Breckenridge to stay with our friend Erica for Monday and Tuesday night. Wednesday Tracy dropped Frisco off at Mark's then headed to the airport for her flight to San Fran to visit Kel.

All in all, it's been a crazy homeless week, but fun. Thanks to Erica for her hospitality!!

Enjoy the pix.

Tracy chowing down on Mary's French Toast breakfast.

Stan & Sadie (the yellow lab) enjoying the waterfall in the Sangre De Cristo Mts.

from front to back: Makis, Kristi, Mark, Tracy, Kenny, Kate...almost to the lake...

Tracy reading Trivial Pursuit questions while the dogs rest after the long hike.

The sunset from our campsite.

The group...from left: Frisco, Tracy, Kate, Stan, Mark, Harper (black lab), Noah, Kristi, Sadie (yellow lab), Mary, Taj (black lab), Kenny, Stacy.

Stan showing off the Great Sand Dunes sign...

Tracy laying out on the bottom of the dunes...can you see me?

Stan in front of our hotel in Fairplay.

Frisco drying off/scratching her back at Chatfield State Park in Denver.

The One of the 14er

What is a 14er? Good question. Tracy & Stan found out on Saturday. Gray's Peak, 14,270 ft, the highest peak on the Continental Divide. We hiked all the way to the top!!

We met our friend Erica, her black lab, Sage, and a bunch of other unknowns in a parking lot off I-70 at exit 221 Bakerville. We drove up a winding, dirt road up to 11,xxx ft to the Steven's Gulch trailhead. We started the trek around 10:00 a.m. After a bunch of stops, a full camelback of water, a cliff bar and some jolly ranchers, we made it to the top. What an amazing view. We could see Lake Dillon, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Ski Resort and so much more. After eating our lunch (PB&J sandwich) and taking lots of pix, we headed back down. Seemed to take a lot longer going down...never ending...and did a number on Tracy's runner knees, but we made it in one piece. Got down around 2:00-2:30 p.m. Drove home for some major hot tub rehab and while Stan prepared dinner, Tracy passed out on the living room floor in her bathing suit and robe. Out cold!! Tough day.

That evening, Phillip, Mark & Colin came over for some grilling and foodapoo.

Sunday was a relaxing day. Bought some hiking shoes (realized after the 14er, that we both needed some), took Frisco to the lake and watched the Nascar Race. Stan left Sunday afternoon for the airport. He'll be coming back Thursday for a weekend of camping & hiking in Crestone, CO...Southwest from us.

Enjoy the pix of Gray's Peak...

Half-way up & smiling (could be delerious). I believe the start of the trail is behind us.

Stan, Tracy & Erica made it the top. Still smiling!!

Woohoo...we made it!

My point is a little off, but if you look above the peak I am pointing at, you can see Lake Dillon & Keystone is the green peak to the left of my point. Breck is way in the background behind Keystone.

View of where we came from...and Stan's new do...

That's Torrey's Peak behind me. Half our group hiked over there after we made it up Gray's Peak. It's about an hours hike from peak to peak. Torrey's Peak is 14,267 ft. We decided against 2 14ers in one day after returning from sea level the day before. Delerium had set in already. Next time.

The One of Blacksburg & Roanoke

After July 4th...we all headed back up to Northern VA. Stan went back to work, Tracy spent her time visiting.

Friday we drove down to Blacksburg to see Sweets & MA's new crib. Looking forward to some Apres Football Game Tailgating at Hotel Bonadeo.

Saturday after a breakfast of Starbucks, we took the dogs for a nice long walk around their new neighborhood. Went to lunch at Cabo Fish Tacos, which was South Main Cafe when I was in school, for some delicious BBQ Mahi tacos! Hit the Tech Bookstore, of course, and got lots of new goodies. Toured a model home on the way home. For dinner we picked Lois up and went to a new restaurant in downtown Roanoke, Metro. We all shared a huge plate of sushi. Even though we were all stuffed, we felt the need to order a couple entrees and dessert. Great restaurant if you're ever in Roanoke... Sweets and MA drove back to Blacksburg and we went to Lois' house for the rest of the weekend.

After church & breakfast at The Roanoker with Aunt Donnie, we spent Sunday afternoon mulching Lois' flower beds, well really Stan did most of the work. We took Frisco for a long walk in the heat, in which she about died. Spent the rest of the evening watching Jeff Gordon (Lois' fav Nascar driver) win. Monday was a lazy day in Roanoke. More time visiting then headed back to NOVA after lunch.

Tuesday Tracy settled on Dyani's condo in DC. So cute!! That evening SML (Stan, Matt, Lars) played open mic night at South Austin in Old Town. Big crowd came out to support. Great to see everyone. Wed Tracy went to Charles Town, WV to visit Jessica & Hunter (who's almost 2 years old) and check out all the updates on her house. Unfortunately Jessica, who is 8 months prego with her 2nd boy, had a bad Tuesday night in Reston Hospital and was put on bed rest. She later found out she is on bed rest of another 3 weeks.

Thursday Tracy & Frisco piled back into the Suburban and headed West, back to CO. An uneventful drive, always good, with a stop in Missouri to sleep. We made it safely and met Stan at the house Friday night.

Enjoy the few pix...

Stan, Mary Ann & Sweets showing off the new and improved Hotel Bonadeo.

A close up...hmmm Frisco never misses an opportunity to jump into a picture...remind you of anyone??

Stan earning his keep...

Lois & Frisco supervising Stan's mulching...

The One With Fireworks

Tracy & Frisco jumped into the Suburban and headed East for July 4th. Kel flew in from San Fran and the whole family met down at Lake Gaston. Uncle Mike, Aunt Jeanne & cousins Alli, Davis drove in from KY and cousin Alex caught a ride with Aunt Gail.

The weekend consisted of lots of wakeboarding, tubing, hot dogging, skiing and eating!! The weather was beautiful, except for July 4th, when a huge thunderstorm rolled in. Luckily we had caught the big Lake Gaston fireworks display on Saturday night and set off our own, that Alex brought, on Monday.

Stan perfected the backside & frontside 180's over the wakes. Tracy perfected the frontside 180 and landed the backside 180 on her last day. Kel became an expert at the surface 180 to fakie outside the wake and into a 180 back to normal while going over the wake. Alli figured out the surface 180 on Tracy & Kel's last day. Jeanne, Mike & Davis all got up on the wakeboard for the first time...quite the pros. Everyone enjoyed the new toy...the deadly hot dog and the circle of death.

Enjoy the pix...

Kel & Marcy slalom skiing.

Davis watching Alli shred on the wakeboard.

Kel shredding the wa wa.

Lily putting her face in the water to blow bubbles.

Cousins Alex & Alli.

Lily, watering Uncle Stan's foot.

Siblings Mike, Tom & Jenny in the middle, hot dogging.

Tracy, Kel & Jeanne hot dogging.

Cousins Alli, Lily, Kel (in her fav shirt) & Davis on the screened in porch.

Lily & Grandma.

Stuart keeping watch over the pontoon boat.

Ivan enjoying a pontoon ride.

Frisco resting on Aunt Kel's foot on the pontoon boat.

Lily helping Grandpa drive the pontoon boat.