Pumpkin Pickin'

So, Jo and I thought it would be a good idea to get in the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins. I love carving pumpkins and was so excited to go to the Rocky Mountain pumpkin Ranch to find the perfect pumpkin. We were probably the only couple there who didn't own at least two snot-nosed, screaming children, but it was a lot of fun anyway.

There were lots of funky pumpkins to choose from:

But, in the end, Jo and I decided to pick us out some good' ol' fashioned Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins. More on how the pumpkin-picking went in a minute, but first I have to tell you about the dead camel. Read on for details.

There was the mandatory petting-zoo that was set up for all the kiddies. There were goats, sheep, a llama, a donkey, ducks, a tortoise and...

A DEAD CAMEL!

Poor thing must've broken its neck somehow and there must not have been anyone to clean it up. That, or the friendly staff may have just decided that a dead camel was better than no camel at all, so they just left it.
It was so sad.



Anyway, back to the pumpkins. We cruised the field, looking for good carving pumpkins. Jo insisted that I take a picture of his shadow self "holding" a pumpkin. This one's for you, babe.


We decided to grab one of the wagons they had so we didn't have to lug our pumpkin around by hand, then we were really ready to go.














Jo scans the field, considering the possibilities.

Look how proud Jo is of his pumpkin! Like a true man, he had to go for a nice big one. Mine is smaller, but also cuter.

Jo, chivalrous as always, pulled the little wagon for me.









But it was heavier than he thought!

After paying for our pumpkins, we decided to splurge and buy a funnel cake to share, since neither of us had had one in a long time. It was sososo good. Deep fried, doughy and delicious. Definitely not something I'd eat every day, or every week for that matter, but a good treat for every once in a while. The fresh pressed apple cider we had to go with it was also amazing. Yum!

Fall Drive/My Birthday!

My birthday is on September 26th, which is just about the time that the aspens start to change color here in Colorado. Jo had promised to take me to a cave an hour or so away, in Colorado Springs, but since our work schedules weren't playing nicely, we decided my birthday would be a good opportunity for our annual fall drive, and that we'd go caving later.

Autumn is SUCH a gorgeous season here in Colorado, and the options of where to go to see the aspens are extensive. However, we chose to go check out Guanella Pass between Georgetown and Grant to see how the aspen action was shaping up. We took 285 South in order to get there, and along the way we kept seeing signs that said "i love u guys." We didn't know what was going on then, but we looked it up afterwards and it is definitely worth mentioning.

On September 27th, 2006 a gunman entered Platte Canyon High School, held seven girls hostage and ultimately shot and killed Emily Keyes. During the time she was held hostage, Emily sent her parents text messages... "I love you guys" and "I love u guys. k?"

The "I Love U Guys" Foundation was created to restore and protect the joy of youth through educational programs and positive actions in collaboration with families, schools, communities, organizations and government entities.

We stopped to take some pictures of the three bad-asses: myself, Jo, and The Jetta. Don't mess with us.
The drive up to Guanella pass was very pretty indeed. It's hard to find anything but a pretty road in the mountains of Colorado, and this was no exception. Trees gave way to alpine, until we crossed the summit.

After playing around at the top, we continued on, this time going downhill. The road was closed up ahead, so we couldn't actually make it to Georgetown, but we decided to get as far as we could anyway.

As you can see, the aspens weren't in their prime yet; we'd come a little too early. They were starting to change color, but weren't in their full-on, bright gold, shimmering glory. Last year we went a few weeks later and it was perfect timing, so we'll have to keep that in mind for next year. Still, they were very pretty.

This wdas an old water tower we came across as we drove along.

WARNING: This picture contains some extreme high-school-yearbook-senior-photo-hold-that-grin-for-a-few-more-poses-turn-your-head-this-way-a-little-more-okay-got-it-great-shot-now-lets-go-over-there-good-now-turn-towards-me-relax-your-right-hand-hold-it-looks-fantastic-that-might-be-the-one-CHEESINESS!

For the record, Jo does not normally pose like this, but we agreed it was one of those locations that was perfect for the uber-posed, senior-photo variety pic, so that's just what we did.

You look great, babe!


I'm bummed this didn't turn out on camera as good as it looked in person, but this was perhaps the most beautiful part of the drive. A dirt road lined in shimmering, shaking gold aspens. Gorgeous.

We decided to stop and check out Breckenridge, or just "Breck," as it's known to the cool kids.

Snobby little ski town, methinks. It was very pretty to look at, but artificial enough to make both of us feel slightly uncomfortable. We're more the rough-and-tumble variety, I suppose.

I did find this cute bear, who looked like he needed a hug.

And even though it was getting late, Jo found some time to hit the slopes, and get a few good runs in before it was time to go.

We passed on the over-priced food in Breck, and went to a smaller, less fancy-schmancy town about an hour away and had some yummy mexican food. We really are cheap, the both of us. Oh well, it works for us!

The waiter really loved Jo. Really. Too much. I was getting jealous. He was animated and friendly when talking to Jo, but his voice got flat and perfunctory when he begrudgingly had to take my order. When he came back to check on us he didn't even bother to address me, but went straight for his new favorite person. Honestly, I was starting to feel a little bit threatened by him. Jo seemed to love the attention...


The drive home was pretty uneventful. We decided to stop at Blackhawk, but after slot-machining away $6 (lame, we know,) we drove home and hit the sack.

Hike to Timber Lake

Hike to Timber Lake

This is late posts. We actually took this hike in early September, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Still getting used to the idea of having a blogspot, I guess. So, this was a hike in Jo's beloved Rocky Mountain National Park. Don't get me wrong- I love RMNP as well, but Jo really, really loves RMNP, and he's spent more time there than I have. It took us about an hour to get to this trailhead, but, as you will see, the drive was well worth it.

This was at the very beginning of the trail- a gorgeous stand of aspen. There were only a few cars in the parking lot and we only saw a few people on the trail, which was very nice.










As we walked along, we spotted this twisted old trunk with roots attached. It looked like a piece of abstract art. In fact, it was so inspiring that Jo had the urge to stop and spontaneously perform some Joga.

"Offering a Golden Apple" Pose

"Reaching for the Sun" Pose

"Poety in Motion" Pose

"Protecting my Life Force" Pose
"Honor the Sun" Pose

The trail followed this happy little stream for a lot of the way. There is just something about mountain streams that is so pure and wonderful!

We saw a ton of wildflowers and some mushrooms along the way.

The trail climbed at a pretty gentle grade most of the way up. After following the stream for a way, we parted ways with it and followed the trail through this forests. There were quite a few campgrounds around here and Jo and I would definitely love to come back and check those out some other time.

This is a shot of the meadow we walked along on the way to Timber Lake, which is getting very close. This is one of my favorite shots of the hike- just like a postcard.

The love of my life, totally in his element. Isn't he handsome?

And here it is, Timber Lake. So far, my favorite alpine lake in RMNP. We were the only ones there, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. It was awesome. We decided to hike along the lake to find a good rock to sit on while we ate our lunch.

This is the view from the far side of the lake. Here we are sitting on a large flat rock, the perfect place to enjoy lunch.

There were lots of lady bugs on the rocks, too. I guess they were sunning themselves. The weather really was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. Just right.

Jo had the right idea and spent some time soaking up the sun. Neither of us wanted to leave, but, alas, the real world beckoned. Then again, this was the real world, in every sense of the word. It was a lovley hike and would be well worth doing again one day.