rad 'rado

i really loved being a coloradan, however briefly and long ago that was. those mountains never stop being all drama and magic. before summer ended, we doubled up our masks, and flew to denver for a long weekend in the cool dry mountain air. we stopped off at the adorable home of our buddies the damons and their adorable town of louisville, and then kept on going until we were way out there. 

we took the always dreamy highway 6 instead of I70 and were richly rewarded with long canyon and plenty of tunnels....but weirdly no bighorn sheep, despite my insistent "here, sheepy sheepy" calling from the window. 

we rented a rustic cabin at the arapaho valley ranch on the western side of rocky mountain state park, right on the colorado river, at the shore of lake granby. it was so so good. 

we had some time to wander around this camping/cabin/ranchy/teepee/commune (?)/riverside/mountain high wonderland. 

there are all these amazing super old cowboy buildings. i mean, check this spot out. this is the "dance hall." 

we spent some time with the beanbag yard games..

and found the patio of the main lodge to be very suitable. 

inside the main lodge is the home of "colorado's smallest bar" which is basically a two seat closet sized full bar run by the owners of the ranch. 

in the morning, the sun came up, and the full colors and view of the ranch came into view. this little teepee camping village was just outside our cabin door. dreamy.

we headed off on a chilly morning hike, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, to strawberry lake. it was a beautiful hike, just a mile down the road from the ranch, and lead to a high meadow. some of the ranch people told us this meadow was the first location for the rainbow gathering. 

we kept this girl very hydrated: her last summer trip to the mountains resulted in heat stroke. 

little fish nibbles in strawberry lake!

after our hike, the damons drove up from boulder, brought us some sandwiches, and brought lots of joy and laughter for everyone. we paddled around the pond at the ranch,

and then set up for a little beach afternoon on the shores of lake granby. it was cold, but we all swam a little bit. 

then it was dinner and sunset around the corner in grand lake. perfect day. 

evening scene. this kid is a shark. 

the next morning, molly and i had a early hike, all by ourselves around monarch lake. it was gorgeous, quiet

and then the hike got exciting when we came face to face with this young bull moose on the trail, so molly grabbed a stick and her bear spray, and then we nervously made a lot of noise, and finally scrambled up the moutanside slope to let this big beautiful boy go by. 

and then we had our coffee, told everyone our moose story, and helped the damons pack up for a sunday morning drive back to their home. we said our goodbyes, and drove through the valley to the ski resort at winter park for some more mountain fun. chairlifts to alpine slides, 

gondola rides to mountain top views,

and all the ropes course and climbing we could do in that thin 9000 foot colorado air. 

and the next day was go-home day. we wandered down to the river at the ranch where we saw many osprey, 

and then we turned and headed east into the park to go home. 

last year's fire season devastation was apparent everywhere..

and up at the top of the road we found a mama moose and her baby. well, ramona spotted them while hiking. it was pretty cool. 

david did a masterful job driving up around the high alpine scenery, even though he was absolutely terrified. white knuckles and all. poor guy. 

one last picnic of all our leftovers, then airport and home by 9pm.