Washington and now Colorado...the Family Visits Continue! July 6-11

So after a great visit to Sarah and Joe's we are on to Brett and Natalie's in Denver.  Thus far our air travel has been great...on time and uneventful. Our flight out was an early one at 5:30 AM local time so we were up at 3:30 to catch the 4 AM shuttle from the hotel to the airport.  Arriving in the Rockies.

With the time change we arrived for the next shuttle driver in Denver at 9 AM....and our shuttle driver was great.  Of course he should have been given it was Brett!  He arranged for a rental car through the dealership where he works so that was really easy too.  A nice VW Tiguan for the few days of travel with them.  Brett checking out the rental car to us.

We spent the day getting organized in the Springhill Suites, our home for a few days courtesy of Marriott points.  In the evening Brett treated us to a wonderful dinner in Boulder at a local, organic, fresh scratch type cooking restaurant, Shine Restaurant and Gathering Place.  We were fortunate to go to Boulder early as it became hotter every day we stayed.  Plus, unfortunately a fire started that would have caused traffic issues to drive there.  It was fun walking the shopping and restaurant district...oh and the ice cream wasn't bad either on a warm evening.
Thursday at noon we met Linda and Roger, friends we made 10 years ago while boating at North Shore Marina in Grand Haven. They have a home south of Denver and were kind enough to meet us halfway for lunch.  It was great seeing them and catching up a bit.  Sorry no pictures....had too much to talk about and we had to let Roger get back to work too.  :>)  We did steal this image from Facebook though.....you guys still look the same as when we met you 10 years ago!!

Thursday night we went to Brett and Natalie's home and had a great grilled chicken dinner...thanks for the expert grilling Brett!  The patio at their rental home was really nice to relax and chat.  And we also met the new kitten...wow they are small when 8 or +9 weeks old!  We made plans for the rest of our stay and had a wonderful evening.
Friday, both Brett and Natalie took the day off and we went hiking at Roxborough State Park. 

We hiked the Rim Trail, a 3 mile loop that was really nice. It got pretty warm by the end of the hike which ended just about time for lunch which we had on the way back to Westminster.  We left Brett and Natalie to enjoy the rest of their day off and we did chores...yes one still has laundry when on vacation.  Yes, this is a six week vacation from cruising and living aboard...and yes we do miss our home (boat) but are thoroughly enjoying our family time too!
Saturday Brett had a full day planned for us.  We were picked up at 7 AM for a full 12 hour day trip. Brett drove us to Steamboat Springs and we stopped at Dumont Lake along the way. A beautiful small mountain lake.  We also hiked to Fish Creek Falls along the way.

 

We arrived in Steamboat late morning and went to lunch at a cute little restaurant, Sweet Pea, along the Yampa River and watched fly fisherman and tubers float down the river.  The tubing looked like a lot of fun on a hot afternoon!
After a little shopping we got back in the SUV and headed up Buffalo Pass, an unpaved four wheel drive type road about 8 miles to Summit Lake.  It took quite a while at 10 MPH or so as the road was pretty rough.  Saw lots of great campsites along the way, one of which Brett pointed out he had camped at. It was a bumpy ride and was the reason Brett picked the Tiguan for our rental. 

Beautiful vistas up there for sure.

 Still snow in mid July!

 

 

 On the ride home we saw the smoke and heard about the fire west of Westminster forcing evacuations of over a thousand people.  In fact, we met one of the displaced families in the parking lot of our hotel later that evening.  We hope and pray they contain the fire which was started by careless campers not properly dousing their campfire. Here is a shot of a firefighting plane flying in a pattern over our hotel.

Three homes had been destroyed at the time of this writing (7/12).
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/10/campers-alabama-arrested-arson-colo-wildfire/86927252/
Sunday morning we picked up Brett and Natalie for brunch with Natalie's parents.  It was great to meet them and spend some time walking around old town Arvada.  A new record temperature was recorded in Denver...102 degree...so it was a warm afternoon.  So that meant a trip to the local ice cream store too.
Sunday night we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill with Brett and Natalie.  How does a visit come to an end so fast?!  We had a great time talking with them and wishing them the best with their kitten who was taken to the vet in the morning.  Long story short, thankfully she is much better as we write this.  Sounds to us like she is back to normal.
Our shuttle driver (OK our son) picked us up at 7 AM for our flight to Grand Rapids to visit Jordan and Eliza.  Thanks for all the driving and hospitality Brett and Natalie.   We had a great time in Colorado!   The wonderful family visits continue......