Kenosha Pass, Georgia Pass & Breckenridge Pt. 1

A few days ago, we took a break from everything remotely considered work and decided to go four-wheeling. A much needed and much deserved break. MacGyver's been working me pretty hard lately (can you hear the violin's playing in the background?). The kiddos were also starting their Thursday school the following day and we wanted to get one last fling in before school set in full-force! So, we decided to head towards Breckenridge via Georgia Pass. Georgia Pass is a four-wheel drive trail rated easy to moderate so it should be easy enough to do in the truck. We usually save the harder trails for the Jeep. We definitely needed the high clearance but only used the 4x4 in a few spots. We took almost 300 pictures in one day. Yikes! I've pulled out a small percentage of that to share but still decided to break it up into 2 blogs...Going over Kenosha Pass (which is a paved road) and Georgia Pass (four-wheeling), and then Breckenridge, where we ended a beautiful, fun-filled family day with more fun and yummy pizza! These are mostly flora and fauna pictures and not a lot of family pictures. We are definnitely nuts about God's beautiful creations!

Stopping for a picnic lunch

 Remants of the old Santa Fe railroad

Snow still visible in the valleys with temps in the mid 80's

First sign of leaves changing

MacGyver teaching the kiddos how to gold pan in one of the creeks we crossed

Chipmunks (aka minibears), cool rocks and flora

And when we got to the top of Georgia Pass, we saw these:

There were about a dozen mountain goats hanging out, eating the grass. (I'm not exactly sure why their tongues are sticking out but we thought it was funny)! Ike decided he would try to sneak up on them and see if he could pet them. After ensuring him they were wild, would run and may charge, he decided to listen to his own wisdom...I want to pet them! Needless to say, we were ready with the camera to capture him getting butted by the mountain goats (we are solid parents, huh?). An eleven year old is old enough to know better! Fortunately, they were indeed scared of him but did little more than move away slowly and continued to hang out and graze. He did get within a few feet of the big daddy! It was funny to watch him squatted down, walking like a duck one step at a time trying to "sneak" up on them.

At one point, MacGyver yelled out the window, "watch out for the one coming up behind you"! He shot up and started running for the truck before he realized his dad was teasing him. LOL!

We also saw a bunch of different kinds of huge, cool looking but very poisonous mushrooms.

An old outhouse just a few yards away from an old mining cabin

But the highlight of the trip, was seeing a mama and her two baby...

MOOSE!

They were grazing in one of the meandering creeks. We have never seen the wild moose in Colorado before. The only wild moose we've ever seen were in Yellowstone. We were so excited!

  

The babies went and hid behind the shrub while mama continued to nibble

A beautiful pond showing the signs of mining from over a hundred years ago!

 

Kenosha Pass, Georgia Pass & Breckenridge Pt. 2

Our fun family day took us over Kenosha Pass and Georgia Pass and concluded in Breckenridge, a ski resort located about an hour and a half west of us. As the dirt road met the paved road coming into Breckenridge, we stopped at an historic site. We found an old gold-dredging boat dating back to the 1890's. I never knew there was such a thing!!!

After grabbing a buffalo chicken pizza from Northside Pizza, we jumped on the gondola...

We rode the gondola (this one is taken from inside) which happened to be a 25 minute ride with 3 stops and 3 turns along the way. I've never ridden such a long gondola with so many stops. It was pretty cool. The very last stop was where the Fun Area is with the Alpine Slide, putt-putt and a bunch more summer and winter activities. We didn't get off and play because we were the last to get on the gondola before they shut down for the day and weren't prepared to hike all the way down! By the way, did I mention that Ike is afraid of heights? He tolerates these things pretty well but doesn't like for anyone to stand or move around while we are in transit. To put it mildly, It Freaks Him Out!

By the way, Breckenridge is one of the prettiest towns I've ever been to. The residences and businesses have spent a lot of time and money making it a town you want to come to for either a romantic getaway or a family vacation and in any season. I've been here a few times at different times of the year and it is one of my favorite local spots. And it is way more affordable than our other local celebrity hangouts like Vail or Aspen, where even the fast food can be expensive!

After walking around town a bit, we decided we needed some icecream...

I realized just now I really should have taken before and after pictures...I think she had more on her face than she actually ingested!

Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting your waffle cone and cupcake icecream moment? What a look!!!

And the local wildlife are always looking for a handout!

As we were walking back to the truck, the kiddos decided they wanted to go bouldering in the river. It was kind of hard as a mom to watch them jumping from wet rock to wet rock, but there is always a part of me that wants them to enjoy life without taking into accout my fear. I have noticed that kids like to give their mother's heart attacks and strokes. They even think it is funny.

They crossed the river 4 or 5 times.

And as they became bolder bouldering...there's a tongue twister for you...the funnier the situation became. I knew it was a matter of time before one of them took a plunge into that frigid, icy, straight out of the mountain, water. And guess what?

It was just a matter of time! What a laugh! The kiddos had a blast, and Ike had a change of clothes and an extra pair of shoes waiting for him. (We like to come prepared because we never know what situation we will find ourselves in)!

As we headed home, we passed Lake Dillon and saw some boaters, a family and their dog playing in the water and enjoying the beautiful day, as well. Ya gotta love the diversity of Colorado!

Did I mention Colorado has 300 sunny days a year?

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My, My! Exciting Week!

My, My! It's been an exciting week around the Cooper Cabin!

This afternoon MacGyver's department was called out to a possible meth lab in a house. They arrived to find a bomb making house, not a meth lab. There were bombs and bomb making supplies everywhere. Then the bomb squad and bomb robot got involved. I'm glad he's "just" a firefighter and not on the bomb squad. I'm not sure I could handle him having that high risk of a job.

This morning, the Forest Ranger called to inform us they were tracking a collared mountain lion that has become a problem. He is getting aggressive and brave and a little too close to people. They wanted to let us know they tracked him to about 20 yards from our house. They asked us to be cautious and not let the kiddos or dogs get too far from us. We are hosting/taking a concealed permit class in a few weeks. It's perfect timing! And the kiddos are not allowed outside without taking Maggie, my overly protective Bernese Mountain Dog.

Yesterday, the dogs were barking. The kiddos went outside to investigate and realized the bear was getting into the trash can. Maggie, the guard dog, took off after it and chased it off. As much as a diva as she is, she makes me feel safer knowing she's around.

Earlier this week, my girl, Izzy, took first place with her 4-H quilt at our county fair. She will be sending it down to the state fair next week. We'll just have to see how that goes! I'm so proud of her! Thank you, Sandra, for all your help! I learned a lot about myself working alongside my girl.

A few days ago I tried to take off the tip of my pinky finger. I managed to keep it mostly intact but cracked my nail in the middle of the nail and bruised it very badly. I think I am going to lose it. I just wish the pain and throbbing would stop! And then the next day I slipped and fell down the mountain and cut my other hand and both of my forearms all up.

Both our laptops were down but we got one of them back with a brand new motherboard installed. Just like new! Now we need to get the other one up and running!

My chocolate lab is 5 weeks pregnant, starting to show and will be delivering in just 3 short weeks. We've been working on setting up a kennel with a top so the mountain lions don't get any of our pups. That would be terrible!

Dog Stories #2

MacGyver just called. He's at the fire department on shift today. They were called to a MVA (motor vehicle accident) where a guy wrapped his car around a tree. Evidently he had several outstanding warrants and was trying to outrun the police. He was out of the car and in custody when they arrived but was, in technical terms, messed up. Unfortunately, his dog was trapped inside the car and had to be extricated. Another innocent life saved! This was not his first time his expertise was called on to save a member of the canine species.

Last month they were just getting back from a call when someone started knocking on the bay doors. Mac opened the door to find a hysterical woman. Her dog was in respiratory distress and was in the back of her car. She threw him in the back of the car and drove to the nearest station. He called to the other guys and they went out to the car to find an old shepherd mix struggling to breathe. They put a canine mask on him and gave him oxygen. They keep them on their rigs for use in fires, mainly, but definitely came in handy today. The dog's normal vet was closed so they took him to Alameda East which is the same Alameda East from Animal Planet's Emergency Vets. They were able to take him in and get him all fixed up. Evidently he had something like a paralyzed trachea. This was not his first time saving a dog or hysterical pet owner. I'll have to blog about the first time another day. I have a feeling this won't be his last save.

Dog Stories #1

On the way home from church today we saw Australian Shepherd puppies for sale. They were so cute. I love their two colors of eyes and all the variations of colors. It reminded me of something I just had to blog about. A couple of years ago we were looking for our second Search and Rescue dog. We looked high and low for almost 6 months. SAR dogs are special and you are looking for a dog with a specific personality and drive. They have to be friendly but not overly so. They have to be courageous but not stupid. They have to be easily trained but be able to think and work on their own. They need to be playful but serious, too. And they seriously need to have an on/off switch so they will work hard when it is time to work and lay at your feet when they are not working. There are several breeds that seem to dominate Search and Rescue. We mostly see German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Labs, and Border Collies. Neither breed is better than the other, but each of them have their own strengths and differences, but they all have an incredible work ethic. These dogs are unstoppable and they love to Search! My Bernese Mountain Dog, Maggie, is not a picture of a SAR dog. In fact, she is always hot, hates change (you should have seen the way she acted the other day when I rearranged my bedroom), is very wary of strangers, acutely protective of me, does not take direction or discipline well, pouts, hides, and runs any time I want her to do something, and chases anything that moves, which is a big "no no" in Search. You could say we have a love-hate relationship. Definitely not SAR material.

So, the search was on. We looked at hundreds of dogs from private owners who were hoping to rehome their pets, humane societies, and even looked at a women's prison that took in and trained working dogs. That was quite an experience. We saw an add for working Border Collie puppies on a ranch in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. We weren't optimistic but we went anyway. We arrived just in time to see the owner pulling up with his flat-bed truck pulling his horse trailer with four Border Collies riding on back. This elderly, weathered, chap-wearing cowboy climbed out of the front to greet us. They had been out all day rounding up his free range cattle to move them. And I suddenly felt like I was talking to John Wayne and was immediately in love with this charming fellow. We chatted for a bit and he showed us to the barn to find he had two different litters from two different moms. One group was hand shy, and when we met the mom realized they had picked that up from her. The second set was very friendly and a couple of them seemed to possess the play drive and confidence we were looking for. They were seriously up for consideration and we wanted to see their parents in action. Mr. Chap-wearing Cowboy grabbed his driver, dropped a golf ball and started nailing golf balls over the fence and out into the fields. I have never seen anything so precious or timeless in my life. This dirty, tired, weathered cowboy hitting golf balls in his chaps and watching his overly eager and competitive Border Collies fight for top dog position. I only wish I could draw the picture I see in my mind. I could have grabbed a lemonade, pulled up a chair, and talked to this guy for days. We didn't end up with a Border Collie , but I am thankful for the memory.

Fun Family Time

Ike's just turned 11. He will be starting middle school this month. I realized today how long his legs are. That's where all that food goes! He's been weed-eating around the ranch and trying to make a dent in the jungle. Last month we wanted to help him get ready for his 4H County Shoot in a couple weeks. We haven't been practicing very much because the monks have started coming in to the "monkey village" for their summer retreats and we haven't wanted to disturb their solitude. So, we took off for a much needed family trip back to the spot where we took an extended camping trip last year, deep into the forest. We found a campfire that was still smoldering and a bunch of garbage strewn about. We happened to have a garbage bag handy and a few gallons of water we keep in the back for the dogs and cleaned up and put out the fire. It is unbelievable how people treat our national forests! We also brought along all our guns because Ike wanted to get some practice on his .22 and since he had never shot a shotgun before, and wanted to give it a try.

So, we found a beautiful spot where someone else set up a piece of cabinet grade wood for target shooting so we used it as a backdrop for our own targets. Again, forgive the poor quality pictures. I'm still just using my phone. I'm hoping there is a new camera in my near future, what with our anniversary and my birthday coming up. HINT HINT HINT

The kids tried the .22, .380, .9, and shotgun but were reluctant to try the 30.06. MacGyver "killled" us a couple bullseyes for dinner, though! We were all very proud!

We also did a little exploring via 4 wheel drive and I took a bunch of wildflower pictures. I also took some pictures of the aspens. I had never seen aspen before coming out west. They are one of my favorite trees now. (And the live oaks, cottonwoods and lodgepole pines)!

It was pretty overcast and a good 15 degrees cooler up here.

I love their leaves. They are called Quaking Aspens because of the sound they make when the wind whips through them. Very beautiful!

We stopped in Woodland Park, another small mountain town, on the way home and got some pizza for dinner. This is a shot of the back of Pikes Peak, where Katharine Bates wrote "America the Beautiful". You can see the front side of the Peak from our old house. Every angle of it looks completely different and is snow-capped about 10-11 months out of the year. There is also a cog railway that runs straight up the Peak. It clicks just like the old wooden roller coasters as you go up it. This is so you don't roll backwards. Its pretty cool. It is 14,100 feet, but is not the tallest in Colorado. That title is held by Mt. Elbert at 14,443 feet. We are at a mere 7,000 feet.

We had a fun family day. On the way home, Ike reminded us his birthday was coming up. When I asked what he wanted for his birthday, he surprised us. He wants a new pair of hiking shoes, a compass and a membership to the NRA. Should I be concerned? Maybe he just wants the free hat and sticker. Maybe he just wants access to the members only shooting range at the NRA Whittington Center a few hours away. I'm not sure why, or even how to feel about the last request but I have a feeling his birthday wishes are different than most boys his age. Maybe I should just be thankful he doesn't want a pair of $400 Jordan's or a keg party.

New barn cat

Evidently, we have a new barn cat. I'm guessing she's taken up housing in one of our barns. We've actually been knocking around the idea of finding a barn cat somewhere to keep the mice at bay. You would think with all the fox we see that there would be less mice. Anyway, she's been here a few nights meowing for food, (around midnight). That's just gonna have to stop. Anyway, all we had was dog food, which she didn't seem to mind. I finally told the kids about her this morning. She came back this morning meowing for more food. She is very cute and sweet and loving and is starving for attention. She is also very, very thin. The kiddos are already in love with her. They've named her Maple and I think she is calico with a little Maine Coon.

She's pretty small so I don't think she's very old. My guess is that someone dropped her off on our road hoping someone (like me) would take care of her. She's been hanging around our front steps all morning and the kids can't stand it. They are head over heels in love with her. Evidently, I need to make a trip into town for some cat food! The biggest concern I have right now is keeping my Maggie from shredding her to bits. Oh! That Maggie! She's a little protective and has a pretty big prey drive.

This is Maggie, staring at the squirrel, licking her lips, trying to decide if it is worth leaving her mama, just to give chase...

What a day! (with added pix)

Wow! What a day! We had a nice, quiet, fun family day. We did a new but rather surprising little hike. We were hoping for a longer hike but with our late start, it was just what the doctor ordered. It began and ended at a creek so the dogs and kiddos jumped in, cooled off and played a bit.

We ate our snacky packed lunch and left just as the afternoon rain was moving in. As we were leaving, a bear started to run out in front of our truck and stopped. We pulled over to try and get a picture but he decided to make a break for it behind us, climb a tree so he could get across the barbed wire fence, and took off up the hill. Sadly, these three butt shots are the only shots we got (and from my cell phone)...

After all the fun, we went home and got a short nap. Why is it that rain always makes me so sleepy? The kiddos watched Nancy Drew, we had jimbalaya for dinner with some yummy canteloupe I picked up at the Sunflower Market and then we ran to get the kids' picture IDs for 4H. The day ended with us walking our road tonight picking the brand new wild raspberries growing all over the property. Yum! Tomorrow we'll have to come prepared and bring some buckets! The sunset is beautiful and it was a nice, quiet, peaceful day. I love these kinds of days. They bring a sense of order among our crazy lives. I'll try to post some pix soon!

4-H Projects

This entire day and most of the week has been dedicated to 4-H. They each have two projects. Ike is doing rocketry and .22 rifle shooting. Izzy is doing rocketry and quilting. Little did we know that each project also requires you to complete a 15 page report relating to the goals, expenses, daily activity records and finally a report summarizing all of the above. Who knew they require so much? Not only that but they have to give a short speech about it in front of their group and meet and interview with a judge on exhibit day. Wow! Needless to say, all our brains are fried and in serious need of some chocolate. We are still working on putting the finishing touches on all our projects, too. This 4-H stuff is harder than it looks. And it took them all day to finish up just one of their reports! Yikes. I'm glad we still have another week. I was dreaming all about it last night. I'm ready for summer to start. What? It's almost over? My bubble is too fragile. I am going to pretend we have another month. Maybe I will just dream of the beach tonight.

Summer reading

As a homeschooling mom, I sometimes get frustrated that I can't pack a lifetime of knowledge into a single school year. I have found, though, that we can take a bite out of it at a time and can add a little salt and flavor to the necessary schoolbooks by stretching it into summer fun reading. The kiddos have already completed their summer reading programs through the library and we're just getting started. They love reading on their own but love for me to read with and to them, still. I love to learn as much as they do so it is time well spent. And all the snuggle time is good for this mom's heart and health! We're working on completing the series of DK Eyewitness Books. They each have different authors but are designed basically the same. This summer, we are checking out 2 of them at a time, giving each of my kiddos a chance to pick the one they are most interested in, every time we go to the library and in addition to their own solo choices. There are hundreds of them on every conceivable topic...states, travel, medicine, etc. The one on skeletons and epidemics is slightly disturbing. Maybe a little more than slightly. Be forewarned. Ike loves the science and history ones, and definitely the spy one. Izzy loves the bug and animal ones. I love them all but dig the ones on anything discussing medical, geography and science. I think that pretty much covers all of them. The electrical and technology ones are fun but can be a little "yawn" for me. Just not my thing. I'm just not "wired" that way. We own a few of these DK books and have loved pouring over the pages. They are laid out almost like a magazine with a bunch of insert pictures with short descriptions and tidbits, longer paragraphs, and are a little more comprehensive than an encyclopedia (do you still remember those pre-google things?), but also provide fun and little-known facts.

I took some pictures to show you but I believe my computer has just been infected or taken hostage so I switched computers so I could finish this post. I'll have to deal with that one tomorrow. Yikes!

Ike picked out the Civil War one this time. There was a little picture and description that told how some of the boys that were under 18 enlisted and didn't want to lie about their ages. So, they creatively decided to write the number 18 on a piece of paper and tuck it into their shoes so that when they were asked if they were over 18 they felt like they could honestly answer "yes". Or the story of how one general lost his right arm, another lost his left arm and they joked that they could buy a pair of gloves and split them. Too funny! Izzy's butterfly and moth one talked about the differences and similarities of the two like how butterflies' antennae are clubbed on the ends and moths rest their wings flat. These books are full of information and are great for little ones with colorful pictures and old people like me that like to review and learn new things. They hold your attention but are easy to pick up and put down for little ones with short attention spans. Go check a few out at the library. They are a great way to identify the different areas each of your kids are interested in and maybe open a new joy of learning for you, too!