South Lake Tahoe, CA

It took us 15.5 hours but we made it the South Lake Tahoe and it was beautiful. The lake is HUGE! It is as wide as it is deep. To drive around the lake it is about 70 miles. We stayed at Dave's Grandparent's cabin that they have owned since the 70's. I was delighted when I got out of the car in Tahoe at the wonderful smell, clean and almost sweet. I guess that there are Jeffrey Pine's that have vanilla scented bark. Dave and I did a lot of hiking and swimming all over the area. We hiked to Angora Lakes and jumped off some rocks into the water. We also walked throught the burn area from the Tahoe fire 2 years ago (which was not very far away from the cabin). I felt like we were walking through a cemetary or something with all the burned trees and ash on the ground.
One day we visited Uncle Andy and Susan that live about 1 hour west of Tahoe. They took us to a park with a river and we just relaxed in the water and caught up with eachother. For dinner we went to In N' Out Burger. Very delicious but thankful we do not have them in Colorado.
One day we drove around the entire lake. It was pretty fun to see all the towns around and we stopped in Tahoe City. There is a bridge where you can look over and see trout that are over 2 feet long and weigh over 20 pounds. They are protected so the fish just keep growing! It was funny though, Lake Tahoe is so big I almost felt like we were at the beach without the salt water:)
We also went to Emerald Bay which is a tourist sight to see in the area. The bay is beautiful and there is an island (the only island on the lake) in the middle.
I thoroghly enjoyed playing in the water everyday. In Colorado we do not have natural lakes like this. Here are some pictures of the trip:

The Cabin


Camp Richardson, Lake Tahoe


At the Hippie Pond (where the Tahoe Fire started)


Burn area


The butt burning hike up to the lakes.


We jumped off the rocks across the lake in this picture.


Angora Lakes


Dave with his Old Man Pipe and the old Green Chair at the Cabin.


The Beaver Pond. Dave in his sweet Rockies Floppy Hat!


Fallen Leaf Lake


Old Ski Lift = New Swing


Awesome Sign!


Sunset over El Dorado Beach, Lake Tahoe.


Yes!


Fallen Leaf Lake (Papa's Secret Spot)


Tahoe City: doesn't this look like the beach?


Above Emerald Bay.


We saw this boat while we were in Emerald Bay. I think it was called the Queen Tahoe.


Dave and SMokey just chillin'


After our only dinner out, we went to 'The Brewery'. Yummy beer:)


Freakin' HOT in the desert of the drive home!


Asher missed her mom while she stayed in Berthoud for the week. This is the drive home:)

Hot Springs Pictures

Starting out.



The trail, there is an old cabin on the left of the picture.



The two smaller pools.





Happy to be done!


On our way home, we went from Aspen to Leadville over the Contenental Divide. Very beautiful up there, but windy!!

Conundrom Hot Springs: Aspen, CO

This past weekend Dave and I got the chance to get away from the city and heading for a little mountain air. We have been wanting to do a little backpacking before the end of the summer and the weather forecast looked good (no rain), so we went for it. We drove 3.5 hours to Aspen early Saturday morning with a hike to Conundrom Hot Springs in our sights. We have been waiting to do this hike because of all the hipe about naked hippies in the natural hot springs... no just kidding, but the hike was appealing with a great reward to soak in the hot springs.

We stopped in Glenwood Springs on our way to Aspen and to our surprise there was a Kawana's Pancake breakfast!!! We were able to fill up our bellies for the long hike ahead and it was the most delicious pancake breakfast I have ever been to!!

We arrived at the trail head in Aspen and started hiking around 10am. The hike is approximately 8.5 to 9 miles and it took us 5 hours to make it up. We were each carrying a backpack full of our camping gear, so our shoulders and hips were getting pretty sore as we neared our final destination. Dave did a great job encouraging me to push through the pain and make it to camp. The trail you follow on this hike winds with the Conundrom Creek and there was one river crossing without a bridge. The bridge had been washed out and not replaced by the Forrest Service yet. We had to go through calf deep freezing cold water but we survived the trips across.

To have a fire up there, you had to camp at least 1/4 of a mile from the springs (which was fine with us) because camping is not camping unless you have a fire.

Up at the hot springs, we were greeted with an open valley with the springs flowing down the side of the mountain. There was one large pool (about the size of a small rectangular pool) and 3 smaller pools (hot tub size or less). The springs are supposedly over 100 degrees. The springs we much smaller than we anticipated but it was still great to soak in. The views from the hot springs were amazing. Massive mountains surrounded the area and it was great to just relax and take in the fresh air. Also, the springs did not smell funny at all...I thought they would be sulfury, but to our luck, nothing.

Well, that was our weekend in Aspen.

***I will post pictures when we get our computer fixed.

Another happening:
I ran a half-marathon on August 8th, then Dave and I played in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. My race went great and the tourney was fun, but I was very worn out! My full marathon in on September 20th in Boulder, so come cheer me on if you are in the area!!


Also, we are headed to Lake Tahoe, CA, this week! Dave's Grandparents own a cabin there, so Dave had a week off of school so we're drivin' to Tahoe!!! I am very excited!

Happy 4th...

I know it has been a few days since the fourth, but here are some pictures from our day. Dave and I decided to go hiking in Boulder on the morning of the fourth before we went to Berthoud. The hike was amazingly beautiful!!! I always knew Boulder was nice, but being able to hike to the top of the flatirons gave me a new thankfulness for Colorado!

During the day, Dave's parents had his extended family over for a barbecue (that got a TON of rain and wind for about 30 minutes). I got to finally met the last Uncle and Aunt on his dad's side. They are missionaries with their 3 kids in Kazakhstan. It was nice to finally meet them and to spend a little time with Dave's family. We had a great fourth! Happy Birthday America:)

St Louis, MO

WOW... Dave and I made a whirl-wind trip to St Louis and had a great time with friends we have not seen in a while. Brett and Caitlin's wedding was beautiful and made me think I was in a movie or something. Here are a bunch of pictures of the main events: the Arch, the Stadium and the wedding. Dave was not only pumped to see his good friend Brett, but I think he may have been even more pumped to see the St Louis Cardinals stadium. It is a very new stadium and it was very impressive! It had the 'historic' look much like Coors Field, but the history with the Cardinals cannot be beat. It was very HOT and HUMID in St Louis, but we enjoyed the time we had anyway:)



Yes, I have been working out, I know, my muscles are HUGE!!





Handstand :)






The park near the Arch...






The Stadium!!





Dave in front of Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals home!





The view from our seats, we were on the top level, but you could not beat the great St. Louis view! Gotta love the arch!








Church, wedding and Reception Pictures:


Trinity Lutheran Church





Smile!!!






On the front church steps... isn't the dress cute! (it is the dress I wore to senior prom)






Reception site: Magic Chef Mansion







Dave found a swing while we were having cocktails...






Just arrived at the reception and the tent was beautiful.






Amazing centerpiece at the reception.






Brett & Caitlin's first dance







The tent was beautifully lit up at night.




We were 'glowing' after a night of dancing in the mid-west:)

St Louis this weekend....

Dave and I are driving to St Louis, MO, this weekend for a friends wedding!! Wahooo!!! We were not planning on attending (and Dave had to decline on being in the wedding) due to his clinical rotations, but Dave was able to get this week off of work! Our friend Brett is who Dave and I drove out to California with during Spring Break in college. He is also in medical school out in St Louis but his rotation do not start until July.

While Dave and I are in St Louis, we are going to the new Busch Stadium to go to a St Louis Cardinals baseball game. I think Dave might be the most excited about this part ;) No seriously, though, I think we are going to have a wonderful weekend!! Pray for out safety with all the driving:)

Mt. Bierstadt: 14,060 feet

It was a beautiful weekend in Colorado, minus the funnel cloud in Denver on Sunday. Dave and I were able to go hiking on Sunday and we hiked Mt. Bierstadt in Georgetown. So one more 14er down and I DID NOT EVEN VOMIT THIS TIME!! Wahoooooo! I am very proud that I was able to hike and not get sick! I must be growing up :) Ha Ha Ha... Anyway, the hike was a lot of fun! We got an early start in the morning (like 6:30am) and were at the top about 2 hours later. The last part of the hike included packed snow that was like a stair master. But the hike was worth the marvelous views at the top. It was a very clear morning and we had a 360 degree view of the mountains around us. It was pretty cold at the top though, as you can see we are bundled up. The way down was very fun b/c we slid on our butts/feet down the packed snow. It was much easier than huffing it down the snow.


This is a picture from the parking lot.



Dave powering through the hike...





Here I am on the snowy slope...



The top seemed sooo close, yet soooo far away.





That is me and our friend Ty huffing it up the mountain.





Gorgeous view from the top...



I made it!!!






Wahoooo... we made it to the top and I am not sick!!!








Another beautiful shot of the snow and mountains (that is actually Mt. Evans behind us).


That sums up our pictures from the hike. It was really great to enjoy the beautiful Colorado outdoors. Also, on the drive up to Mt. Bierstadt, Dave and I saw lots of fishing and camping spots to come back to. Georgetown is only about 1 hour from Denver, so it is nice to have a quick idea of where to camp.


I just wanted to add these next pictures to the blog:
Here is me celebrating my Monopoly Victory over Dave and our friend Ty!!!!! For those of you who do not know, Monopoly is Dave's favorite game, and I beat him! I have since decided to retired from my Monopoly career. Ha ha ha!

Here is Dave handing over the last of his cash!





Throwing up the money...





Celebrating sweet success!!