It was a Good Friday night as had some whisky from a fine Scotsman who collects and shares whisky. Notice it is whisky and not whiskey a fine distinction and much debate while having whisky. It was good to get out of the house and bring over some shortbread which is a grown up animal cracker but so much more full of buttery goodness. I had to pack in the morning so left at 11 to wake up at 8.
Saturday July 1, 2023
It is officially July and we are doing a test run in packing. I do not like my bag. I filled it up with 33 pounds of junk and can’t put a water bottle in it since the pockets are not stretchy. I choose poorly. It does feel like a quality bag but would rather have a slight bigger bag so access my stuff like a claim she’ll with stretchy outer pockets for all my extra stuff. I’m going to hand down my bag to the girl who only brought 10 pounds of stuff. The boy had 16 pounds. Fiona had 28 pounds. We each had a laptop so when we go to Africa should be fine. The alan came to collect us at 9, and we made it to the gate by 9:15. We were not boarding until 11. So I walked with the kids to find drinks and snacks from gate 32 to the bagel shop. Niamh got an everything bagel with cheese which apparently was very tasty. I got a grilled cheese panni with plastic I mean American cheese. Lawson went back to the gate and I killed time with Niamh by walking to Starbucks at gate 22 and finishing our foods. then we walked to gate 1 in terminal A and that is the place to wait for a plane. We passed two brewpubs. At 10:15 we turned around and got back to the gate at 10:45. It was a much busier airport. We where C and no one was behind us. I popped into an isle seat in row 6, and the wife and kids managed to all sit together in row 26 against the toilet. Apparently Lawson didn’t know where the door to the toilet was and cabin crew told him it was the upper bins and the lower bin in the kitchen to give him a hard time. Fiona got a chuckle out of it. I had a Lagunitis IPA and some salty southwest snacks while I watched two episodes so the Outlaws. A very clever and well written show. We landed at 3 and made our way to the Alamo. We did a self checkout which was painful the amount of button clicks that had to be performed. We managed to get into the car by 3:50 and proceed to navigate to the closest McDonald’s to pick up junk for the little people and maybe some for the big people. We arrived at 7 to Grand Lake and parked outside the ice cream shop. When coming into town I remembered the moped shop and the board walk.
It really has not changed except there are a bunch more people. This was a sleepy little town and the boardwalk was new when we got here in the 80s. We ate at the Waterfront for dinner. I had my first official Colorado beer in Grand Lake. I split a cheese board with Fiona, had some salad from Niamh, and a bit of mac-n-cheese from PopPop. All very tasty.
After dinner we walked back to the parents cabin at Lemon Lodge. It was a nice place. We moseyed down to the river which feed into the lake and proceeded to get swarmed by mosquitoes. We had some ice cream at 9:30 as we walked back to the car. Two scoops of cookies-n-cream for me and the boy. We managed to find the Airbnb that my brother got up the hill from the town. It is called the Hilltop House. It is ok by nothing fancy. Not enough towels, but has a great view of the lake.
Sunday July 2. 2023
Took a shower and got up at 8:30. Mark took his two youngest down to fish. Our kids are still asleep. People finally got up and we went to town around 10:45 and popped over to the Blue Water Bakery where I got an iced dark mocha, Fiona a Coke, water for Niamh, and Lawson blue juice. We also ordered a very flat non-holey everything bagel for Niamh which she ate three-quarters.
Then we moseyed into tourist traps and bought a shark hats, postcards, rubber duck, and a build-it-yourself Dreamcatcher.
By then it was lunchtime and it was very busy so we kept walking until we found a place that didn’t have a line. We found Charlie’s Sports Bar and Grill serving Mexican food. We called my parents and texted Mark and everyone showed up! I split a quesadilla with Fiona and had a Coors. In fact I had two banquet beers for good measure. Mark was taking his kids out on his rafts so we made a plan to meet him in an hour to trade up. We made our way to an outfitter store and managed to get a few things for our next trip but got a call from Mark saying Levi wanted to fish and not paddle his brother around so the boat was our if we wanted to go now. So we hustled out of the store and left our primo parking spot to get back to the house to put on swim suits and a sun shirt. I looked good in twos different plaids. We went to the boat launch on the wrong side of the bridge but then found Point Park with a killer parking spot. We found Mark and his kids fishing, and the rafts. I loaded on sunscreen, and off we went.
There are two bridges and a channel that connects each lake. I paddled Lawson out to Grand Lake while he fished as fishing for kids 14 and under do not need a license. We managed to squeeze throw a small opening rather then take up the boat opening. We managed to get more power bait off Mark and go throw the boat opening on the way back through the bridge. Once through, Lawson wanted to paddle so I let him and I fished. He paddled a half mile to the big wooden bridge with kids jumping from it. Luckily when we where there they didn’t land on and boats and no boats ran into them. We switched places and towed back and at some point Lawson decided to move to the from of the boat. As I was rowing towards Grand Lake Fiona and Niamh appeared at the Point Park and walked to the bridge where NW Marshall kids where fishing. It was not bad with Lawson in front but when we got back to the Grand Lake Bridge decided he should take a swim. Boy the water is cold, or as I call it refreshing. I was done being in the sun as it was an hour, and loaded up the boats on Marks SUV! Fiona drove my wet butt and three kids back to the house. Niamh wanted to get out and wanted to take a walk. So we hiked up to the left and managed to find our way to the Grand Lake Lodge the place we where going to dinner tonight at 7:45. The view was very good.
We came back, started the game of RISK, and the grandparents came over with whiskey and wine. We took the family picture with placeholders for Micah and Kate when they arrive after Kate’s Vegas volleyball tournament. I had two whiskey and changed and we popped in the car to arrive on time at 7:45. We waited and I had a beer called Buffalo Gold from Boulder Beer, and another from Hideaway Park Brewery called a Cold IPA. I’m not sure what makes it cold but the beer was not warm. I had a wedge salad with heaps of blue cheese and some crispy flattened potatoes with my beer. Levi managed to get a raw hamburger eat half and then get another at the correct temperature with heaps of fries. We finished around 9 and made it back to the house. PopPop and Amah made it back on the own and we took 8 in Marks car. I turned in Independence Day the movie the long version but then NW kids needed to go to bed so had to turn it down and it was getting late so we popped off too. I took a shower and apparently locked Lawson out who was brushing his teeth but my question was why did he leave the bathroom? Niamh thought it was hilarious that I locked him out and told me as much when I was brushing my own teeth.
Monday July 3, 2023
I had the craziest dreams, woke up for water, and had a nose bleed. Damn dry air. Woke up at 9:15 and now it is 10:30ish. We headed over to Amah and PopPop’s cabin and headed out for lunch. We ate ate Grand Pizza and had 2 individual and 2 small pizzas with drinks abound for 80ish dollars. A small veggie was 25 bucks which I’m not sure was right but had 12 toppings mine only had 4 toppings and was 12 bucks for an individual. It was tasty with my Michelob Ultra. The only problem was they had no Wi-Fi to call around to make dinner reservations. So I walked with Fiona to sagebrush and the earliest they could do a table for 10 was 8:30. No beuno . We walked back and then I walked down to Rockies and they were open at 7 for 10. Excellent. I came back and finished lunch, and the parents went back to their cabin. We checked out the rest of the town and stopped by the World’s End for a beer (what’s your?), wine, bathroom, and WiFi. I sent my message to mark on how the kids could fish and he replied that the gear was in the garage. I was confused as how could they be on a boat fishing without their gear? So we walked back to the cabin to get the car and we’re going to leave to go back but the Mark and 3 kids showed up. I guess they had gotten a guided fishing tour? Thanks for giving me and our kids the choice to come or decline? Lame. We brought food for fourth back to our hilltop house but after visiting was no time to go to lake and fish for 1.5 hours before getting ready for dinner. We played RISK and had Coors, and popped down to lemon lodge for another beer and then a walk to Rockies. I had cheese curds and an Upslope beer. After dinner lawson, me and the grandparents walked to ice cream as the others went back to the house. While walking back Lawson got to ride a mechanical bull! He did very good. We finished Independence Day the movie.
I forgot to mention the coolest park of the day was that we saw a real live moose, two of them. It just wandered out in front of us as we went down the hill from the house around 11am. I think Niamh got a picture of a moose butt!
Tuesday July 4, 2023
Happy July 4. Woke up at 7:30 to write this and play Pokémon. Mostly play Pokémon. Off to a hike at Adams Falls. We showed up at the park right at the nick of time! We pulled into the parking lot at 8:55AM so we didn’t have to make a reservation to go hiking! Off we went for our 1.5 hour hike to the falls. Looks like my Strava app to show the hike didn’t work which is a bummer, but we made it to the falls with PopPop not having the best balance and cut his hand and forearm. He was more concerned about his camera so we took his camera away from him for the rest of the hike. We made it to the falls and it was all cemented in with a little wall. We did the loop and then walked to the meadow and then turned around. Mark and Peter stayed behind in the meadow to fly fish. The 8 of us all made it back down the trail without incident. Here are a few pictures.
We made it back to the house and I took Lawson fishing. We fished for an hour and caught a lure. Now I’m not an expert in planes, but think Lawson and I heard and saw F22 planes, four of them fly twice around the lake! Super loud! Then a bomber popped over a house right in front of us to say hello. I’m not sure I’ve been at a Fourth of July randomly fishing and had military aircraft just pop out if no where. It was very cool. I hope Ukraine gets the F16s as they are freaking amazing if they are anything like what we saw and heard. Lawson liked the car-boat and the power bait attempt of fishing!
We got back to the house around 1:30 and I ate a cheese sandwich that Mark and my dad picked up. I guess mark had his kids run up the hill from the deli shop which took 20 minutes? It is a very steep hill and quite a hike. I had a Coors with lunch and then Niamh wanted to go to town so we popped down and picked blue masking tape, aluminum foil, and travel sized Kleenex. It hailed on us twice as we walked around. Nuts. First hail storm on a Fourth of July too.
We made it back to the house and watched Legally Blond, and then Napoleon Dynamite. It was cocktail hour so had a whisky and a Coors. It hailed again while at the house. Even more ferocious than at town. Nuts. It hailed on us four times for the day. Mark did the grill, mom stirred the beans, and Fiona helped with everything else.
I called Mark a ______ since he thought it was funny to knock my phone onto the floor when I was attempting to take a family picture. I guess I should have counted to three and said that I really didn’t think it funny to knock my phone setup that I worked hard on rigging up to capture a nice family picture of this special occasion in Colorado that might never happen again. I feel that he _____ all over the moment when all I asked him to do was come sit down at the table for a nice family picture. Instead I called him a _______ in front of all the kids and my parents. Good times. While we waited for the fireworks over the lake I tuned into the Washington DC fireworks via YouTube. It was nice. The local fireworks started at 10 and were very good from the porch.
Wednesday July 5, 2023
I could not sleep and had to get up twice, so gave up and started this update at 5am. It is 6am now, a work day. We get to pack, and Fiona will drive while I catch up in the car. We are leaving around 8:30 to 9 to hopefully make it to the airport by noon. Our flight leaves around 2 and we get in around 4 PST, so should be home around 5. I’m planning on checking my dumb bag, and carry on all the important bits for working. Hopefully they have working WiFi unlike the first plane?