41-50 around the corner! 12/28

Good People--my bride of 41 years.
Good Food--we researched our many resources--5280 magazine, the web, a Gabby Gourmet diners guide and others to find Locanda Del Borgo. A neighborhood Italian place at Holly and 3rd. We will be taking lots of people there in 2009. Hot bread with olives, tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Their bruschetta was the best thing on the menu (heads up wine and appetizers people -you know who you are). Jan had veal picatta and I had their pork chop--pork chop was outstanding but the mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts were so-so. Same for Jan the veal was very good but the roasted potatoes and green beans were OK. We received a "cream sauce" covered with a strawberry jam like sauce for our anniversary and it was soooooooooooooooo good--see pic and use your imagination.
Good Exercise--we walked around Cherry Creek mall for a couple of hours, fought the crowd and bought some olive oil.
Great Retirement--39 years of work, almost 2 years of retirement all with my favorite person.

I did an 8 to 5! 12/26

I can't believe I did it! I went shopping and gift returning with Jan, Amanda and Kortney. By the time we left Park Meadows shopping center the entire parking lot was full and lots of people were driving around trying to find a space. I committed to go along the night before, Paul and I were going to do our thing while the girls did theirs. But Paul bailed on me the next morning, I don't blame him. Plans were changed so he took his dog, Christmas presents and went home. (Sounds like the old saying, "He took his toys and went home!")
Great Retirement--no more 8-5's!

Man's best friend 12/21

One of my "to do's" for 2008 was to paint 3 bedrooms and the bathrooms, too. Well, I will "getter er done" on the bedrooms but I have been too busy (Great Retirement) to finish the bathrooms.

My constant companion is our dog-Sadie. She needed to be close while I was painting--I would paint and she would wipe off some with her rear end or tail. She is still a "good" dog.

Christmas dinner & Lorie Line concert 12/16

Good People--Norm/Phyl, Eric/Heiti, Lori Line and her cast. A very nice concert of Christmas music from around the world. It brings me joy, when a celebrity to praises God and talks freely about Jesus's birthday on stage--thank you Lori. That makes this variety show a hit with me.
Good Food--dinner at 17th Avenue was OK, I had a buffalo roast-tender but no taste. The pinot nior from Mac Murray vineyard was great, so I heard--I had a 90 Schelling beer.
Good Exercise--cycled indoors for an hour--700+ calories--I should of had dessert.
Great Retirement--A very memorable evening with friends and only Eric had to go to work the next day. Anyone want to buy a very successful internet business that is located in the mountains?

Mike' Surprise Birthday 12/6

Good People--Mike, Laura, Trent, Kristin, the boys, Bill, DJ, Tom, Meg, Billy, Kristin and many others.
Good Food--dinner and wine was very good as a matter of fact it was EXCELLENT--the Warren's bought.
Good Exercise--not much--lots of talking though. Mike and Laura have a bunch of really good friends and their family is very supportive. There were only 80+ people there--perhaps some street people were glad the Warren's bought, too.
Great Retirement--no need to rush back home, took in some good basketball on Sunday (looked good Trent) and the weather held out for Bill/DJ's trip to see Grandma Edwards as well as our trip home on Monday.

We are back!

Whew--11 days 3400 miles! We were being watched over--no bad weather for our travels to Ketchum (Sun Valley) Idaho and Des Moines (Warren B&B). We enjoyed our visits with family, friends and new friends, we are extremely blessed to have each of you in our lives.

Thanksgiving, Sun Valley, Idaho 11/25-12/1

Good People--Jan, Amanda, Kevin, Sandy (KJ's neighbor), Sergio & Jenny (from Colombia), Fernando (friend). Slideshow on the right, click picture for captions.
Good Food--Cooking in a small kitchen took us back to our old houses/trailer days, the food was great--Amanda (green beans & pine nuts), Kevin (mandarin orange salad and squash with help from Jenny), Sandy (cranberry squares), Jan (all the rest), me (I did the knife work-peeled the Idaho potatoes and carved the range turkey). Kevin brought a pumpkin pie from Sergio/Jenny's employer-Albertsons and they provided La Crema chardonnay.
Good Exercise--We made several trips to the Fernando's YMCA for class, the hot tub and master swim with Kevin. The dogs and I did some running, we all took several walks, Kevin and I took a couple of bike rides--the weather was great for all this but no snow shoeing. Sliding down Bald Mountain on shovels in the dark was fun especially for Sergio/Jenny and Sandy's dogs (she was pet sitting them).
Great Retirement--We really enjoyed being with Amanda and Kevin and getting to know his friends.

Popp Wedding 11/23

Good People--our church small group-Paula/John, Marcia/Bob, us, Linda/Clellan, Karen/Ron and not in the picture are the parents of the bride Judy/Mike. Ginger and Shannon's wedding was an event to remember. A friend of the family Rudy Mancelli was flown in from Italy to sing--he sang for our church awhile back--the man can sing!
Good Food--the wedding was at the Sanctuary Golf Course Club House, the food was very good, my favorite was an appetizer--raspberry, cheese, tomato sauce in a small pastry cup.
Good Exercise--lots of dancing.
Great Retirement--not having to go to work after a Sunday afternoon/night party.

Wine tasting 11/15

Good People--John/Judy, our host/hostess Steve/Cindy.
Good Food--Our trip to California wine country prompted us to improve our wine tasting skills. Each couple brought a <$10 bottle of cab and John added a fun 4th. Thanks to Kortney/Paul we had a "Tasting for Dummy's" kit with numbered wine bags and Steve developed a helpful sheet about appearance, aroma, taste, finish and I think there was one more. We tasted without food and then with some of Jan's very tasty appetizers. The mozzarella cheese with prosciutto from Costco was my favorite. Also, a sliced pieces of a baguette, toasted with various peppers, and blue cheese. Dinner was outstanding--beef tenderloin, asparagus and some of my favorite potatoes, dessert was blackberry cobber and ice cream (I had seconds on dessert). The winning wine was Insatiable which was recommended to John/Judy by Davidson's liquor. We brought a "Our Daily Wine" from Whole Foods, which had "no detectable sulfites". The stuff that is used to preserve for long shelf life. It was too light for most of us. We also tasted a BV and Morgan Davids Cherry.
Good Exercise--lifting our 2 ounce pours.
Great Retirement--All said and done--our friends were the best part of the evening.

Cycling, beer and friends 11/13,15

Good People--Norm--my ride home from Dry Dock Brewery, Shawn one of the brew guys. Bill, DJ, Tony and Dena, we caught up on the weddings, DJ's daughter was recently married, and Bill's son will marry in January. DJ is recuperating from ankle surgery and will be in a mobile cast soon.
Good Food--At the Dry Dock Brewery-Norm had his usual Vanilla Porter and I tried their Kolsch, which was exactly as they advertised--very good. After our informative conversations at the Edwards, Jan and I ate at Abrusci's, just west of Applejack's liquor store. We shared pork chops, fingerling roasted potatoes and brazed cabbage, $18--it was the BEST! Very good! The Cavit chard was cheap $6 and matched up well with the pork chops. I'm a lucky man--not only did I marry up and Jan couldn't eat all of her share!

Then we shopped Applejacks-big sale is on--I read an article about Chile and Argentina wines--their reds are supposed to have more antitoxins than others. So we focused on them and we were thrilled to find our favorite restaurant wine 14 Hands--I wrote about it before--Applejacks does not display this wine but, if you ask they will sell it to ya--on sale $8. I suppose that some of the "wrong" things make me happy but this was a find! You can order online (thanks to Kevin), shipping is costly. We found some of the California trip winery wines but even on sale they were still out of our price range.
Good Exercise--I rode my bike in some strong wind to the brewery--only 9+ miles but the wind pushed my heart rate up. Oh! and we walked around the liquor store--big store though.
Great Retirement--as I have mentioned before-Norm will join the retired at the end of this month- O'boy! I don't know what we will do about who will haul us home from Dry Dock since Norm will no longer be making that long drive from the Fed Center via Dry Dock. Any offers?

A GREAT family time! 11/6-10

Good People--Jan's sister Sharon and husband Bob, her daughter Shellie (from Santa Fe, she hauled down 2 cases of 3 buck Chuck wine-we will thank her 24 times), Paulo/Kortney, Ben/Amanda. Sharon, Bob and Shellie were here for a wedding as was Paul and Kortney (not the same one) and we went to the CSU-Air Force football game (we lost) with Ben and Amanda. Lots of good conversation and a sufficient quantity of wine was tasted. Bob and I are the champion Nertz players-yea us! Kortney and Paul's wedding was at the Sanctuary Golf Course Club house (ReMax realty's private course)--they were smart to have Jan and I chauffeured them home. Kortney has been down quite often to several of her sorority sisters weddings and showers.
Good Food--Jan prepared some really tasty treats, as always. Most of you that read this journal have had Jan's enchilada-ummm. We really liked a reisling from Chateau St Michelle with our appitzers and we broke out a bottle of our wine purchase from Italy, a Chianti-Montefiozalle, don't ask me to pronounce it. The chianti was best with some parmesan cheese. For dessert one night we had a favorite hot chocolate Bellagio, sipping dark chocolate (Costco) with a splash of Van Gogh expresso vodka and/or peppermint schnoops. I guess it's my expectations that affect my taste buds--the kettle popcorn at the game hit the spot, a hot dog and beer would have been better but no beer served at the Academy.
Good Exercise--we managed to get in a couple of dog walks and some of the girls did their walking at Park Meadows and Southlands main street mall.
Great Retirement--Family is key to living an abundant life! slide show to the right

Something new!

My old Infinity needed about $3000 of work and I have been fussin' over a new car. Jan's car has about 110,000 miles on it but it seems to be in better condition than mine. So, with the zero percent financing from Toyota and an opportunity to buy through AAA instead of a dealer, we made the plunge for a car payment.

The new "ry" is quieter, better gas mileage, a ride more to our liking and Jan finally got her red car.
It should get the cops attention.

Not a falcon but a hawk

Amanda asked a friend of hers to identify our bird. He is a falconer and had a Red Tail Hawk as one of his birds. Our bird is an immature Red Tail Hawk. Therefore, no red on his tail yet. He came back the other day to sit and swooped down on something near the creek.

A return visitor

We think this is a Prairie Falcon. He was here last year on almost the same day. The Prairie Falcon is the mascot of the Air Force Academy. He sat on the railing various times for 30 or more minutes at a time, Sadie barked at him and as you can see we were really close from inside the house. He would just turn his head around, look at us and then focus on the ground. One of God's incredible creatures and he blessed us with a close up view.

Several fun things 10/29,31 & 11/1.

Good People--biking buddy Steve, Brother Larry and Darrell, friends Ellis and Burt.
Good Food--Steve and I got some nourishment at Paneras after our 18+ mile ride. We missed some of our tricker treaters with dinner at Colorado Hacienda-we love their bean sauce and so did Larry. Ellis and Burt were treated with some of Jan's good cooking--chicken stew, apple pudding and our new favorite wine Sebastiani chardonnay. Sadie was not a good host, she got sick while we were having appetizers. They were OK with it--their puddle just died that was willed to them several years ago by Ellis's sister. They were getting their dog fix with Sadie Sorry no pics, must be getting forgetful.
Good Exercise--just the short bike ride, Steve and I are getting out of biking shape or should I say our backsides are of biking shape.
Good Retirement--Ellis is my ideal--after retiring from the military, he worked long enough for another retirement--he is retired now and a Rachel Ray chef. Burt is looking forward to the winter in Phoenix, she wins golf tournaments and money, beats Ellis and me too, which isn't saying much.

Dinner with my friend--Pastor Ron 10/26

Good People--Ron/Karen, Josh/Sarah, Rick/Debbie, Danny/Jill, Bob/Darla, Jeremiah, Sharla.
Good Food--catered from Carabas and Carrinos. Chicken marsala, sausage/pasta, meat balls and cesar salad-The chicken pasta from Crabas was the best. Karen's apple pie with caramel ice cream drizzled/poured in my case with more caramel was by far my favorite food of the night.
Good Exercise--I needed to do extra today.
Good Retirement--Ron is the new Family Pastor for Grace Chapel--no retirement for him.

Out on Denver Town 10/24

Good People--Eric and Heiti do a good job of getting us out of our same old routine.
Good Food--We had a quick meal at the Paramount Cafe. The mexican food was the winner at our table. My club salad was OK and Heiti's fish and chips were pretty good.
Good Exercise--We all rode the light rail, walked to the Paramount and then to The Space theater for "Back to Bountiful", a play about going back home, how things change, the difficulty of having a mother in law living with you and a husband that is not the family leader. Nice theater in the round, small and up close.
Great Retirement--We always say we should attend more plays, perhaps we will. For the retired crowd the Paramount Cafe was too noisy for casual conversation.

Cecil's Birthday 10/23

Good People--Cecil and Shelia-he hired me for my really first job--a seasonal Park Ranger at Mesa Verde National Park. Our dinner host Wayne (youngest son, editor of Colorado Wildlife magazine and artist) in his very interesting and beautiful older home in the Park Hill area.
Good Food--White chicken chili, jalapeno pepper corn bread, ham and all that goes with it. The Merlot box wine was very good--I didn't catch the brand, tho.
Good Exercise--lots of standing around--a party thing.
Good Retirement--Cecil and his 3 buddies meet for breakfast every week. The youngest is 75 and the oldest is 84. They have been meeting for almost 25 years.

California Dreamin 10/16-21

Good People--Steve and Cindy-long time friends and we are STILL friends even after our trip.
Good Food--Margarita pizza at Boon Fly Cafe, chicken dinner at Del Santino's-Sonoma (a Rachael Ray recommendation) and lots of very good wine. Our favorite tour was Cakebread and the wine was one of our favorites, Rombauer Chardonnay was our favorite, we liked the town of St Helena, Sonoma and the old part of Napa. Steve introduced me to Victoria Bitters a beer from Australia, his favorite when he visited there--hard to find in the US, very good not bitter. Our favorite breakfast was in a very small cafe in SF near Union Square--La Taza-great avocado, tomato omelets with a big bowl of fruit and sourdough toast for $8-we went there both mornings.
Good Exercise--lots of walking in San Fransisco, the hills got our heart rates up.
Good Retirement--as always we never take enough time, especially in the wine country. But there is always a next time. Check out the slide show.

Great American Beer Fest 10/11

Good People--Norm, his son Doug and our host Rock Bottom Brewery. Thanks to Doug for giving Norm and I a "brewers" pass for beer, food and some other special treatment. Also, my new "Good People" Herm and Roda. Most of the people we talked to were from out of town.
Good Food--we did have some great chocolate brownies but the beer tasting was the most fun. Doug gave us some advice on what to taste, Kevin offered his expertise and we talked to numerous people who had developed a list of brewers and their best beers. My favorite was Sweetwater Brewery from Atlanta-Hummer-the best hefeweizen. Also, Local 1 from Old Brooklyn in Baltimore. Our local favorite is still Ole Ale from Dry Dock. Old Holland from Wisconsin had a Dragons Milk that was our favorite stout.
Good Exercise--we did some walking and lots of arm raises tipping the glass.
Great Retirement--we talked to lots of very nice young people--I think they thought we were a couple of OLD brewers. They seemed to want our tasting opinion.

I am NOT an Okie 10/12

I'm an Okie-this year! 10/11

The Sooners are ranked #1! Therefore, I am a Sooner fan this year. Beat the Longhorns! How about the Native American quarterback for Oklahoma- --not my tribe though.

na gwa mo Sooners--Go Sooners. It takes 3 syllables to say GO in Sac and Fox.

Monthly Dry Dock Brewery Visit 10/9

Good People--Norm, beer tasting buddy, 14er guy, Jeep dude and soon to retire friend. Shawn and Kevin the brewery owners--they have helped with the beer tasting event at the Plains Center fund raiser--great guys.
Good Food--the popcorn is pretty good. The beer is what we are here for--Norm's favorite is Dubbel and mine is the Ole Ale. Our girls like their Apricot Ale, so we bring home a growler once in awhile.
Good Exercise--I rode my bike down and Norm hauled my home-Thank goodness. More car traffic than I am accustom to in the 9+ miles to Dry Dock, lots of traffic lights but I still made in 45 minutes. I may have burned off one beer.
Good Retirement--Norm and I do this once a month, but soon he will join the retired ranks. We are talking about making it a twice a month thing. We are going to the Great American Beer Fest today--more about that on my next post.

Fall colors trip 10/6

Good People--Bill and DJ, it was good to catch up with them.
Good Food--we met at The Yard in Colorado Mills shopping center. This was one of Kevin's favorite places--lots of draft beer. I had a very tasty angus burger, skinny fries (my favorite) and Erdinger-hefeweizen, my new favorite beer from the Parker Oktoberfest.
Good Exercise--Jan and I drove up to Kenosha Pass, as most of you know the wind blows quite often up there and almost all the leaves were gone. So we went back down and drove over Guenella Pass to Georgetown, not very many aspens over that way. Beware of road work, we were not delayed much but there were several spots with only one lane was open. Most of the work was on the Georgetown side.
We took a short walk on top--windy and 38. A very clear day and we had the mountain to ourselves.
Great Retirement--it was nice to be in the mountains with only us retirees roaming around.

California Planning 10/5

Good People--Steve and Cindy, our looooooooooooong time friends.
Good Food-- A Pinor Nior that Steve/Cindy brought did not taste that good at first and then it started to grow on all of us. We had a Bloom riesling that was very good and finished up at dinner with Sterling chardonnay-a little too much after taste for all of us. All of this was during the Broncos football game and then dinner-7 hours. The food was great-halibut, panchetti ham, asparagus and salad. I wrote about this in a previous post--it was just as good.
Good Exercise--we worked out our minds with a Nerts card game, fast action. We played this when we were many years younger and played much faster then. Jan and Steve were the champs.
Great Retirement--we did some San Francisco and wine country planning, we are looking forward to our trip later this month.

Oktoberfest at Audi dealers 10/2

Good People--Eric, my wine advisor, summer concert sidekick and former employer.
Good Food--the brats and kraut was good for a picnic type event. Paulner-hefeweizen was very good and we tried a pinot nior but I don't remember the vineyard--I'm not a pinot guy but this was very good. Eric was also impressed.
Good Exercise--not much other than walking around looking at very expensive cars. The Prestige Audi/Porche dealership invited Eric for the 7th time because he is a regular customer. We had instruction from Heiti not to bring home a new car, Eric would have bought this car but he wanted a red one.
Great Retirement--we talked to several Audi racing enthusiasts--we all need "something" that is fun! Eric and I think that "something" that required less money would be our "something!"

Things to make us happy!

This web site has some great ideas.

http://superviva.com/blog/2008/09/11/five-more-things-happy-people-do/

Highland Canal Bike Ride 9/29

Good People--Ray and two very nice local women from the area on the trail--they were almost too nice to a couple of strangers, offered us a ride, coffee at their home while one of us waited. I suppose we appeared old and harmless.
Good Food--we had planned to eat at our favorite Mexican food place Los Dos Potrillos but we had a slight problem. Ray had a flat on his bike, we were about 6 miles out on the way back. The throne was the problem and we didn't have a tube to fit his mountain bike tire. I rode back and drove Ray's car back. We ate at Panera's, which is always good. A nice patio on Holly but not as nice as the patio at Aspen Grove.
Good Exercise--18 miles in 1hr, 40 minutes. The trees on the canal have not turned much.
Great Retirement--We missed our buddy Steve. He was taking care of his ill wife--whatta guy.

Tis a blessing to live in colorful Colorado 9/26

We spent the night with Kortney and the graduate. On Sunday we headed home through Rocky Mtn Ntl Pk. Some great color along the way, this is near the entrance where all the elk camp out.

We saw these big boys near the top of Trail Ridge Road.







.









The whole family was out! Mom and the other twin were here too. We saw them on the western slope about 4 miles in from Grand Lake.


Some of you know that this critter can be wild and crazy. We captured a pic of her at Grand Lake.

Good People--Norm and Phyl came by for dinner.
Good Food--we tried a new recipe on them--grilled halibut wrapped in panchito ham on a skewer with bread. All of this was drizzled with our Tuscany EVOO. It was very, very good. The ham gave the halibut a slight salty taste. Asparagus baked topped with Parmesan cheese. Norm and Phyl brought with them a bottle of Goats Do Roam, a dig at the French wine with a similar name. It tasted like a bordeaux.
Good Exercise--we walked around Grand Lake, wanted to hike a trail but no dogs allowed on the park trails.
Good Retirement--Norm will join the retirement ranks in late November. 17 more drives to the Federal Center. Life is Good, huh Norm.

Paul did It! 9/27

Good People--Paul finished up his Master's program--way to go!
Good Food--lots of my favorite food, chips, salsa, bean dip, little wienies, cake, cookies (you get the picture). Then on to the Fort Collins Oktoberfest sponsored by Odells Brewery and a couple of Easy Streets and 5 Barrel, then to Lucky Joe's for a couple of Sunshine Wheat (gotta support the local breweries), then on to Besettis Italian restaurant for some good pasta, a bottle of their private label cab and Paul's chocolate cake with a candle. The light was so low they gave us a pen light, Paul really liked it.
Good Exercise--some really fun games, I barely beat Amanda in the Bean Bag Toss.
Good Retirement--someone asked my "What have you been doing?" I said "I have been doing retirement."

Movie, dinner with my fav! 9/26

Good People--Jan! We saw the movie "Bottle Shuffle" at the new Landmark (free popcorn and drink, you can order alcohol there as well and sit in big seats). The movie was pretty good, in the early 70's when California wines were challenging France. Of course, it has a love story to it and guess who wins. The movie is important, we are going to wine country with the Rays in mid October so we plan to visit Chateau Montecello winery (the featured winery).
Good Food--we walked about a block to Slattery's Irish Pub. Very little Irish except for Smidwick beer, band played jazz and not much Irish food, burgers, good salads, good price (regular plate size dinner salad with all you would want in a salad-$3.95), very nice patio with fire pit. For those of you that have gone out with us and know about 14 Hands Cabernet, they have it, so we had to share a bottle. A decent price for the wine and the food was very good. We have tried to buy some of this wine to no avail, it is a Washington winery and only sells to restaurants.
Great Retirement--the band plays on Tuesday and Thursday so we are going back.

Lunch with the guys 9/22

Good People--Dave and Ron are cycle buds and christian friends. Pastor Ron helps me through life with spiritual guidance.
Good Food--we ate at Hacienda Colorado--Ron helped me order what he eats--fajitas, Dave had a burrito. The restaurant is located just east of I-25 and north of the Lincoln exit.
Good Exercise--I did my rec center work out before we ate. So I ate with little guilt.
Good Retirement--It was good to catch up with the guys.

Parker Oktoberfest 9/20

Good People--Phyl, Norm, Bruce, Heiti, Eric and Jan.
Good Food--Great pretzels, steak on the stick from Trail Dust Steakhouse and beer. German tradition has it that everyone share the first beer from the first tap, so I joined in (a traditional kind of guy). Erdinger, Oktoberfest Hefeweizen and a plain Hefeweizen--Jan even liked it-- VERY MUCH!
Good Exercise--I rode my bike to our church's men's event this morning to hear Karl Mecklenberg a Bronco from the 70's. Ok speaker, good breakfast and a tough, long, uphill, cool ride to church at 7ish. Not much exercise at the fest except walking to the keg truck. We didn't even dance, but Heiti and I swayed to a couple of songs while she along in German and I mumbled (as usual).
Great Retirement--Beautiful weather and it is always a treat to be with friends.

Cone Park Hike 9/18

Good People--Jan and Sadie, we at times think our dog is Good People.
Good Food--we had lunch with cousins Cecil and Shelia at Las Carritas in Golden, just south of the King Soopers on Old Golden Road. Burritos for $5, can't beat it. Can you believe it--I forgot to take a picture. We did manage to get to Applejacks--October sale, so we hauled home a case of various cabs, chard and a riesling. We will let you know how they tasted, especially a couple were under $5 on sale.
Good Exercise--we did a short hike 1 1/2 hours on a fairly level trail. The Cone park is part of the Jeffco park system, there were a couple of small Jeffco parks before we got to Golden Gate State Park. It was our plan to hike a trail in GGS to see the colors but time was running out so we took this trail. It is a little over 1 1/2 hours from home to GGS, which is 13 miles west of Golden. It dawned on us that we can get to Silverthorne in the same time.
Great Retirement--we ran into a couple of mountain bikers (they should have been at work) for the most part we had the trail to ourselves, very quiet and peaceful. We think Sadie learned a new command "behind". She does not run back and forth in front of us when she is "behind", see pic. I started this last year when I was hiking the Castlewood Canyon trail with her and some other dogs, this year she did better.

Wildernest/Silverthorne condo 9/11-13

Good People--John and Judy--thanks again for including us in your time at your condo.
Good Food--German pancakes, pot roast, special scrambled eggs were the best. Good wine and some red top Bud, tomato included in Bud, something new. Paulener hefervizen (spelling??) beer at the Breckenridge Octoberfest. The food was not that good--pork roast with sauerkraut--Johns brauts was better--what do you expect at an outdoor festival.
Good Exercise--we were able to get in a 2 hour hike before the rain and snow came in. It rained on us some on the trail, snow down to 10,000 feet, we had our bikes but too cold. Exercised the brain with some fun card playing.
Great Retirement--the play was so much fun, Wishy Washy Washitera--some good country music.

Chatfield Resovior 9/10

Good People--Steve, one of my retirement buddies.
Good Food--we ate at Panera's in the Aspen Grove shopping center. A really nice patio and some good food.
Good Exercise--we rode about 17 miles around Chatfield reservoir from the Aspen Groove parking lot. Can you believe the bike trail has a round about--see pic. Reminded Steve and I of our Italy trips. By the way, a good trail does not exist all the way around the lake. At the south end you have to walk you bike up a very loose dirt trail, across a couple of railroad tracks and then ride down the south end of Highland canal. We rode a little way on Santa Fe and then turned west by the Northwoods Inn resturant, climbed through a bared wire fence and finally got back on the "good" trail. Then north end of the lake has a really nice road lane for cyclists. But near the marina you have dirt roads. The trail on the sound side is asphalt and very very rough, lots of cracks. Steve didn't mind with his mountain bike but my road bike was not happy.
Great Retirement--a good ride with a good friend.

Bike ride and dinner 9/7

Good People--Steve and the Colorado Tennis Champion of the Neighborhood--Cindy. Yes, Cindy's doubles team won and they are headed to Kevin's country--Boise. Cindy, we are impressed--way to go, girl!
Good Food--Steak, beer, wine and all that goes with an after a bike ride fun dinner with friends.
Good Exercise--we rode from Steve and Cindy's house on trails to Park Meadows and back--about 8 miles. Just enough to give us an excuse for eatin' up!
Great Retirement--a Sunday night good time and no work on Monday. On the drive home we were the only ones out and about.

1st Annual Skirt Chaser 5K 9/6

A Boulder woman designed a skirt for all kinds of sport activity. This year she is sponsoring Skirt Chaser running events in numerous US cities. The uniqueness of this race is that all the women get skirts and start 3 minutes before the guys (skirt chasing), the winner wins $500. A woman won this one and I think are ahead in all the races to date. They had to wait on the ole man for this pic.
Good People--Amanda, Ben and some of their Ft Collins to Steamboat Relay running friends. 700 women runners and only 300 guys. Any single guys looking at this blog--sign up, lots of fit young women.
Good Food--the event didn't offer much-a very small salad and bread. The beer sponsor was Okar Blue from Lyons/Longmont--they were one of first to sell their micro brews in cans. All they brought with them was a very, very hoppy pale ale. As all you beer drinkers know--not too many of us like a hoppy beer. Not very many of the 700 woman liked it and a bunch of us guys drank no more than a taste. So I pigged out on the Whole Foods organic bread and cookies.
Good Exercise--fun race, it was an evening race with a "block party" after near the Cherry Hills mall. I did the 3+ miles averaging 10+ minutes per mile--I thought I would do better, this the same pace I did the 6 mile Bolder Boulder. The killer--it started up hill for it seemed forever (less than a mile)--wow, but at least it was down hill coming home. I may have to stick with cycling--my knee was and is barking at me.
Great Retirement--I am thankful that I have my health to do this!

A Nice Holiday Weekend

Good People--Norm and Phyllis, Ellis and Bert, Dave and Loraine Tobin, their friends and some of our neighbors.
Good Food--dinner and some 14 Hands wine (a measurement for horses) at The Wine Bistro in Southlands. Try this wine, either cab or merlot, you can't buy it in liquor stores, only restaurants serve it. Dinner at Ellis/Bert's, Ellis's own spaghetti recipe and chianti of course--I won the new rummy card game (beginners luck). Then a pot luck at Dave/Loraine's new home. Pot lucks are one of my favorites--a table full of people's specialties to choose from--Jan's Montana beans are the best--I really liked their Heineken Light, too.
Good Exercise--walked to the last two parties--almost 4 miles total. Cycled to the rec center for kickboxing this morning.
Great Retirement--Even though this weekend was Labor Day, us retirees can enjoy it too. Especially when some of the partyers have to work tomorrow.

Cabin at Redstone 8/22-26

Good People--Jan's brothers, sisters, in laws, partners, as well as my side of the family, Amanda and boyfriend Ben all came at one time or another. The cabin had great views, quiet except for the sound of the Crystal River, very spacious, well layed out (2 master suites + 2 bedrooms and a den with futon) and very well stocked (deer and hummingbirds). Easy to find for some and not so for others.
If you are planing a trip up near Aspen, let us know, we would highly recommended this cabin.
Good Food--One thing for sure we eat well when we get together. Lots of Olathe corn, Ken's home grown vegetables, and Delta peaches were eagerly consumed at every meal. The refreshments fit the occasion and they were healthy--Amanda/Ben brought fruity beer.
Good Exercise--A short 2 mile walk to town, a short hike up to Avalanche Creek and that was it. My bike took the trip but we were too far from pavement to get out.
Great Retirement--Family is soooooooooooooooo important and dear to our hearts.

I LOVE my new bike!

My bike had it's one month birthday on the 15th. Doesn't ring you bell, does it?

Since this is my journal site, I want to record my 224 miles during the first month of my new bike. For the really serious cyclist that is not a great feat (Kevin did a century on Saturday), but my goal is to ride at least 50 miles a week. Mostly, round trip to the rec center, 20 mile rides with Good People and rides around the hood. Amanda's boyfriend, Ben added 14 miles, for a Triathlon.

I hope the newness doesn't wear off.

Amanda and Kevin's Birthdays

Kevin came home from Ketchum on 7/30 ran the "Get Your Ass Over the Pass" relay with Amanda, Ben, Kortney, Paul and 7 other runners. We celebrated his birthday at Texas Roadhouse. Then we took Amanda, Ben, Paul and Kortney to Dry Dock Brewery for some tasting then had dinner at the Fish City Grille in Southlands. Everyone had a different beer favorite but the girls thought the apricot ale was tasty. Paul and I liked the Ole Country Ale and Ben liked something really dark.

We all liked what we ordered at Fish City Grille, I didn't care for the Shrimp Nachos--too much onion for the old stomach. A new beer from Bud--we never did understand the name but something like a wheat with orange--pretty good.

Highland Canal Ride 8/13

Good People--my buddy Steve and I are working on riding all of the Highland Canal trail. We have done about 60 miles or 30 miles of it one way.
Good Food--We ate at our favorite Mexican food place Los Dos Potrillos, corner of Holly and County Line. Order the a la carte burrito--shredded beef and bean--$6.50. And of course we earned a beer. Dos XX amber.
Good Exercise--we started at Gibson Rec Center north of Arapahoe on University. We rode south alittle more than 10 miles. Past E-470 and west some toward the new "old folks home". Steve and I didn't check it out this time. The 2 hour, 20 mile ride burned about 800 bad calories.
Great Retirement--Steve and I elected a President, stopped the Russian invasion of Georgia, fixed the oil price problem, started to worry how the Democratic National Convention will affect Denver and shared our prayers about a peaceful Olympics.

My next bike

I need bigger wheels!

Biking the Pouder River

Jan and I got on the Pouder River trial in Ft Collins--turn left once you cross the railroad tracks on the North end of town and take an immediate right to a dirt parking lot. From there we went south to the end-about 8 miles. There is a car turnaround, bathrooms and some raptor cages with eagles, hawks etc. The trail is very flat, mostly concrete, beware that about a mile of it has lots of cracks in the pavement, tough on road bikes.

At the parking lot you can go west to a nice park, more bathrooms and I only went about a mile west--hope to do that route some time.

Some really flat, wide roads south of Loveland near Marian Butte golf course. While I was pedaling along at about 23 on the flat and feeling "good" about myself-- then I got passed in a nano second by 3 riders going I don't know how fast but it was a swoosh, swoosh, swoosh and they were gone. Wow

Abba Concert at Red Rocks

Good People--Steve and Cindy tail gating before the Abba concert at Red Rocks. Great concert! We also saw The Buddy Holly play at the Arvada Center--it was the best.
Good Food--Jan made a very good spinach dip that went very well with a bottle of our favorite Bogle, old vine zinfendel.
Good Exercise--walking up to the concert and all the way to the top to go potty.
Great Retirement--with our friends of more than 40 years.

Long weekend in Loveland 7/30

Jan and I spent some time in Loveland at the Kortney/Paul hotel. It is a good thing that the hotel is pet friendly. We dog sat Sadie, Maddy and Halley while the runner completed the 193+ miles from Budweiser Brewery in Ft Collins to Steamboat. Their team was 12 runners running 10-18 miles each in various legs of 3-12 miles and they did it in 36 hours and something. Camping in Waldon, slept on the school grass in Waldon without tents until the sprinklers came on at 3am, lots of ticked off runners, small cabins in Steamboat then celebrated at the Rio with a margarita for each leg.

For our 40th wedding anniversary last December they treated us to a family pic--available later. That's why the blue shirts--Here are a couple from K/P's back yard.

Doors of Southern Italy

The doors of Italy were all so different and caused me to wonder who lives here, who built it and who has passed through it. More to come from Central and Northern Italy

click on the pictures for a slide show.

Good Events since Italy

Good People-Good Food-Good Exercise
Since I started this blog as a summer journal, I best add to it.
6/28 Our long time friend Bill marries our new friend DJ
7/3 30+ mile bike ride with Ron and Dave-preparing Dave for the Across Iowa bike ride.
7/8 Concert with about 10 of our food and wine loving friends-my sister and husband joined us.
7/10 Norm and I started a new tradition--every 2nd Thursday of the month, visit Dry Dock brewery and try their new brews and bring home a growler--Jan and Phil like Apricot Blonde.
7/12 Great fish boil with New Orleans beads and all at John and Judy's, with Steve, Cindy, Rod and Leslie.
7/14 Another bike ride for Dave with Ron from home to Aurora Reservoir and lunch.
7/16 Steve and I rode the highland canal for a couple of hours toward downtown. Snack at Panera's.
7/16 Concert-Kortney joined us.
7/19 Plains Conservation Center Beer tasting with our beer buds. Amanda and Ben came down.
7/20 The Buddy Holly Story-play at Arvada Center with Steve and Cindy-great show and tasty dinner at Di Cinci in Arvada. Tried their Chianti wine A Mano--pretty good.
7/22 Concert--Ron joined us-one of the best times in his 87 years. Mike rode with us and Judy came later. Mike asked me to help with picking the wine for their daughters wedding. OH BOY!
Great Retirement!

Neighbors and their bikes 7/21

Kent and Rolane at Aurora Reservoir. We passed each other at the concession stand, I just finished up a 3+ mile run and a 20+ mile ride, preparing for the My Way or the Tri Way. By the way, I'm not doing the MWTW, no way it costs too much and I know I can do it my way but don't want to torture myself, anyway and pay big bucks for the "do" way. Clever, huh?

Amanda's boyfriend will ride my bike. Amanda will swim, run, swim (go figure) and Ben will do the traditional.

New bike' first ride 7-16

I had a little problem with my old mountain bike--too heavy for one thing. And, the last time out I ran off the sidewalk and bent my back tire. So my excuse was--I had to pay $60 for an alignment and tune up for the My Way or the Tri Way. So I put that money on a new bike.

The new bike eliminated my excuse for NOT doing the My Way or Try Way. So I'm in! 14 mile ride, 4 mile run and 14 mile ride. No swimming for the old man. Kortney and Amanda have done the swim, ride, swim--Ben and Kevin have done the traditional sprint triathlon.

My new bike is a "Roma" model - appropriate huh? New small tires and my first flat today! Ugh!

We are back!

We have been back about 2 weeks--it has taken me that long to wade thru all the pictures. Aren't digital cameras great?

check a short version of our Italy trip--on the right, click the picture for a slide show.

Players in the pictures--Jan, Amanda, Kortney, neice Rochelle Folmer, son-in-law, Paul and me.

Good Food--we tried the local vino and birra. Our goal was to try as many different flavors of gelato as we could--I did 32.

Italy here we come!! June 6

This time tomorrow we will be in Naples on our way to the Amalfi coast.
More when we return--6/26.

Jan' Birthday over several days May 31

Good People--Steve, Cindy, John, Judy, the Lewis's, the Youngblood's, Phyllis, Heiti, Steve, Shelly, Ben, Amanda. Check out the photos on the right hand side of blog.

Good Food--After a time to get manicures/pedicures--late lunch at a crepe and tea place. Drinks and dinner at Avenue Grill, the buffalo was very moist and flavorful. Jan and all enjoyed Mama Mia.

Good Exercise--walked about.

Good Retirement--We are blessed and thankful for our health and friends.

A Problem! May 26

Running the wrong way was a problem. My time may have been better!