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Mom Comes To Visit

10/31/2004 / RHonda

Just a day after returning from Florida and my stay with Josh, Matt’s Mom came to visit us. What a treat! It was great to have her here to catch up on all things family and to just laugh and tell family stories. I learned alot I hadn’t know previously.

Mom and I spent a thrilling part of her first afternoon at Wild Oats. For those of you not living in Colorado, Wild Oats is one of the treasures here! It is a health food grocery store the size of a HyVee. The options are almost limitless and exciting. The produce is awesome, loads of fresh flowers, meat without antibiotics, well you get the picture. I LOVE going there. It is just a wonderful experience. Mom agreed. I promise not to torture any of the rest of you with a visit to Wild Oats when you come, it is just something that Mom and I can share. Continue reading

Florida Trip

10/28/2004 / RHonda

I serve an awesome God!! Yes, I am in awe of Him on a pretty regular basis. This morning, however, I am praising Him that He has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. Part of that plan and purpose is to see His children walking in wholeness. It may take time and effort to see that healing manifested but I know that God is more than able to bring us to that place where we walk out that manifestation of wholeness. I have seen it many times in my own life and I see it in the lives of many around me as well. I love seeing God being God and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross (which includes wholeness) manifested!

As many of you know, I have been in Florida with Josh. He had become very ill several weeks ago when some chronic, undiagnosed symptoms came to the surface all at once. He was one very sick young man!! He was in and out of the ER at the local hospital twice in 72 hours. It was not a good time. That situation has gotten the doctors attention though and after two years of living in pain and a “less than quality life”, it is long overdue!!
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The Crags

10/22/2004 / Matt

I was going back through my trail journal and realized I never got the Crags trip up on the website. There were actually two trips to the Crags. One successful and the other not quite so. It was our neighbor Jerry who first told me about the Crags. The trailhead is located on the Crags Campground which is off Hwy 67 a few miles south of Divide, CO. There is a long access road from the highway that runs up to the campground. It is pretty rough and narrow at spots but a 2WD car would have no problem getting up there.

Our first attempt at finding the trail was a bust. You actually have to go through the campgrounds to get to the trailhead. The map I had was a little vague and we went past the campgrounds and started out on a different trail that runs down through Putney Gulch. We hiked for an hour or so and finally decided that we must be on the wrong trail so we turned around. After making a little more detailed examination of the map I figured out where I went wrong and we went back to the campground.

We had lunch at the campground and I convinced everyone that we should at least check out the real trail even if we didn’t go all the way to the end. This wasn’t an overly popular decision but we all went far enough to see the beauty of the area even if we did not make it to the end where the “awesome view” is supposed to be. That would have to wait for another day.
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Selling the Camaro

10/20/2004 / Matt

Post from Josh: A few weeks ago I sold my Camaro Z28. I will definitely miss that vehicle. I have owned it since June of 2000, and put no less than 80 thousand miles on it. It has taken me to both east and west coasts numerous times. I have many memories of traveling in that car, from foggy passes in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, to being at the top of Hurricane Ridge in Washington State. Oh, and lets not forget overheating in Wyoming. Yes, you’ll notice I didn’t just say good memories. But I wouldn’t call them bad memories either. Sure, that car could be really frustrating sometimes, but it was always worth it when you cranked over the engine to hear those Flowmaster mufflers growl. It’s one of the sweetest sounds. And there aren’t very many problems that can’t be solved by turning up the stereo and shifting down a gear. (or two, if needed) Disclaimer: Most police officers say that speeding is illegal. Use Caution.

So it will be missed. But it was time to move on. The engine was getting tired, and a rebuild was not in the budget. Right now I am riding in style (okay, maybe not very much style) in my 1987 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. But I am anxiously awaiting the day when I can once again sit behind the wheel of rear-drive V8 American iron. Hurray for Detroit!

Stanley Canyon

10/14/2004 / Matt

Kristina and I went on a hike with Abby last Sunday. We went to the Saturday night service at church so we could skip out on Sunday morning. 10 o’clock found us cruising through the gates at the Air Force Academy and heading for the Stanley Canyon trailhead. This is one is rated difficult. It did not disappoint either.

The trail does not fool around. It maintains a steady climb up through rocks and loose granite. You don’t walk up this trail, you climb. There are a few places along the way that provide a nice overlook of the Academy grounds but mostly you stay in the trees. Towards the top you start running parallel to the stream coming down the canyon. Abby promptly laid down in the cold water and and had a big drink.

After climbing 1,200 feet or so you reach the top and it levels out as it winds into the foothills. You pass through a small meadow and finally reach the reservoir. We had just caught up with a group of people when another group caught up with us so there were three groups of people, all with dogs, that arrived together. We all went different directions at the reservoir so we were quickly alone again. We decided to head off-trail, up a little valley, and then followed a ridge line looking for a place with a view to eat our lunch.

We eventually found a nice granite outcrop with a view of Pikes Peak and had our lunch. We wandered around in the woods for awhile taking in the beauty and shooting a few pictures. We took our time going back but continued to run into more groups of people coming up. Overall, I think we met or passed 10 or 12 different groups. The trip back down the steep trail went much faster but in all reality was almost worse than going up. My knees were hurting by the time we got back down and several times we barely avoided a nasty fall. I don’t know that I’ll be going back to that trail real soon.

I am pleased with the photos I got, well at least some of them, and I continue to get a little smarter each time I go out.

The Little Blue Triumph

10/13/2004 / Matt

I rescued my 1967 Triumph TR4-A from a dilapidated one-car detached garage in Waukee, IA during the fall of 1977. It was not running and had some minor damage to the left rear wheel. I towed it back to Indianola behing my 1969 Grand Prix using a sturdy rope. We were living in a two bedroom apartment above a guitar shop on the town square at the time. The only parking space available to us was a block away in a small lot across the street from the police station. That had to suffice as my “garage”.

I don’t recall precisely what was wrong with the motor but it must have been minor because I began driving it shortly thereafter. The damage to the wheel was a little more problematic, the trailing arm on the independent rear suspension was bent and as a result the car travelled down the road slightly askew. This did not really affect the handling of the car but it did have a significant effect on tire wear and looked a little peculiar. I eventually replaced the trailing arm.

I got a tremendous amount of enjoyment from driving the little blue beastie and had a lot of memorable exeriences with it. I was attending college in Ankeny at the time and had a 50 mile round trip to make on a daily basis. On a typical fall morning I would unzip the tonneau cover on the drivers side, pop open the air vent and enjoy the warmed air that was forced through the heater and trapped underneath the cover while I drove through the crisp autumn air to class.
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Fall in the Moutains

10/10/2004 / Matt

Several of the neighbors have been suggesting we take a drive over towards Cripple Creek and see the aspen trees in their fall colors. We decided to incorporate that idea with a hike I have been wanting to make on the western slopes of Pikes Peak. South of Divide along Highway 67 almost to Cripple Creek is the trailhead for Horse Thief Falls (HTF) and Pancake Rocks. HTF is the more popular hike but I’ve seen plenty of falls lately and since it seems to predominately stay in a narrow valley I didn’t figure there would be much of a “view” and I was definitely after a “view” so I could try out my new telephoto lens.

The Pancake Rocks trail veers off to the right about 2/3’rds of the way up HTF trail and commences a steady steep climb up the north side of the mountain. The trail is in good condition, pine needle covered, and it makes you think of the Energizer bunny… it just keep going and going and going. Up that is!
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MistyCastle