June 7th - Day 1

We had a convoluted flight path from Lubbock to Denver via Las Vegas. They had oversold the flight in Las Vegas by 25 people and were asking people to voluntarily give up their seats. Because the flight was completely full, fuel requirements & something to do with heat and wind, we had to take off in the opposite direction from the normal flights. Therefore, we sat on the tarmac in 104° temp waiting on them to clear the runway and sky for us to go against the flow. Everyone was whining and complaining making the hour unpleasant. 

The rental car was NOT clean. There was melted chocolate on my seatbelt and the windows were so dirty you couldn't see out of them. I took pictures and will file a complaint with Advantage.

We had dinner reservations with Terry & Elaine and were going to be late so called Terry as soon as we landed in Denver. He said it was no problem as a moving van had just run into Elaine’s car and he was headed over to help out. We ended up going to dinner about 8 o’clock. Terry and Elaine are great fun and always a joy to be with.

June 8th - Day 2

After a delicious breakfast on the patio, we left to go get our fishing licenses & head to North Fork Ranch. Since we had all day to get there and it is only an hour from Denver, we decided to take the scenic route and go through Evergreen. We stopped at Red Rocks Park and walked a bit.

There was a herd of Elk bathing in the water at Evergreen.

We walked around the lake and stopped at Willow Creek Restaurant for lunch. It has a great view of the lake and terrific food.

The drive to the ranch was absolutely beautiful. I forgot how peaceful and scenic it is to drive along the river in the mountains.

After checking in we took a tour of the property.

 The pictures just don't do it justice.

 The main lodge.

 Checking out the snack bar

 The dining room

The ranch is very nice with the river right outside our window. There were some fishermen catching trout so that’s a good sign.

After dinner at Hog Heaven :) we went to the rec room where Kim deftly beat me at a game of pool, three games of foosball, and three games of table tennis. Clearly I need some practice. 

We should sleep good tonight with the window open and the sound of the rushing water.

June 9th - Day 3

Today is Kim’s all day of fishing with a guide. We had eggs benedict, fruit, & muffins for breakfast. There was an assortment of other things available as well (i.e. cereal, bagels, english muffins, etc.) The guide came in and introduced himself during breakfast and told Kim to meet him outside to get geared up. 

 Waiting for breakfast

 Do you have size 14?

 Mike Kruise - the guide

 After donning waders & boots they headed down river to fish.

 

 A few instructions

 It doesn't take long to hook one

 I watched for awhile and then went on a short hike into the National Forest, which abuts North Fork. It is a beautiful day with sun shining and blue skies.

This memorial stone bench sat in a quiet, shady spot, overlooking the river.

 Engraving on top of the bench

 Many of the guests went on a trail ride today. 

Notice this most amazing stone bridge and how thin it is. I was nervous walking across it and then I saw the horses crossing over it. Whew! It must be an engineering feat.

Kim has been catching lots of fish. They are so big that its difficult to land them before they snap the line, but he’s managing quite nicely. 

Here are a couple of videos:

Lunch today is a mexican food buffet with warm, gooey brownies for dessert, but I only had one bite of the brownie.

I decided to sit by the river and read this afternoon, take a little nap, read some more...hmmmm. I could get used to this; however, I may need to take another hike because tonight is the big barbeque dinner and right now I don’t know where I will put any more food. 

Kim landed a 26”er this afternoon. It was so big he couldn’t get his hand around it for the photo. He had a great day of fishing and doesn’t know how many he actually caught. 

 Trying to hang on

The interesting thing is the guide was in the Marine Corps at the same time as Kim, stationed at the same place, had the same job (helicopter crew chief), but in a different squadron. They had a great time reminiscing about those days.

June 10th - Day 4

This morning we decided on protein drink and bar for breakfast and took off for a hiking/driving adventure. We started with an easy (although hot) 3 mile trek around Maxwell Falls near Evergreen, then on to Idaho Springs where we had lunch at Buffalo Restaurant. Kim had a buffalo burger...go figure.

After lunch we drove up Mount Evans (14,130’). This is the highest paved road in America going almost all the way to the top.

Kim went on a bit further to the summit but I wasn’t prepared for bouldering in snow and ice. Here are some views from the top of the world. Again, the pictures just don't do it justice.

 60th birthday sitting at 14,265'.

We continued our driving loop through Frisco and on to Breckenridge. After walking around town, we had dinner at a Mexican food restaurant (very good). They had 6 different heat levels of hot sauce. I think Kim finally found one that was hot enough for him. 

 Going down the mountain.

We got back to the ranch around 8:30 after a long day with beautiful scenery, going over four passes and crossing the continental divide. 

Amazing!