Contributed by:
Karen Ward Gilbert/YourHub.com
Article Contributed on: 9/13/2006 11:43:40 AM
Now that the first official holiday weekend of fall has passed and I can no longer wear white pants, it's time to reflect on all I did (or didn't do) over the summer.
In spring, I set out with lofty goals to do some regional traveling and some in-state exploring by the time September rolled around. Sigh. There always is next summer.
To be fair, the summertime budget and/or free-time schedule was put a bit off-whack early in May as my husband and I purchased Our First Home and one week later brought home Our First Puppy.
It was eventful. And exhausting. But excellent, all the same.
So, without further ado, I offer a slideshow tour of my summer 2006.
May and June primarily were house and puppy oriented. (As far as I can remember.)
In July, I managed a trip to
Oregon to visit my parents. Rosie, Elmer and I had a great time eating, shopping, browsing fruit and vegetable stands and car-touring
Crater Lake National Park.
Joe and I took Violet (the dog) on her first camping trip in August. The excursion was our one (count 'em - one) overnight camping trip of the summer. We went with our friends Tony and Cristin -- and Violet's new friends, their huskies Jackson and Maggie.
We motored up to the wilderness outside of Granby on an unfortunately drizzly day. But, by the time we figured out where we wanted to camp (because the car passengers began to get restless) the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was kismet.
The spot was gorgeous -- near a creek, with some great hiking just up the dirt road. We ate well and enjoyed some ice-cold beers around the campfire that evening. Next morning we hit the trail for another great hike (after loading up on chewy camp coffee, eggs, bacon, blueberry sausage (!) and potatoes leftover from the night before) and made it back on the road before the rain came.
Later in August I finagled a weekend in
Crested Butte while my husband was there for work. Great eats (Friday at
Secret Stash, Saturday at
LoBar, Sunday morning Americano from
Camp 4 Coffee), gorgeous scenery (again with the rain - hiked trails accessible from town due to limited rain-free window), fun shopping and a condo with a retro-styled wood-burning stove. Oh, and we celebrated our second wedding anniversary.
I never did make it up to Wyoming this summer. Nor did my hiking boots and I conquer any of Colorado's 14ers. (In fact, I wore them only one time.)
And now it's onto drafting winter's list of lofty goals.
Goal No. 1: Purchase ski pass thingy.
Goal No. 2: Remain calm on I-70 when driving to use ski pass thingy.
Goal No. 3: Do not feel guilt if all days on ski pass thingy are not used due to increased anxiety about driving on I-70.
Goal No. 4: Knit something wearable. (Something for the dog qualifies here.)
Goal No. 5: TBD
How did you spend your summer? Post a story about it
here.
What's next on your list of seasonal goals? Post a comment below or start your own
blog.