kids

Elizabeth

Posted on November 24, 2025 by Debora

For some reason, Elizabeth never acclimated to Aurora the way Luke and I did. She kept her job at the Goodwill in Denver, preferring a long commute over finding something local. She gradually fell into something like the difficult adolescent phase Luke went through when he was 14, except she is in her mid-20s. She stopped helping around the house, stopped putting any effort into getting along with Luke and me, and withdrew into her basement realm like a grumpy goblin. She was even alienating her oldest childhood friends. Whatever the cause, Elizabeth was not thriving here.

We all sorta just put up with it as long as she was paying her share of the bills. But when she lost the Goodwill job and was unable to land any new employment, it felt like a signal from the universe that the time had come for a reboot. So she asked her dad if she could go stay with him in Arizona, and he readily agreed.

In late March, she packed up as much stuff as she could fit into the Adventuremobile, and Luke drove her out to Steve’s place in Arizona.

It was the right call. She has since acquired a rabbit, a horse, a drivers license and a new job. She is more or less free from the constraints of civilization, out there in the desert.

Photo credit Jaqueline Silkotch

And here at home, life is peaceful again. Money is tighter with only two incomes, but it’s easier to budget. Luke and I were frankly astonished to discover how much of the household resources Elizabeth had been consuming. Apparently being miserable makes you really hungry and thirsty.

Sometimes life doesn’t go quite the way you’d hoped, but I’m very thankful that Steve is able to provide a safe alternative to the dark and unproductive mental state that Elizabeth was in here. I hope she builds a fulfilling life that puts her talents to good use. And thanks to the magic of the Internet, Luke and I can follow her journey and cheer her on from afar.

There are few things worse than being stuck where you don’t belong. Here’s to starting fresh in a new setting, and growing into the person you were meant to be.

You’ve got this, Elizabeth!

Categories: Animals, environment, Family, Horses, kids, Life, Love, trail rides | Leave a comment

Grays Peak

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Debora

My New Year’s resolution for 2024 was to summit a Colorado 14er. So on a gorgeous fall day in late September of last year, we made it happen. We picked one of the “easier” ones, Grays Peak, with the idea that we could maybe cross the saddle to Torreys Peak and bag two 14ers in one day.

It was very dark at 6 am when we set off up the trail, with a crescent moon shining bright against the black sky. But by 6:30 the predawn light was seeping into the landscape.

I don’t have a lot of pics from the ascent, probably because I was focused on climbing. Gray’s might be an easy climb by Colorado standards, but it felt like hard work to us.

By 8am we were above the tree line, and the long shadows threw the mountains into sharp relief.

I’m not sure if the snow in the north-side shade was left over from the previous winter or fresh that fall. Maybe a little of both.

Gentle reader, that climb wore us out.

But we made it to the top!

I reached the summit at about 9:40 am. Luke had gotten there way before me, and Elizabeth was still making her way up.

I don’t have a pic of Elizabeth on the summit, I think we were just too spread out at that point.

The views, of course, were incredible. You can see the whole world from up there.

We unanimously decided against continuing on to Torreys. One mountain was enough for us that day.

Most of my good pics were taken on the way back down. I could breathe again, and appreciate the landscape.

Pika!

You can see the piles of scree on the mountainsides from old landslides.

Finally made it back down below the tree line around noon…

…and made it back to the trailhead around 12:30 pm.

And now that I’ve checked “summit a 14er” off my bucket list, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not as young as I used to be, and exploring on a bicycle is more fun for me these days than hiking up really high mountains.

Glad I did this one though. Looking at the world from a mountaintop is something everyone should experience at least once.

Categories: Animals, environment, Family, kids, Life, trees, Wildlife | Tags: Grays Peak | Leave a comment

Roxborough State Park

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Debora

I have a massive backload of stories to tell. Sometimes the storytelling part of my brain goes into hibernation, and I have to just wait it out. I haven’t worked on my book for months, although lately I can feel it stirring under a deep pile of autumn leaves and everyday distractions.

Meanwhile, here’s a story in pictures. Last August Luke and Elizabeth and I hiked a loop trail at Roxborough State park, at the height of its summer splendor.

Fairytale beauty. Striking red rock formations jutting up from rolling green hills, like a scene from Middle Earth.

If I’d written this post in August, I could have included details like what we talked about and what sort of philosophical reflections the landscape inspired. Alas, it’s been so long I don’t remember.

But it’s an enchanting place, and I’ll probably revisit it at some point.

On the way home we stopped to see the South Platte River, near Platte Canyon Reservoir where the High Line Canal Trail begins.

I want to ride my bike along the entire 71 miles of the High Line Canal Trail…but that’s a story for another time.

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Edible Perennials, environment, Family, kids, Life | Tags: High Line Canal Trail, RoxboroughState Park | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving Road Trip, Part VII: Salt Lake City (2/2)

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Debora

Read Part VI here

So much going on, I almost forgot to wrap up this outing!

Over breakfast in the Park Cafe, we debated how badly we wanted to check the Great Salt Lake off our bucket list. We all felt like we’d already gotten our money’s worth from the road trip. The morning was grey and chilly, and the idea of backtracking to see a grey, chilly body of water was less appealing than the thought of heading back to our own warm, cozy house. We decided to save the lake for another time, maybe when the Temple renovations are done and we can do a proper tour.

We did stay long enough to check out Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park, right across the street from the cafe. Most of the birds were huddled out of the cold in their shelters, but the setting itself is a nice walk.

There is a pelican pond…

…and the enclosures are reasonably roomy.

Zoos make me sad. But at least the birds here aren’t in tiny cages.

Some of the larger birds definitely could have used more space, though.

After we left the aviary, we turned the Adventuremobile’s head toward home and hit the open road.

Again, Luke chose a more scenic and slightly longer route home, via US-40 through Dinosaur and Steamboat Springs rather than I-70 through Grand Junction. It’s a pretty drive, but honestly, I don’t think there are any nonscenic routes through the Rockies.

Ski runs carved out down the mountainsides. It’s been so long now, I don’t even remember where that was. Somewhere still in Utah, I think. I probably should have taken notes.

Here’s a pretty lake. Don’t remember which lake. Maybe Strawberry Reservoir? I definitely should have taken notes.

No idea which rest area this was. Might have been Pinion Ridge. It has a nice little trail to get out and stretch your legs on.

In the afternoon it started snowing again, and the road got slick.

We slid around a bit, but we made it through with only a couple of tense moments.

I wish I’d had a proper camera to capture that moonrise.

We made it home late that night, and I slept like a rock in my warm bed. We all agreed that future road trips would be in warmer seasons, at least until that camper shell window gets replaced.

Unless we’re visiting more national parks, because I love having those mostly to ourselves in the off season. I’d like to see Yellowstone and Glacier soon.

And that was our November trip! Only took me three months to get it all blogged, and now spring is only a few weeks away.

I am very much ready for spring.

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Animals, Family, Holidays, kids, Life, Road trip, Travel, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tags: Tracy Aviary | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving Road Trip, Part VI: Salt Lake City (1/2)

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Debora

Read Part V here

Luke chose old rural highways on most of the drive from Bryce Canyon to the Great Salt Lake. His reasoning was twofold: one, the scenery would be better on the backroads than on I-15; and two, the Adventuremobile tops out around 65–70 mph anyway, so we wouldn’t really be saving any time by taking the interstate.

The scenery was indeed better.

Our highway met up with I-15 in Nephi, Utah. We were all hungry, so we stopped there for supper.

On this trip we mostly ate food we had packed for the road, or picked up at truck stops and gas stations. But we did have two meals that were good enough for a proper mention. One of them was at Lisa’s Country Kitchen in Nephi. I recommend it if you’re ever passing through there.

Back on the interstate, the views got kinda boring again.

The most interesting part of it was all the Mormon churches.

Our plan was to spend the night at Great Salt Lake Campground. But when we got to the entry road, the gate was closed and there was some kind of big event going on at a nearby venue, with some guys directing traffic and us right in their way. They told us that the only way to get the campground gate code was to have reservations, which we would have to try to get online. They told us to pull out of the way on the side of the road and figure it out. We decided to get out of their way completely and go find a truck stop and regroup.

Saturday night in Salt Lake City is a crowded, trafficky place. We fought our way to a Love’s Travel Stop, thinking that we’d spend the night there and go back to the campground when it opened in the morning, only to find it jam-packed full of disgruntled truckers who had discovered, like us, that you can’t spend the night in a travel stop that close to the city center. We had to drive out to the outskirts to find one that allowed overnight parking.

That was the only part of the trip that was really unsalvageable. We settled into the travel stop around 5:30 or 6 pm. It was already dark, and cold, and there was nothing to do but scroll on our phones until we got tired enough to sleep.

I found out much later that you can get the Salt Lake Campground gate code anytime just by calling the camp office and asking. Reeeaallly wish we’d known that at the time.

In the morning we sorted through our options. Dealing with city traffic and spending the night in a truck stop instead of a lakefront campground had made us grumpy, and we were starting to bicker amongst ourselves. Not a good start to the day. We’d had a particular breakfast cafe on our itinerary, so we decided to go there, have breakfast, and then decide how badly we wanted to see the Great Salt Lake.

Driving through Salt Lake City on a Sunday morning was easier than driving though it on a Saturday night. My impression of it improved slightly.

The Temple was completely covered in scaffolding, I guess the renovation is still in full swing. Saw some other interesting buildings in there as we drove past.

You can sorta see the Salt Lake City Union Station in the next pic. I think Denver wins this one.

When we got to the cafe, the line was out the door. They took our names and gave us a buzzer, and we went for a walk around Liberty Park across the street. Here we discovered the Tracy Aviary, and decided to visit it after breakfast.