Wonderful Day in Woodland Park

July 10th

This was a day of family and fun with no travel. It was a welcome chance to take a step away from the road trip and spend quality time with daughter Kim, son-in-law Andy, and grandsons Matthew and Michael. It was a busy day but the kind of busy which is no strain. We started with a nice morning walk through the neighborhood. The four adults walked and the boys zoomed around us on their bikes. Matt is an accomplished rider and looks great on his John Deere bike. Mike is on his smaller bike and still has the training wheels attached, or I should say had his training wheels attached. Just as we got back from the walk to the house, Matt announced "I'm ready to go on two wheels. So we witnessed the great event as Kim took of the training wheels and Andy gave Mike a push while we all shouted our encouragement and sure enough, Mike zoomed off on two wheels and within 10 minutes he was riding like a pro.

Pete & Andy in front of the house on the morning walk.

Matt's John Deere bike.

Mike's off on two wheels

The boys approve of the bed in the RV.

The rest of the morning was filled with games and fun. The boys checked out our RV, and had some time in their new pool.  Licia and I were also very happy to have an "all access pass" to Kim's washer & dryer and 9 days of laundry are now ready for the next leg of the trip.  My only issue has been the altitude. Here in Woodland Park we are at almost 9,000 feet. (3,000 feet higher than Colorado Springs.) In having a vigorous frisbee game with Matt (we brought him a Buffalo chip frisbee from South Dakota) I was sucking wind after only about 5 minutes. This air is really thin.

Enjoying the new back yard pool.

Grandad gives Mike a few pointers.

After lunch we all drove down the pass to the Springs and went bowling! What fun. We had the six of us on one lane and played one game. It took almost two hours and was great fun. The boys had the gutter bumpers in place as they bowled and then they would disappear for the rest of us. Scores didn't matter of course, but the boys did very well and it was good family fun for all of us.

Kim, Andy and Matt at the bowling event.

Back at the house for the late afternoon and evening there was more fun, laughter, board games, and even a peak at the MLB All Star Game. An unexpected treat after dinner was a Skype visit from Laura, Madden, and twins Aubrey and Tyler from Monterey, CA. Geoff was off to Ohio for a look at the Air Base and local area where it seems they will be stationed after he graduates from the Naval Grad School, so Laura and the kids Skyped with us and it was fun to see the cousins interact and to hear what was going on in the Levine camp.

We will be here through mid-day on Wednesday when Licia and I start the trip south and west with a target of being in Memphis, TN by Saturday afternoon.

That's it for now - till the next post!
P & L