SHOPPING IN VAIL

We went shopping in the LionsHead area of Vail, where the boys were staying in suites. This was their building.

The area is full of restaurants and boutiques with interesting inventories.

This area in the winter is an ice rink and used for craft shows in summer. Notice the ski runs in the background.

Jenna made use of a fountain.

One thing that made the area so attractive was the beautiful flowers everywhere.

We finished the day by going to the family/team dinner.

LET'S PLAY LACROSSE!

The first 3 games were played in Avon and the scenery was beautiful-the field was next to a lake and surrounded by mountains.

I don't know if the guys are getting "words of wisdom" from their father and brother or not, but today didn't end up very well-3 losses.

Dan is #7.

Jake is #2.

In their defense, I think two things would have helped them. (Keep in mind that I'm clueless!)

It may have helped them to have played a scrimmage or game as a team before coming. Some of the other teams have apparently had a lot of practice and experience playing together. The other suggestion would be to come a day sooner and get acclamated to the elevation. They looked pretty sluggish the first day. I don't know if these would be possible, but may help. They did do quite well playing the Crabs, who apparently win the tournament every year. They come from Baltimore where they've been playing LaCrosse for years. It's fairly new in the midwest. It's a very fast paced game with lots of hits and slashes, and fun to watch. Here Brian's enjoying a lollipop.

Papa and parents in the first row.

Was it a bad play, something Joe said, or something sour in her mouth?

All together, it was a fun time watching!

WE ALL MADE IT

We pulled over and let the engine cool once on the way up, but the kids had quite a day. They had a blowout which took a couple hours to get changed (I'll bet the peoplewho passed by got a chuckle as they pulled out a table and ate lunch, and then played the sack game-all along the road. However, in all the excitement, Carrie left the lights on, and when they went to start, their battery was dead. After they got jumped they were on their way again. Here's what was left of the tire-it's a real beauty!

They also had a fan cover come off, so Jenna went on the roof to tape it on.

It's unusual to see duct tape in the hands of a female!!!


Jake and Dan get to stay with the team in Vail, but they humored me and sort of posed for a picture before their parents took them back to Vail. Jake will be a senior and he's on the left, Dan will be a junior and he's on the right.

NOT THERE YET

We're approaching the Eisenhower tunnel which is about 1.7 miles long, and the highest tunnel for cars in the world at 11,000 feet. It seems like you're in it forever.

Here's an area that's downhill!

I think Dillon was the town with a lake.

Vail just seems to keep growing along the highway.

Closer to Gypsum, there are red rocks.

ON TO THE MOUNTAINS

We needed to get up the mountains to Gypsum, to meet our son Russ and family at the River Dance Campground. They picked 25 kids from Nebraska and Iowa to go to Vail to the National LaCrosse Tournament, and our oldest grandsons, Jake and Dan, were picked to play. We started out in the foothills where there are many houses tucked along the hillsides.

The beauty along the way is incredible.

Different colors and the shadow from a cloud.

What's prettier than a mountain stream?

There are many old mines along the way.

Even a few small waterfalls.

CENTRAL CITY & BLACK HAWK, CO

After seeing the ghost town, we went to Central cIty and had the buffet at Ameristar. Don and Marilyn had two "two fers" so we swapped partners at the cash register, since they were both in their names. The food was good, and our "dates" were fun. The big building on the left is Ameristar.

Between Central City and Black Hawk, which is just down the hill, there are 10,000 slot machines in umpteen casinos. Don could hardly wait to get started-and he started very well.

I had a slow start but made up for it later. Bullwhackers was my favorite.

Marilyn cooked for us twice and we took them to their favorite Mexican restaurant. We showed them how to do some family research at the library and a cemetery, and we chatted for hours. We'd like to thank them again for a wonderful time with good friends!

A FEW DAYS IN DENVER

We spent a few days in Denver doing some research and visiting our neighbors in Arizona, Don and Marilyn Karsten. One day, they took us through the foothills, up to a little ghost town named Nevadaville. His grandfather was born there, struck gold, and had a saloon in this building.

Please excuse the quality of this picture as it was taken from the car, but it once was a gold mine.

There were many ruins of stores and houses, and a few houses left, that are inhabited.

The area around was very pretty.

It was a real cool place!