I can't believe my baby is 39 years old! I'm not old enough to have a child that old. Courtney is my adventurer. She's currently making plans to use up some pre-COVID frequent flier miles with her college roommate to take a trip over Thanksgiving (another use-it or lose-it deal). I'm curious to see where they pick to go. I may have to sneak along in the back of the plane.
Courtney's birthday always falls on or around Labor Day. This year, I took Labor Day literally and spent the weekend cleaning house. My first task was cleaning windows. We have a ton of them and hardly any are covered by curtains, so the dirt and dust of Colorado really shows. Unfortunately, the night after I cleaned all the windows, we had a torrential storm that literally blew the rain sideways right onto my clean windows. They were so water-spotted the next morning that I had to clean them all over again. Next year I think I'll hire Merry Maids to do that job.
Our grass has been growing like crazy - so much so, that Bruce has to mow a couple times a week. Our new neighbors have been complaining about not getting their sod (their house was finished in March - evidently, COVID caused a sod shortage along with every other shortage). They finally got their sod installed a couple weeks ago, but they don't seem to be as concerned about mowing. As of this posting, their grass is twice as tall as shown in the photo. I'm worried I'm going to see a snake crawl out of that jungle one of these days.
And speaking of rattlesnakes, I was riding along the Cherry Creek Trail on our Bike Club outing when the lead bikers suddenly stopped. I wondered what was going on, but then I saw a giant rattlesnake slithering across the trail. YIKES! He was headed straight for a prairie dog hole. The other bikers all stopped to take pictures. I zoomed away on my bike. I was especially freaked out, because Bruce and I had just hiked past that exact spot on the trail last week collecting wildflower seeds. I think I'll forget trying to be a naturalist and just buy wildflower seeds from Walmart.
Our bike leader has been on vacation the past few weeks, so I've gone on a few exploratory rides on my own. One day I rode the Bear Creek Trail over to Bear Creek Park. They have the cutest sculpture in the playground section of the park that is in the shape of a sleeping cowboy. The hat is actually a giant slide for kids.
When I was riding back along the Platte River Trail, I saw a group of boys trying to surfboard on one of the spillways. Some of them were actually able to stand up for a few seconds. I wonder if they're California transplants.
I went to a nature journaling workshop at the Schweiger Ranch. The girl who taught the class has a painting style similar to mine (watercolor over ink). We were all out in the field trying to draw those yellow flowers, but a rainstorm forced us all to quit. I would have much rather drawn the old barn that was on the property, so I'm planning to go back out there on another one of their open weekends.
I went out to lunch with the Girls Just Want to Have Fun club (we have a club for everything here). I can't believe the restaurant was already decorated for Halloween.
We met at the Gaylord Hotel - a resort and convention center run by Marriot. We took a tour and found out the rooms were over $400/night. I thought that was extremely expensive, especially given that the rooms were just typical Marriott. But the resort amenities included a waterpark with a lazy river, 3-story waterslide, and private cabanas each with their own TV. They also had a sports bar with a 75-ft long TV (it was huge), a golf course, a spa, and 7 other restaurants. The hotel is right next to the airport - convenient for conventioneers, but nowhere near the mountains. You're out on the prairie, so you don't even know you're in Denver - you may as well be in Wichita (at least the rooms would be cheaper).
Unfortunately, on the way home the driver had a flat tire. We pulled over and she called emergency road service using that dashboard feature some cars have now. But I think we must have gotten a trainee in India on the phone, because the girl told us to drive to the nearest tire center to get the tire fixed. Duh, the car wasn't drive-able. Luckily, we were on E-470 which has its own emergency vehicles that constantly patrol the highway. Someone was there in 10 minutes, but the sidewall on the tire was split and wouldn't hold air. Newer cars also don't have spare tires (it gives you more room in your trunk, according to the owner's manual). So basically we had to have the car towed. What a day! But at least everyone was still smiling, so I guess we were all a group of girls having fun.
