Choosing My Course: Eldorado Canyon

It's been a full and fun week with my cousin and his family in town visiting. We've gone miniature golfing, hiking, oh and I bought a new vehicle which I got to really try out today. We drove up Eldorado Canyon to the state park to go for a hike. I used to hike and rock scramble there quite a bit in my late teen years because it's closer to Denver so the trip didn't use as much gas. But I hadn't been in years. The pot-holed dirt road winds through a little mountain hippie village, so my new Nissan Xterra with 4-wheel drive and a manual transmission was super fun to drive today. I decided that my kids were old enough that it was safe to have a manual transmission again, plus my daughter will get her learner's permit in less than a year, so she'll be able to learn to drive a stick shift.

Anyway, enough about my new toy...er truck. The hike was wonderful, although I think we just about did my cousin in. He told us he's been working with a personal trainer and that he's not fast, but that he can make it the top. I think he might have been alright with the 3-mile hike we had planned. But we decided to add a loop (which everyone agreed to) that was almost an additional mile. I think it was just too much for him and he really struggled with the loose gravel and the downhill on the way back. My daughter needed to be at the library for her volunteer work in the summer reading program so we ended up having to leave them and just come down on our own to get her back in time. Everyone made it down safely in the end, despite the rattle snakes which were active on the trail today.

But the hike was beautiful, and it was still nice to spend time together. We told the kids they could could get Cold Stone Creamery (ice cream) tonight, and I think they're all going to feel like they earned it.