I’m still getting caught up on writing my blog posts!  Here we are already beginning the second week of August!  July seemed like a really L-O-N-G month to me.  Probably because I spent most of it being sick.  In spite of that, though, July still had some favorite moments.  And since I never did get my June favorites published, I’m making this a combo post of both June and July.

Favorite #1

On the last day of May, Big Eagle and I flew to Denver, CO to spend the week with our son Danny.  So the month of June started off with a bang!  Except for on Facetime, we hadn’t seen Danny since his and Erin’s wedding in August of 2019.  So it was quite a happy reunion!  He was about to begin work as a kayak trip guide in Alaska, and he had to first update his Wilderness First Responder certification.  That was why he was in Colorado.  Once his class ended, he had from that Monday until Friday before he had to leave for Alaska, so we went up to spend that in-between time with him.

It was mid-afternoon before we met up with him in Denver where he was dropping off his rental car.  We went to the hotel and caught up with each other a little bit.  He had some laundry to take care of and wanted a nice shower, so once that was done, we went to eat at a nearby Italian restaurant, then went back to the hotel.  We didn’t really start seeing the sights until the next day.

Tuesday

I had read about the nearby municipality of Edgewater, and it sounded worthy of a visit, so that’s where we headed after breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Sloan’s Lake is there, and it has a really nice walking path surrounding it, so we walked the 2.5 mile path around the lake.

I took the picture above when we were maybe about halfway around the lake.  You can see the Denver skyline in the background.  The sky looks kind of ominous in this picture, but it was actually a really nice day.

When we finished the loop around the lake, we had lunch nearby and then headed to Estes Park.  Big Eagle had a coworker who had recommended Rock Cut Brewing Company for a craft beer, so we gave it a try!  Danny and I both got flights while Big Eagle had a pint.

We walked around Estes Park some, then drove to Loveland where we had reservations for two nights at the Embassy Suites.  Had dinner at P.F. Chang’s.  Visited and played a couple of games of Quixx back at the hotel.

Wednesday

The next day we had a great breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We were disappointed to find out we couldn’t get into the park unless we had a reservation, even just for a day trip through the park.  Our choices were to either try to make a reservation for the next day, or we could come back at 3 p.m. when there was open entry.  We decided to come back at 3.

So in the meantime, we had time to kill.  We decided to do the gondola ride up to Prospect Mountain’s summit, only to find out once we got there that the reservations for that activity were full until late afternoon.  That’s how we ended up playing putt-putt golf. 😁

 

After that we walked around Estes Park’s shopping area and ended up having pizza for lunch while there.  In the same establishment that was selling the pizza, they were also selling moonshine!  So while we waited for our pizza to be ready, Danny and Big Eagle checked that out and tried a sample.

 

After lunch we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park and waited in the car line with all the other people who hadn’t had a reservation that day and decided like us to go in at 3 p.m.

If you have plans to visit a national park any time soon, I suggest you find out if you need a reservation to enter in the morning, so you don’t find yourself waiting in a long car line like this!

The drive through the park was worth the wait, though.  We enjoyed so much beautiful scenery and wildlife while we were there!

It was late by the time we finished and drove back to Loveland.  Looking on his phone, Danny picked a spot in downtown Loveland called the Pourhouse Bar & Grill that we tried for dinner.  The beer, the food, and the service were all good, so he picked a winner!

Thursday

There is a sculpture park in Loveland that sounded interesting to me, so after another great breakfast at the hotel on Thursday morning, we headed there.  I don’t recall ever being at a sculpture park before.  Not sure how many sculptures there were, but it was A LOT!  Here are a few pictures of some of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

This last one reminds me of Norman Rockwell artwork. 😀

Danny had wanted to visit the New Belgium Brewing Company, so when we left the park, we made our way down the road to Fort Collins.  You couldn’t tour the inside of the brewery (thank you, COVID 😠), but you could go in the gift shop, drink their beer outside, and there was a food truck.  So we got a table, ordered our beer, and got lunch from the food truck.

It was a mac n cheese food truck, and I ordered buffalo chicken mac n cheese.  Perfect choice, because it was so good!

 

We were all boarding flights early the next morning.  Danny’s was really early.  So from the brewery, we drove back to Denver and checked into our hotel, hung out there a little while, then went to dinner at this cool German restaurant with an adult game area outside.

I know I went into a lot of detail on this first favorite, but being able to spend time with Danny again was a major deal for us!

Favorite #2

The week after we returned from our Colorado trip, I drove halfway to Houston to meet Cara and take this pretty girl from her:

Cara and her family were getting ready to travel, so we kept Sunny!  Love this baby dog!

 

Favorite #3

The week after we returned from our Colorado trip, I met with several former co-workers for lunch!  We all worked at the same elementary school and are all retired now.  I’ve been retired for 11 years, and though I’d seen some of these ladies since then, there were also some I hadn’t seen since retiring.  It sure was fun being together again and catching up with everyone!

 

Favorite #4

Around mid-June Danny texted us some pictures of his new surroundings.  Here are a few of them:

 

 

The last one is taken from near the warehouse that stores the kayaks and supplies looking back at the walled tent that is his home for the summer when he’s not out leading a trip.  Getting photos like this is a favorite for me because I like being able to picture in my mind where my loved ones are.

 

Favorite #5

For Mother’s Day this year, Danny gave me a gift certificate to a new restaurant in Ft. Worth!  Still hadn’t gone yet, so finally on the second to the last Saturday in June, Big Eagle and I went.

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening!  When we asked our waiter how long they’d been open, we learned that Wishbone & Flynt had opened right before the pandemic hit, so they had to immediately shut down.  But when the restaurants were allowed to open back up, they did, and have been doing a great business ever since.  It’s a fairly small venue as restaurants go, so you have to make your reservations in advance to get in.  Several groups tried to get seated as walk-ins while we were there, and they had to go elsewhere that night since they were full.

We started with an appetizer of smoked redfish dip with lavash.  Big Eagle ate some even though he wasn’t a huge fan.  I, on the other hand, scarfed it down!

For our entree, Big Eagle had the pork special:

And I had the Shrimp Fra Diavolo:

The food was great, the service was very good, and they have a speakeasy, so after dinner we went in there for an after-dinner drink and to enjoy the atmosphere.  You had to walk behind a red curtain at the end of the bar, then turn a corner to the left where you found the door to the speakeasy.

There were all kinds of little comfy sitting areas all around the room to sit and enjoy your drinks and conversation.  Here’s Big Eagle with his Bailey’s in the sitting area we chose.

I had a coffee liqueur.  It was a fun night, and we really enjoyed trying out a new place!

 

Favorite #6

In early July, I finally broke down and purchased the air fryer I’d had my eye on.

It’s also an oven, so I can use it when I just have a small amount, instead of heating up the regular oven.  So far I’ve only done french fries in it, and I’ve toasted buns and reheated pizza.  It does french fries in only 10 minutes!  That’s about 2/3 less the time it takes in the regular oven.

The other thing I really like about it is that you can flip it up when you’re not using it, so it doesn’t take up so much counter space!

I’m looking forward to trying other foods in it!

 

Favorite #7

Also in July, the Bovets returned home from their travels, and Cara drove with the girls from their new home in Louisiana to Texas to get Sunny.  They got here on a Friday night, and the next morning we went to Pirate’s Cove water park.

 

 

Such a fun day!  I love these girls SO MUCH! 😍

They were here until Wednesday, but those were pretty much all the pictures I took, because the day after the water park, I went downhill fast and got sick.  I hate that I had to ruin the rest of the time I could have spent with them, but I’m glad to have been able to enjoy at least some of their visit.

 

Favorite #8

My wristwatch had been missing for about a year.  I’d looked everywhere I could think of for it.  So I was really happy on the last day of July when I FINALLY found it!

Where was it you ask?  Underneath my nightstand.  When I was emptying out our bedroom last weekend, I carried out the nightstand, and when I came back to that corner, there was my watch laying on the floor!  There were also two Nerf bullets.  Hmmm.  Wonder how THOSE got there!

 

Favorite #9

The last night of July, Big Eagle and I watched a special on TBN called Hold on to Hope hosted by Joel Osteen and Dr. Rick Rigsby.  We both really enjoyed it.  We found it very inspirational, and we really liked the music, too.  I saw this morning that it’s still being aired, and I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for some spiritual inspiration!

Those are the highlights of my June and July!  I’m sure you’ve been having some favorite moments this summer, too, and I would love to hear about them.  If you’d like, drop a comment below about that or anything else.  Have you checked under your nightstand lately?  Maybe you’d like to tell me what YOU found under YOURS! 😝