Late Weekend Report

It was a pretty busy weekend with me and the kids. It started off with us all going to see Flightplan. Not a bad movie. Somewhat predictable, but had a couple good twists.

Saturday we slept in, which I desperately needed after staying up too late the previous 3 nights. Once I was up we decided to take advantage of the nice day and go for a bike ride. We took the same trail we went on a few weeks ago, but we went earlier so we could ride further.

That is Erik on the left and Kevin on the right.


The sun was shining with a few clouds in the sky when we got started. The Autumn colors were out, but we've probably missed the really good colors in our area. I love it when the scrub oak changes to a bright red.

The Santa Fe Trail goes through most, if not all of Colorado following the front range of the Rockies. Through the city I believe the trail is paved with asphalt (who's fault?) most of the way through, but on the north end of town it is a dirt trail. It is not a technical ride, but has a few hills along the way that can challenge a novice. I am a novice, but last year I had a friend who was into riding her bike a lot, I decided that this would be a good way for me to get some much needed exercise. She introduced me to the trail.

We take the trail from about a mile or 2 south of where it turns to dirt and ride north. A few miles up it enters the Air Force Academy grounds. If you've ever been to Colorado Springs this is one of the prettiest areas.

Erik only has a 10 speed, and he is still getting used to dealing with shifting gears. He gets a bit frustrated, but with some guidance and encouragement he does really well. I just need to keep Kevin from trying to tell him what to do. Even with 5 years difference in their ages, the sibling rivalry is very much there. It doesn't help when Kevin tells Erik to shift up when he should shift down. I'll eventually get him an 18 speed, but until he gets the shifting down I don't see the point.

This time around we went a good 12 to 15 miles up into the Air Force Academy ground. We saw lots of snakes along the trail. Some of them could have been baby rattlers, but I didn't want to stop and look. I warned the boys not to stop and check them out, because boys will be boys.

On the way back down it was getting chilly. We saw a 3'+ bull snake sunning itself on the trail. It looked like a few people hadn't seen it and ran over it. It was still alive and freaked out everyone that passed as I tried to block others from causing more damage to the poor thing.

Unfortunately my digital camera doesn't give an accurate reading of the amount of battery charge that remains so I only got a few pictures from some of the least pretty areas. I'll be smarter next time. We went about 3 or 4 miles further than we did our last time out. One of these times I'll take my GPS unit with us to get an accurate reading.

We stayed home Saturday night. Kevin had a friend spend the night. This usually ends up being a bad idea, but they were really good about letting Erik participate. The XBox tends to get a lot of use on nights like this. They stayed up late and watched a few episodes of the first season of 24. My kids are way into the show, just like me. I had watched these episodes last week while they were with their mom, but I didn't tell them that. The kids eventually were all asleep on an air mattress and the couch. That's where I left them.

Sunday I slept in again. I am going to get to enjoy that if I'm not careful. I eventually woke up due to XBox noise with the volume turned way up. I didn't complain, I needed to get my ass moving. We were headed for mom's in Pueblo to have yet another birthday celebration for Erik.

I invited Rayette to bring her kids along. Her oldest son came. We had fun trying to inflate this hot air balloon thing that my mom bought Erik. She always finds the oddest toys. This would have been really cool if it would have worked. There was a slight breeze that was preventing it from filling.

We had a great lunch, cake, and ice cream. The hit the living room to watch a little of the Bronco game. Rayette is a huge Bronco fan. I am torn between the Broncos and the Lions (ya, I know, don't laugh). Two years ago when Rayette and I were first dating she bought tickets for the cross conference match-up of Broncos vs Lions. It was hard to cheer for both sides. I ended up giving in and cheering for the broncos. I snagged a t-shirt on the way out with both team helmets on the front (score!). I had a hard time answering a question in one of my last posts about the most romantic thing a woman has ever done for me. This was probably it, because it also came with spending the night in Denver (her dad works for Holiday Inn, so the room was nice and cheap). We went out to the bar Sing Song (dueling piano bar). What an awesome weekend. Anyway I digress.

We needed to leave early because I had tickets to a comedy show in Colorado Springs. Unfortunately Rayette could not find someone to cover her on-call time at the hospital. She decided to give it a try too late. She missed an excellent show. My friends Mike and Irma and I had dinner at my favorite brew pub before walking to the show. The comedians were Henry Phillips, Drew Hastings, and Pat Godwin. I laughed my fool head off. Pat Godwin is so damn funny. I am really sorry she missed it.