Spring Break, Part III - A Rockin' Adventure

Grand Junction, situated next to Fruita, is a wonderful place to mountain bike. Of course we had to spend some time taking in the sights and riding on some rocks.

When we go to places like the Colorado Monument I think about what it must have felt like for the pioneers when they came west and encountered such beauty, a beauty so different from that of their home state.



On Saturday we had aimed to be at the Monument to take in the sunrise. We missed that, but still arrived before any other cyclists.

That meant that the kids had the bike park all to themselves. They played a bit and then did some of the trails. We finished up at another part of the Monument for some very different kind of riding.



On our way back to Denver we made a stop at Rifle Falls. It was beautiful as ever, but so different from when it is green.

Interestingly, Ethan was off on his own, very different, primitive style camping trip just about 30 minutes away from where we were. I'lll share that with you soon.

Spring Break, Part II

We had a leisurely morning on Thursday, seeing the Fosters off on their skiing holiday and then getting ready for the day. We packed some food and headed to the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs pool.

The kids wanted to be there in the evening when it is dark, so I did not want to arrive too early.

There is one giant pool and one much smaller, hotter pool.In the smaller pool you can also sit on bubble chairs, which is much like being in a hot tub.

It was fun seeing some cycling friends that we had not expected to see. It was also kind of nice being just another person in the crowd, too. I ducked out a bit early to grab a few minutes to read. I am part of a committee putting on a Teen Literature conference next week and I am trying to get all of the books read by each of our keynote speakers. I am happily buried in Requiem, the third book in Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy.

Between things we also played on the zipline in the back yard.

We also treated Coach Kathy to a nice dinner since she stopped to see us on her way to Moab to do a bit of riding on Slick Rock.

On Friday I spent a little time in town taking in the shops on Main Street. They have some really fun stores. Ellie and Kohlton had shopped a bit on Wednesday and Ellie bought a fun appliqued owl change purse from Pollux. I happen to stop by there, too and found that I loved the way they did their displays. Here are two of the cute girls who work there with their awesome display.

There were also some fun art on the strip.

I also really loved the Seasons store and Girlfriends. The official greeting kitty Season was a good reason to hang around a bit. I also found that they sold some of the art from an artist that I really like.

Dead Horse Point, More Wind and Hello Grand Junction

Monday dawned a bit more sunny. After taking in the hotel free continental breakfast we headed out to explore some more. This time we headed for the south end of Moab. We found the very old Highway 46 and went to explore. Ethan is like his father. They love to follow every road to see where it will lead them. This was a quaint road that meandered up the side of a mountain and down into a quite,lovely desert valley. On the side of the hill you could see some popular bike path that held no riders that day. Farther up we spied what looked to be a mine en trace. Ethan had been itching to go hiking since we arrived in Moab, but the weather would not cooperate. He decided that the spot needed to be investigated, so he put on his gear and headed out. He climbed down some rocks, across a dried river bed and up the side of the hill. He was extra cautious this time because he does not want to have any injuries when he goes to Jamaica in a few weeks. He had a peak in the cave and was off again in search of interesting rocks. He wanted me to follow him, but I did not want to climb down the rocks. I was feeling a bit wimpy that day. He decided to follow the riverbed north. He found great rocks and a creepy site. The site was littered with broken, bleached bones from what must have been at least two cows. Ethan says that it looks like coyotes must have gotten them since the bones were broken and scattered. The litter of those large bones made him feel uneasy. He decided it was time to rejoin me so he climbed back up to the road and off we went. We drove in a bit father, but I wanted to turn around once the road started to get rougher. We were disappointed to find eight lots for sale. Putting houses up this little valley would change its face completely. We continued south for a while and decided to go back north. We wanted to hike more, but the wind and cold were simply too much. Next up we drove out to Dead Horse Point. It is one of my favorite views in all of that part of Utah. It feels like you can see forever. We had taken the whole family there years ago but I don't think Ethan remembered it. Later we were going to have some coffee, tea and conversation,but we could not find a coffee house. In the end we settled for buying stuff for dinner and hot chocolate. Then we went back and set up camp in the wind. I decided to have corned beef hash for dinner so I set up the cooking table next to the van. I even opened two of the doors to act like shields. Ethan started up a fire and we tried to enjoy it. After a while we felt wind whipped so we retreated into the van where we set up the computer on a box, turned on the engine to run the heater and the power converter and enjoyed "Madagascar II." It was really pretty fun. We were warm when we went to bed. In the morning I awoke to find the windows caked with ice. I had to scrap off some ice with my finger nails to see how the weather was outside. It was still cold. I turned on the heater again so it would be nice for Ethan when he woke up. Once he did we packed things up, returned the movie and headed to Grand Junction to visit with Natalie and her family. It was fun to see how she has redecorated so many rooms in their house. It was great fun to visit and have dinner. The meal was lovely, so Natalie and I thought we'd share the recipes:

Greek Style Chicken

Feta Pesto Stuffing (recipe below)
4 Chicken quarters
1/4 tea. Salt
1/8 tea. Pepper
2 TBL Lemon Juice
1 TBL Olive Oil

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Make the Feta Pesto stuffing. Gently loosen the skind from the chicken using your finger, Then spread 1/4th of the stuffing between the meat and the skin of each chicken quarter.

Place the chicken, skin side up, in an ungreased rectangular pan, 13"x9"x2". Season wiht salt and pepper. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.

Back uncovered for about 45 minutes or until the juice of the chicken is no longer pink.

Feta Pesto Stuffing

1/2 cup Water
4 Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/2 cup Feta Cheese
1/2 cup Red Onion, chopped
1 TBL Pesto

Pour water over the dried tomatoes and let them sit for five minutes. Drain and thoroughly chop. Mix in the cheese, onion and pest with the tomatoes.

---------

Autumn Apple Cake
1 1/2 sicks of unsalted Butter
3 large, tart Apples peeled, quartered and sliced to 1/2" thick
1 tsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 10" pie dish.

In a medium skillet, cook the butter over medium heat until golden (about 10 minutes). Pour this into a bowl. While the butter is cooking, toss the apple slices with lemon juice. The stir in 1 tsp. of the sugar and cinnamon. Spread the apples evenly in the pie dish.

Stir 3/4 sup of the sugar into the butter. Next, gently add the eggs and then the flour. Mix gently until just incorporated. Spread this batter over the apples. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp. of sugar over the top of the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the surface is golden and crusty.

This is great when served warm with ice cream.