Tag Archives: trails

Going Strong, Life, Parenting, Soft Star Shoes

Colorado Family Vacation Day 4: Trail Run & Distillery Tour

08/21/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

After tackling the 4 mile trail hike with Going Mom the day before, I felt compelled to go back out to make it a solo trail run. The thought was in my head, but I never set it in stone because that be planning, and I hate planning on vacation.

But, as usually happens when I get something in my head, I did it. I woke up early just as the sun was coming out, not from an alarm, but because I had to pee. After relieving myself, I thought long and hard about getting back in the warm bed with my wife, but the allure of a cold, wet (it just rained the previous day) trail run forced me out the door instead.

I wore my trusty Soft Star Shoes Dash RunAmoc’s with Trail Soles since they had done extremely well for everything else so far.

Once more, they were the perfect choice. I was jumping on and over wet rocks, going through mud and streams, and making steep ascents and descents with a solid footing the whole time. Okay, not really, right before finishing the 4 miles, I wasn’t paying attention and tripped over a large rock. Go me!

The fall was hard, and I had a nice limp-run (think Hunchback of Notre Dame) for the quarter mile that was left. My right knee was throbbing with pain, and I’m just now recovering from whatever it was. Glad it was nothing too serious!

I knew I wouldn’t rest until I got at least one trail run in, and I was happy to fit it in. The run started out pretty chilly, and the wet leaves of overlapping plants on the trail only compounded things, but I was soon warmed up and didn’t mind running in my soaked shirt and shorts. The day before, I went for a run down and back up the mountain Steve (Papa) and Kathy (Nana) live on, but neighborhood streets just aren’t the same. That said, I was sucking in air on as I ran the straight one mile up!

When I returned, everyone but Steve was still asleep. Phew, I didn’t miss anything exciting yet! Not long after, everyone was awake and having breakfast. Meanwhile, Avery was having a blast going up and down the stairs.

She loved those things, and we loved that it helped her get that constant flow of energy out of her system. Unfortunately, I think the rest of us lacked the energy to chase her up and down, especially poor Cousin Ashlee who watched/played with her the most.

We all breathed a sigh of relief when she would take a break from climbing and start reading one of the books Nana got her instead.

Love that little samurai pony tail! If you have an extra toy sword, like Leonardo’s from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, please, send it our way to complete the look! 🙂

Our big agenda item for the day was heading to the Breckenridge Distillery for a tasting and a tour. And Kathy mentioned getting me a late birthday present while we were there. Obviously, I chose the Breckenridge Bourbon, and obviously, I kept cool about my new gift.

Kelley isn’t a big liquor drinker, as in, hates it, so it was just Kathy and me doing the tastings. Kelley did try one sip of bourbon and a spicy vodka, but that was about it for her. More for Kathy and me!

We had gone on the tour a couple years ago when Kelley was pregnant with Avery, but they added a lot to their distillery since then. It was interesting to see the changes and go through the enhanced plant. If only we could’ve brought one of these back….

Oh well, my birthday bourbon will probably last me over a year anyway since I rarely drink. Just nice to have a little sip every now and then.

We had more rain that day and kept indoors after getting back. Luckily, we had Avery to entertain us by walking around in Mommy’s shoes.

Man, that girl gets extremely frustrated when she can’t walk very well with the over-sized slippers! But it didn’t keep her from trying.

After a little reading session with Avery, I took off for a solo walk around the neighborhood.

Everyone else hung around the house, but I have this OCD thing about getting an evening walk in. The change of scenery and fresh air was pure bliss and I loved being able to get out in it as much as possible. And the view was spectacular!

The rest of the family went out to the backyard for their fresh air fix and to get more loving from Avery. I think she was smiling on the inside with Papa here.

Same for when Nana joined in; I’m sure of it.

Although she hated having her picture taken, Ashlee has an adorable smile that can’t not be shared too.

If you’re seeing this Ash, sorry, but you having nothing to hide dear!

Another day of vacation had come to an end. Lots of fun was had, and we still had a full day ahead of us. Just that alone made me want to stand on my head…..literally.

Do you ever crave just getting out on a walk/run by yourself?

Any “healthy” OCD tendencies like walking that you have?

Life, Parenting, Soft Star Shoes

Colorado Family Vacation Day 3: Kayaking + She Thought I Was Lost

08/20/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Day 3 of our stay with Nana and Papa in Colorado had us constantly going. No, not like that, I was trying to make a play on words since this is the Going Dad blog. Oh, did you already get that? Anyway…..

Kayaking was on the agenda for my wife and I while Nana and Cousin Ashlee took Avery to the playground at the Silverthorne Recreation Center. Like practically everything in Colorado, it’s a beautiful area with everything well maintained. But first things first, we needed coffee!

Kelley and I made the 2.5 mile walk from their house to Red Buffalo Cafe to enjoy a good brew by the Blue River. Along the way, we had to stop while crossing a bridge for an obligatory couples selfie.

I’ve been on a cold brew coffee kick for a while, and loved Red Buffalo’s high octane drink that steeped for 18 hours. Kelley got their house brew, and as an official taste tester of all things pure coffee, I confirmed it was good too! Then I was lucky enough to get to enjoy the coffee with this beautiful smiling lady next to the flowing river.

That damn old couple took the better bench while watching that fly fisherman, so we had to make due further back. But no worries, Nana soon arrived with Ashlee and Avery to pick us up and drive us to the neighboring town of Frisco for kayaking. Withing 10 minutes, Kathy (Nana) dropped us off at the Frisco Bay Marina where we agreed to meet her back in two hours.

The kayak rentals were for 2 or 3 hours, and we figured 2 would be plenty for us. We made it romantic and rented a tandem kayak so I could be the motor and take my wife along the lake while pretending it was a gondola.

Kelley insisted on helping out with the paddling and she did, but I ended up getting soaked with each stroke she took. We eventually found a rhythm, but then lost it again. Meh, we had a good time together and found 2 hours on the water was actually a lot longer than expected!

Our arms were getting a good workout in, and we only paused to take pictures (obviously) which included a great selfie shot by Going Mom.

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We passed the time just chatting about random things and enjoying the surrounding views of mountains, eagles, osprey, jumping fish, and some middle school kid running in shorts and a football helmet.

While we were out navigating the ~~torrential~~ mildly choppy waters in our tandem vessel, Avery was living it up on the playground with Nana and Ashlee.

Okay, so not the most thrilled look on either of their faces, but I heard they had a blast! Nana even took a selfie, something Avery is no stranger to!

Yeah, still not impressed I guess. She did do something I haven’t been able to get her to do yet which is walk along the equipment that’s raised above the ground.

Still a little cautious, but Ashlee helped support her, and those Soft Star Shoes provide plenty of confidence in her movement. I think after getting back down to ground level on the speckled turf, Avery was getting over her seriousness.

Ohhh, and there it is, the swings helped push her to finally crack a smile!

She just wanted her own swing. Guess we have some work to do about sharing. Back to my wife and I on the lake, we waited for the girls to finish playing and pick us back up by, you guessed it, getting coffee! More cold brew and several trips to pee later, and we were back at Nana and Papa’s home.

Avery was also back to her grump-face, so Kelley tried reading to her. The dog, Olivia, apparently enjoys story time too.

Everyone read a lot of books to Avery throughout the day to keep her happy. I am confident Cousin Ashlee is still reading the books without even looking at them.

After refueling, Kelley got Avery down for a nap and we were back at it to tackle the 4 mile trail loop we heard of the day before. Not wanting to waste precious nap-time…errr…time, we hurried out the door after quickly getting the O-K from Nana and Papa who would need to be there if Avery woke up.

Once more, we were on the trail taking the opposite way from what we did the prior day. The sights, sounds, and company were pleasing to the senses and we stopped only a few times to take selfies with Kelley’s phone. Then it died.

I didn’t have my phone, so we were slightly concerned that someone would try to contact us and wouldn’t be able to. But that didn’t stop us, we had a loop to conquer! I took the lead and Kelley bravely followed along.

We came across a few signs on our hike which gave us options for different paths. Sometimes, options suck! Either way, I went with a little instinct and little hopefulness for each direction I chose. Eventually, everything turned quiet, and you couldn’t even hear the rushing of the used-to-be-near-us water stream. That’s when Kelley’s nervousness could be felt through the air as she kept asking if I knew where we were.

I just kept saying yes and not to worry. Secretly I was just a tad bit worried myself, but I would never let it show. As we trudged through an unfamiliar, very narrow and muddy path, Kelley raised the question again asking if I knew where we were. Trying to remain confident in my voice, I just reassured her all was good.

Finally, we came across another directional path with a sign that had a familiar name to one of the trails! We took it and eventually started to recognize our surroundings. At the same time, we both noticed the tree I had just climbed the day before and scratched myself up really good.

From there, we carried on until we were back out at the trail head where we started. We hurried the rest of the way home fearful that Avery had been awake for the 2.5 hours we were gone and was a raging terror for the family. Turns out, she was still sleeping!

So much for that worried hike! Despite getting lost, or so my wife says, I had fun taking a long trail hike together and soaking up the thin mountain air. It was a long, non-stop day, but I’d say everyone had a great time.

The rest of the day was spent resting and getting ready for another fun day, including visiting the Breckenridge Distillery!

Life, Parenting

Colorado Family Vacation Day 2.2: Hiking Addiction

08/19/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

When in Colorado, I have to get out on a trail at least once a day. The area is too beautiful not to take advantage and get outdoors in the wilderness.

Lucky for me, Going Mom feels the same way. The other half of our second day in Colorado, after returning from the Vail Farmers’ Market, we took off to the trails in Nana and Papa’s mountainous neighborhood. I’m forever grateful to Nana, Papa, and Cousin Ashlee for happily keeping Avery and playing with her while my wife and I enjoyed several outings alone.

Kelley and I walked the half mile from the house to get to the trail head and set off taking one of two directions presented to us. When I went alone the day before, I took the opposite path we chose this day just to see what was different. Silly wife, she looked to me for direction as she took awesome photos, so I did the best I could to be act confident that I knew where we were going.

Note to self: Remember this tree... — Note to self: Remember this tree…

I look confident, right?

We trekked through the lush plant-life trying to take in the scenery while simultaneously not tripping over the rock-littered path. We failed at that, by the way, and lost count at how many times we stumbled. I think that’s just a part of trail hiking though. Or is it clumsiness?

Kelley was in awe of the trees, and took many pictures trying to capture their wonder….

…..while I just scalee their trunks.

Getting down was a little painful though. I still have long scratches on my belly, shins, and all the way down my left calf from hugging the trunk and sliding to get down.

That pic is from the next day. Don’t worry, the trees and I quickly made up since I never should’ve climbed on them in the first place.

Of course, I had to be “cool” and throw one of their fallen compadres. Well, after posing long enough for Kelley to snap a pic of me and all of my coolness.

We were having fun hiking through the varied terrain and checking everything out, but knew we couldn’t go on forever since we did have a kid to get back to. So naturally, we kept going and even stopped a stream to pose for pictures.

The flowing water was so clear and probably better to drink than most city water. So I did….

I even talked Kelley into taking a sip from the icy stream. We later read a warning sign saying only to drink water from purified sources. Oops! Well, we’re still standing today, so I guess that was a purified source.

As it got later, I urged us to push on just a little further. Kelley protested a little, but agreed to continue along the path. We hit a steep incline that I saw as a challenge to run to the top. I wanted to put my Soft Star Shoes Dash RunAmoc’s with a trail sole to the test anyway.

The shoes were already performing great across all types of terrain, and they never let me down as I went up.

I’ve been wearing these shoes for a while and use them when lifting in the garage, running outside, and now, hiking outdoors. The perfect for any activity!

I tried to keep quiet and just continue our hike, but Going Mom finally talked some sense into me to turn around and get back to the family. I’ll admit, when it comes to being on the trail, it’s hard to stop. You tell yourself just a little more, but a little more turns into another hour, and then another hour…..much like an addiction to drugs, only much healthier. That is, unless you get eaten by a bear or something….

Speaking of eating, we saw many mushrooms I was tempted to try, but thought better of it since I have no clue about wild mushrooms when they’re actually in the wild. But man, these little guys emerging from a hole in the ground were begging me to try.

But I passed on the delectable fungi and started making the way back with Kelley. Our backtracking journey was obviously faster than when we went out, so figured we would stop another hiker to ask to take our picture. The hiker, originally from Dallas, was happy to oblige and did a good job at pushing that shiny silver button.

She even told us about a 4 mile loop we could hike which was part of the trail we were on. The wheels in my head were already turning, and Kelley knew we’d be returning to complete the loop very soon.

By soon, I mean the next day, after our 2.5 mile walk along the Blue River for coffee at Red Buffalo Cafe. But that completes day two of our vacation. Making the 4 mile hike had Kelley feeling lost for a while, I swear, I knew where I was going the whole time. 🙂

Do you love hiking?

Ever feel like you can’t turn around and have to keep progressing forward on the trail?

Have you tried a wild mushroom not in stores before?