Running the Rainbow

 I planned this camping trip because Staunton was having a half marathon on August 28.  We loved camping at Staunton last year and I used the race as an excuse to go back.  Luckily, we had Marion join us this year.  We really enjoy our time with her. I woke up at 6am on Saturday and only had to walk a little ways to the start of the race.  I saw a few of my friends there.  I really didn’t feel well prepared for the race because I have really been focusing on triathlons.  When I started the race, I stayed in the lead pack.  I did really well on the uphill but would get passed on the downhill.  It sounds counterintuitive to do better on the downhill but downhill is hard because you have to know how to bounce off of rocks without falling.  Thankfully, everyone that passed me on the downhill I passed on the uphill before the end of the race. I never checked results after the race because I wanted to spend time with the family while campi...

 Connor had a mountain bike race in Buffalo Creek in the morning of August 21. I suggested that maybe the girls and I just go camping.  Connor didn’t like that idea and asked if he could still go camping after the race. In order to make the timing work out, the girls and I left early so I could open water swim and get the campsite set up.  Lloyd and Connor came in a separate car after Connor’s race. We camped at St Vrain because it is only 3 miles from Union Reservoir in Longmont where my triathlon was.  Union Reservoir is an area mainly used for swimming and they have a neat dog beach where dogs can swim without a leash. We liked our campsite because it had so much space.  We were out in the open but it was a nice place to relax and be in nature. There are a lot of birds and pelicans at St Vrain. The kids got along pretty well and had fun playing with each other.  They swung each other on the hammock and played a game where they threw pebbles at a tar...

  Glendo State Park is founded in one of Wyoming’s most historic areas.  Spanish diggings, suggesting a large area of aboriginal activity, lies just a few miles east of the reservoir.  Rising out of the reservoir’s east side at Sandy Beach is a series of sand dunes that reach from the Great Divide Basin and the Green River to the sand hills of Nebraska.  The Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians arrived in Southeastern Wyoming and the North Platte River Basin in the 18th century.  The Oglala and Brule Sioux arrived in the 1830s, moving into eastern Wyoming from South Dakota.  Teepee rings can still be found at Glendo State Park and the surrounding area. We went to Curt Gowdy Wyoming last summer and had a really good time.  Glendo is one of the best state parks for camping too so we decided to try it. It was a very different experience.  We never saw a ranger and everything was very hands off.  The only similarity was the amount of mountain biking tra...