Gathering with Friends in Estes Park

Eleven couples. Two leaders passionate about seeing marriages thrive. One crisp, but sunny, overnight in Estes Park, CO.

Steve and Linda Nuss gathered us together like a rooster and mother hen guarding their chicks last weekend. Some of us were from their current marriage home group (format includes Jimmy and Karen Evans’ DVD, “Building Emotional Intimacy”), which will end in a couple of weeks. (Chet and I participate in that one.) Some of us were from the group they hosted last fall. Others were from GriefShare: Recovering from the Losses in Life that Steve and Linda started  in our church. At one point they oversaw about eight small GriefShare groups within the larger circle. Who knows where the other couples came from???

Between 3 pm and 5 pm Friday afternoon, we gathered on site at the Estes Park YMCA, which has a lot of construction popping up all over the 800-plus acres with new buildings, lodges and cabins mushrooming. We stayed in one of the nicer lodges, Wind River Lodge,  and the atmosphere around the weekend was casual and loose. It included lots of fellowship with family-style dinner together at three tables in the Dining Hall (buffet) Friday night and breakfast on Saturday morning. 

In the dark on Friday night, about eight vehicles caravaned around the property trying to find our fire ring  – backtracking a few times. We finally found the spot and settled on benches and our lawn chairs in front of a roaring fire stoked by three of the guys. Chuck Greenfield plunked beautiful worship songs on his guitar as some cuddled up in blankets. I led the charge on roasting marshmallows for our S’mores. Interestingly, it was the guys who did most of the talking, or led out on songs. I guess the women folk had used up their 50,000 words already with the excitement of meetin’, greetin’ and eatin’!

After breakfast the next morning, we packed up our stuff, checked out and headed for Meeting Room C, around several tables pushed together like a board meeting, where Steve and Linda passed out a handout and Ed Smith delivered a teaching via tape  relevant to developing intimacy in marriage.

The sun beat down on a gorgeous spring day and I did not want to leave Estes Park right away. Chet and I serendipidously met up with some of the gang and met at “Kind” coffee – found the perfect table with a full picture window view of the creek and path out the back. We casually sipped our lattes and smoothies and attempted a few games of Mexican Train Dominoes (though without the Mexican nor the train, because we couldn’t figure that part out).

Our little group (the Greenfields, Ketters, Chet and I) enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing afternoon before heading back down to Denver again.

It was a great way for me to spend my birthday.

Thank you, Steve and Linda, for all your hard work and for organizing an awesome marriage building get-away!!!

Rest & Relaxation in a Gorgeous Refuge!

What a blessing! I have been struggling with side effects of some medication and feeling really lousy for a couple of weeks. My dear friend Gail asked me if I would join her while dog sitting for a dear family in south Denver while they travelled. I stayed from Friday, Jan 16 – Monday morning, Jan 18.

What a refreshing time! My head was still reeling with headaches and my neck in pain, along with other side effects that kept popping up. But the quiet of this beautiful home and the loving nudges of their darling cocker spaniel Maddie – and Gail’s delicious meals – relaxed and revived me. The prayer times didn’t hurt any, either!

Gail told me about how ministry-minded this family is. They open their home to gift-wrapping hundreds of presents for the poor during the holidays. Many times, guests will visit and find the same peace Gail and I experienced together that weekend.

We enjoyed playing with Maddie and walking her on the trail around the golf course behind the house. I had to laugh at her when she bought to us her toys one by one throughout the weekend, begging with those pretty brown eyes, “Wanna play? Wanna play?”

I had the awesome opportunity of attending Gail’s church Sunday night. It was the upbeat “teen” service, that included the Catholic Eucharist. I am very grateful for my Catholic friends. The service radiated with the awe and majesty of our Lord. And it warmed my heart to see the tweens and teens so attentively attending to and serving the priest with their crisp white and red robes on. As the teens came up and kneeled before the communion table, their eyes sparkled with joy, reverence and awe. It was a beautiful sight to see!

I enjoyed the peaceful message about doing what’s right when it’s easy to follow your own selfish desires.

Cycling Heaven! Part 1…

Knowing how much I love to ride, Chet rented me a bike on Tuesday while he was working the RMRPPR Trade Show in Copper Mountain. I didn’t get a chance to use it until that afternoon as I needed to work on my books for Good Catch Publishing.

But at 3:00 Mountain Time, I was whizzing across Highway 70 to catch the bike trail from Copper to Frisco. What breathtaking scenery on a perfect fall day! From trailhead to trailhead, it was 7.6 miles of bike path flanked on one side by a rushing creek and on the other still ponds with Canadian geese, yellow-green aspen, evergreens and mountainside rock.

“I LOVE THIS!” I kept saying to noone in particular, thoroughly enjoying to ride. “This IS THE LIFE!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took me only 25 minutes to get to Frisco.  Good thing I enjoyed the cool breeze, colors and natural surroundings on the way down…little did I realize I would be heaving and heaving up the hill for an hour and a half pedalling mostly in gear 1-1 on the way back! Payback time!

As I entered Frisco, I saw a very peculiar sight…rock creatures to my left and right! Either space aliens landed in this pristine mountain area and decided to create self-portrait sculptures…or some bored kids were having a bit of fun! I tend to think the latter…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one even has the ring in its snout.

Riding through Frisco on the path reminded me of my walks with Jan Tennyson, Director of Dare to Dream Children’s Foundation. We holed up for several days in one of the gorgeous mountain homes banging away at Part One of her Dare to Dream book. We worked hard, ate good food and took walks around the lake and on the path. Frisco is a darling little resort town. I fantasized what it would be like to live there year around. 😉

Who would have thought that one would run across a Cart o’ Kids wheeling its way down Main Street? And guess what Open Book Mentors and Mentees – I found two different kinds of Tandem bikes to rent – or buy! Also, took a refreshing walk around the Marina. Many of the boats were moored there, but quite a few the owners had pulled out of the water and parked in winter quarters. AND – most surprising of all – I discovered, in an effort to ward off a very serious problem that has ravaged the landscape, the quirky humor of the small mountain town folks …

All these and more in the next blog entry! (Awwww, shucks!!!)

Sneak Preview…

Tuesday…

Sorry to those who keep coming back hoping for a new blog entry! We had some glitches here with the computer.

Chet and I had a wonderful time with our family and adventures here in Alaska! We will be flying back to Denver in a couple of hours.

Over the next few weeks, I will post stories and photos. Please come back frequently and enjoy! Here are a few highlights that you can look forward to:

• A cow moose with her twins showed up in Tom & Karol’s backyard!
• What happened on the River?
• Spectacular “calving” on our 26-glacier tour in Whittier
• What surprising colorful animal did we see and hear “up close” on the glacier tour???
• The roadside business Chet almost set up while we biked along the Anchorage coast
• Did the fish bite on an ocean fishing trip?
• New friends from other countries and a crazy dance
• And so much more!!!

Come back later for more of the scoop!

We love you!

Hugs! Chet & Marla

Our Surprise!

“It’s so charming!”

Chet and I stood in the doorway of a darling little cabin Wednesday afternoon near the river where we’d soon be fishing. Tom and Karol rented it for us at Sheep Creek Lodge. They also secured a room in the lodge for Mom B. How generous and thoughtful! We loved it! It was equipped with a comfy double bed, a black Franklin stove-like electric fireplace, two bunks and a tiny table and chairs.

(Tom, Karol and Haka, their energetic hunt-trained black lab, spent the night in their cozy little trailer in a campsite near the river.   Tom and Tanya stayed in their trailer in Palmer. They drove it all the way from Florida, sightseeing their way through Canada. Thought they might need to stop and take a job for a while “to pay for gas the rest of the way into Alaska,” but looks like they were able to eek by…)
After a slow-to-get served (one waitress, prolly one chef), but very delicious meal at the Sheep Creek Lodge, we headed for the river. While Tom got fishing gear ready and Karol opened up the trailer, Chet and I walked down and secured our fishing licenses with a King Salmon tag. The licence was $20 for a 24-hour day plus $10 for the King tag. The different kinds of salmon, including King (or Chinook), Silver, Red, Coho have different running times up the river.

It was 9:00 pm and the sun was hanging far above the horizon. It had be a cloudy day, but was pretty clear. T & K brought enough fishing gear for an army…we put on our waders over many layers of clothes (“It can get very cold on the river, even in the summer!”), gloves, hoods.

We wandered down to the river.  Under the careful tutelege of “master fisherman” Tom B, Chet and

 I made of first cast for King Salmon. Chet loves to fly fish for trout in CO, though he doesn’t get to do it very often. He was in fisherman’s heaven, as we all stood in the medium current, smelling the fresh air, watching the sun dip down to the horizon much more slowly than the Lower 48.

There were a few other fishermen in boats or wading, but none that we could see caught anything. Sometimes you can’t pull them into the boat fast enough, they say, sometimes it is slower.

Mom B. and Tom watched Chet, Karol and I from a picnic table on the bank.
For me, it was a thrill to cast out the shiny half-a-ruler long lure, seeing how far I could get it, before reeling it in. I’d give a whoop when I made a pretty good cast.

“The fishermen all looked quickly in your direction when you yelled,” Tom & Chet told me later, their faces flashing sarcastic smirks. “Usually when someone gives a victory yell on the river, it’s because they caught something.”

The “river closed down” at 11 pm – that was when you were supposed to stop fishing, even though the sun still hung on the horizon, streaking across the water.

When Chet and I unlocked the door to our cozy cabin at midnight, there was still plenty of light.
 
 
 

Cast of Characters

Thought I’d share a few photos of those characters we met up  with here in Alaska.

Alaska Facts

I must have been fascinated with a state so far north, largely untamed and unsettled from the time I was a young girl. I remember choosing Alaska as my “state project” in fifth grade. Perhaps the other states were taken. Perhaps not.

But I even remembered from so many years ago that the state bird is the Ptarmigan – Willow Ptarmigan, to be precise. The Territorial Legislature adopted it in 1955.

Some other facts about our 49th state:

• Motto: “North to the Future”
• Flower: Forget-Me-Not
• Fossil: Wooly Mammoth
• Mineral: Gold
• Gem: Jade
• Tree: Sitka Spruce
• Fish: King Salmon
• Insect: Four-spot Skimmer Dragonfly
• Sport: Dog Mushing
• Area: 586,412 square miles
• Denali (Mt. McKinley): 20,320 ft. (Tallest peak in North America)

Some other Alaska trivia facts from Alaska Fast Facts and Trivia:

1. Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.
2. Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
    
3. The Alaska Highway was originally built as a military supply road during World War II.
    
4. The state boasts the lowest population density in the nation.
    
5. The discovery of gold in the Yukon began a gold rush in 1898. Later gold was discovered at Nome and Fairbanks.
    
6. Alaska is a geographical marvel! When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast.
    
7. The state’s coastline extends over 6,600 miles.
    
8. Alaska is the United State’s largest state and is over twice the size of Texas. Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is 2,700 miles wide. 
    
9. Oil is the state’s most valuable natural resource. The area includes what is thought to be the largest oil field in North America.
    
10. In 1986 Mount Augustine erupted near Anchorage. 
       
11. The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States.
     
12. 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are located in Alaska.
     
13. At 20,320 feet above sea level, Mt. McKinley, located in Alaska’s interior, is the highest point in North America.
     
14. Juneau is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane! 
     
15. The state’s largest city is Anchorage; the second largest is Fairbanks.
     
16. The Alaska Range is the largest mountain chain in the state. It covers from the Alaska Peninsula to the Yukon Territory.
     
17. In 1915 the record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon; the record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
     
18. The Alaskan malamute sled dog is strong and heavily coated. It was developed as a breed by a group of Eskimos named the Malemiuts.
     
19. Alaska’s name is based on the Eskimo word Alakshak meaning great lands or peninsula.
     
20. Alaska’s most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry. 
     
21. The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.
     
22. Prudhoe Bay, on the northern Alaskan coast, is North America’s largest oil field.
     
23. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on its 800 mile journey to Valdez.
     
24. The fishing and seafood industry is the state’s largest private industry employer.

You can find more about Alaska, along with quizes, at About.com.