Yes this vacation definitely revolves around my race up Pike's Peak on the 16th, but its also a family vacation and we have had some really great times that are helping me periodically forget the race. If you aren't interested in our family fun you can pass on this blog entry, I'll understand.
On Saturday we went whitewater rafting on Clear Creek which in the Spring is a hardcore Class V run but in the Summer it is a little less frightening with non-stop Class III and IV rapids. We had a ball! We went over 3 different rapids that dropped up to 8 feet and the rest of the run was also pretty technical and filled with rough water and ice cold mountain water in the face. Our raft was pretty skilled, no one fell out and we did not get perched on a huge rock. Other rafts in our group were no so lucky. Some fell out, and two out of the 4 rafts got stuck really good on rocks in the whitewater. Our guide taught us a new move on the biggest 8' drop called "50/50" (50% of the time you flip the raft on this rapid, 50% of the time you don't) the move was called "train wreck." There is a huge boulder below the drop and many rafts try to steer around it and flip. We instead headed straight for it and at the last minute we all dropped into the middle of the raft as we crashed into the rock (Erica and I were in the front so we would be the casualties if it didn't work). It worked, the raft bounced off the boulder and then we all popped up and started paddling like mad as the raft bounced around the boulder. Quite fun but Erica and I got soaked by the 50 degree water splashing over the front of the raft! What a blast! Unfortunately though Derek said that our Scouting whitewater trips on the Deerfield river in MA will now seem kinda lame compared to this thrill ride :-)
Jan and Erica also went on a horse ride from the Breckenridge Stables the next day while Derek and I went for a run / hike. I get sore riding horses and I didn't want to be sore for the race so Jan took the bullet for me and went riding with Erica (what a great Mom!) Derek and I set off up the Breckenridge slopes, me running and he hiking and we decided we'd meet up as I ran back down. We did but we also decided to hike further up the mountain. It was a really great hike, not because of the views or the exercise but because we could just talk... and there aren't many of those opportunities available anymore for a Dad and a 16-year old. We talked about college, and likes/dislikes, and the fact that he loves the mountains out here so much that he may just consider a college option here in Colorado. Quality time is what family vacations are all about.
We rented Kayaks for an afternoon and went out on Dillon Lake, an alpine lake that is very cold... 37 degrees even in August! It was really fun, we all had our own kayaks and we paddled through an area with many little islands and inlets to explore as well as some passages that were barely 10 inches deep to slip through between islands.
The absolute best excursion though was our zip line adventure. It was a series of zip lines over a canyon west of Vail... 6 lines to be exact totalling more than a half mile of cable runs at over 200 feet above the canyon floor. It was SO fabulous. I'm not a person who likes heights but this didn't bother me a bit. Being hitched to a cable by a harness and a pulley and sailing across a canyon like a bird was so fun! I actually got stuck about 100 feet of the landing zone of the last line due to winds slowing me down and they had to come out and reel me in :-) I got a great video of the last 1,000 foot zip line ride as I flew down the length of the canyon, if you want to see it let me know but I can't post it, it is too large.
It's funny, even when we are relaxing with family time, I'm getting a workout in... there's not much about our vacations that have us just sitting around!
Stay tuned, we may do a mountain bike ride down Pike's Peak from the summit the day after the race!
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