A last little getaway

After Michael gave his notice at work, we took the opportunity for a little getaway and headed up to the high country with the dogs and the bikes.

I apologize for these pictures – they are definitely not up to my standards. But with the house sale going on (inspections and appraisals and such), I didn’t make my standard list of things to bring. As a result, I forgot a couple of things. Like my good camera. So these pics are all from my phone. Good enough for Instagram, but…

Anyway. After looking over all the weather reports we decided to head up to Winter Park/Fraser. I saw a 40% chance of rain each day. Well, that’s a 60% chance of no rain! Besides, the forecasted high temps for Curt Gowdy State Park were in the 90s. No thanks.

I should have remembered how weather works in the high country. A 40% chance of rain actually means a 100% chance of rain at some point in the day. And so it was. Each day it rained in the afternoon, anywhere from a couple hours to about 6 hours, before clearing off.

Michael got creative and set up the Noah’s Tarp. I bought this thing at an REI garage sale years ago. But every time I’d try and use it, I’d find such a tangled mess of guylines that I would immediately give up and shove the whole thing back in the bag.

Michael sat down with it during this trip. And I’m really glad he did! This tarp is 12×12 and completely awesome.

Next time we might try to cover more of the topper, but as Michael set it up we had this fabulous space to hang out, read, and watch it rain.

The blanket Michael has is called the Puffin Blanket. This beauty has synthetic insulation and a DWR finish (so it’s water-repellent). Plus, it’s got buttons so you can make a little pocket for your feet! Michael also used this blanket in place of a sleeping bag, and said he kept toasty warm in 40 degree temps.

Now, it wasn’t rainy the whole time… each morning started out sunny and warm! We rode on Wednesday morning and ran on Thursday morning. The rain came in the afternoon. Proof:

Michael set up the hammock for some quality rest time. Bailey the Snuggle King just didn’t want to be left out… in fact, I’m kind of surprised Bailey didn’t try to jump in there with him.

Elvis did his own thing for down time. He kept up really well with Bailey, despite his senior status. But when everyone was sitting around, he’d pick a spot in the grass and curl up for his nap.

There are other pictures – ones with me in them, too! But they are on Michael’s phone. And he’s at work. I asked him to send them but… he tends to actually be busy at his job.

So those pics will just have to wait for another post. Stay tuned!