Greater Ft. Collins

For our last day in Colorado, we were very happy to allow John and Deb to show us the sights.  They were excellent tour guides, taking us bouldering, to lunch at a local favorite, to see the university campus, and shopping (ok, the girls shopped and the boys went to a brewery).  If you are ever in the Fort Collins area, I highly recommend them as tour guides!

Our first stop was a marker for the Overland Stage Company.  Established in 1862, the Overland Trail ran from Atchison, Kansas west to Oregon.  This trail was used by the Overland Stagecoaches until 1866 when the owner sold everything to the Wells Fargo company, who continued to use the trail for 2.5 more years until the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869.  The trail crossed the Cache La Poudre river in Laporte, Colorado, which is where this monument is located.

When the kids are older, we want to return to Colorado and go kayaking along the Cache La Poudre River.

Our next stop was bouldering (climbing on rocks) at the Horsetooth Reservoir.  Since John is recovering from surgery on his ankle and I'm terrified of my children climbing on things, he and I sat and had a chat about water conservation and usage while Rob and Deb let the kids explore.  This area was so beautiful.

It was getting a little windy and cold, so we stopped for lunch at Vern's.  Vern's is a great local place, with all kinds of taxidermied specimen of the local wildlife.  Apparently Rob checked in a beer while we were there.

After lunch we took a driving tour of Colorado State University, which is huge!  Then we visited Deb and John's daughter, Karen, who was working and would be making dinner for us later.  She is quite the chef!

Then we split up, the boys went to the New Belgium Brewery (when in Rome) and the girls went shopping at Deb's favorite local store.  I should have sent Anne with Rob, but I think I saved money by having her with me.  When they boys picked us up, we got caught in a hail storm which, surprisingly, the kids enjoyed.  

Back at John and Deb's house, their daughter Karen and her boyfriend came over to make dinner.  And boy, did they out do themselves!  We had chicken tacos with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole.  It was so good that Anne declared herself a "guacamole eater."  Our compliments to the chefs!
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After dinner we went to bed early.  Everyone was tired from the day's adventures and we were heading to South Dakota the next day.  We really enjoyed our time catching up with the Mols and can't wait to visit them again!