Jetboats....or baby ducks to the rest of the world!

These hatched a couple of days ago on a pond near us.  Yesterday they were all wildly crisscrossing the pond during a light rain shower.  I always thought that ducks and geese lined up in a row with mom out front and dad bringing up the rear but I guess we aren't the only ones on summer break!  Mom had lost control of her young ones.  They were dodging around so much I couldn't even begin to figure out if all 8 were still present and accounted for. 

Rainy day hiking Reservoir Ridge

 It was a rainy, dreary day that aborted our originally planned hike by Rocky Mountain National Park.   We chose instead to do something closer to home in case the rain really started coming down.  It was a nice but overall unexciting hike that goes by Claymore Lake (above).  It's a rare day when it's this cloudy/foggy and just plain blah but once you live in Colorado you really start to appreciate these days (in Michigan...not so much!)

I couldn't let the latest and greatest outfit go by without a picture to remember it by.  And yes, these are still the same leggings with a hole in them!

Leave it to my daughter to spot this creature.  She is known for seeing/noticing insects that none of us would have ever seen.  Perhaps it's because she's the closest to the ground.  She was munching away on some pretzels perched on a rock and picked this out.  It was pretty freaky looking.

 Hike: Reservoir Ridge

Trails Used:  Reservoir Ridge (North Fort Collins)

Distance: 5.01 miles

Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 2.4 mph
Overall Time: 2 hrs, 5 min
Total Ascent: 579 ft.

Beach time @ Lake McConaughy!

This was our second time to Lake McConaughy (near Ogallala, Nebraska).  We had a great time relaxing in the sun, swimming, and hanging out with our friends!

Last time we camped in the trees but this time we were right on the beach.  We will have sand in our tent for the rest of our lives but it was great being that close to the water and even better that the weather cooperated for us.  We were worried a couple of nights after looking at the radar but both storms narrowly missed us.

It is necessary to have awnings/shade when camping out in the open.

Our makeshift tables:

Swimming was our first form of entertainment:

Playing in the sand was a close second:

The boys kept occupied with the 'Pennies' game:

 Some might say this was their first form of entertainment but I'm going to have to stick up for my fellow Greenies.  Apparently the Greenies (people from Colorado) routinely get their trucks/campers/boats stuck in the sand and need to get pulled out.  The Nebraskan folk take a seat, crack open a beer, and watch.  After an appropriate amount of time they just might get up and help out.  They get a good chuckle out of us Greenies!

 The sunset was beautiful one night.

 We were lucky to have a full moon while we were camping so I got some great pics of moody clouds/weather and the moon.

 The Swamp People:

Run: Near Sandy Beach

Trails Used:  NE 92 Scenic Hwy to Lemoyne

Distance: 6.14 miles

Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 6.8 mph
Overall Time: 0 hr, 53 min
Total Ascent: 309 ft.

Pack Trail

 Took the kids for a hike up in Rist Canyon this weekend.  On the GPS map it is called the Pack Trail but I'm not sure if that is correct or not.  We didn't really have a destination in mind...just someplace relatively close and somewhere I could find some good landscaping rocks.  We found both!  It's a good thing it was close since we went up a supposedly easy jeep trail (in my Dodge truck) and ended up turning around so we didn't get stuck out there.  That definitely added some time to our trip!

Our hike started late (11:45) so we decided to break for lunch before we even took a step.  This large rock was the perfect spot.

We saw some beautiful wildflowers.

I don't know what these flowers were going to look like but I like their bursting sack.

I liked this thistle's geometry and color.  Very cool.  I wish I could have gotten my camera to give me crisp focus on that last photo but it was not meant to be!

The bugs were amazing!  I can't believe my camera wouldn't focus on the picture above but gave me this fantastic one of the ant below.

This paper wasp next was just sitting in the middle of the trail.  Good thing we didn't step on it!

No hike would be fit for kids unless we had water to walk through, caves and rocks to climb on.

Hike: Pack Trail

Trails Used:  

Distance: 3 miles

Difficulty: Difficult
Overall average: 1.5 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 57 min
Total Ascent: 634 ft.