family, Life experiences, outdoors, Telluride, Tetons, Travel

Truckee, Telluride and the Tetons

Over the past three wedding anniversary’s, Brenda and I by accident or design have been blessed by three amaZING vacation destinations.

TRUCKEE CALIFORNIA ( 30th wedding anniversary)

TELLURIDE COLORADO (31st wedding anniversary)

TETON NATIONAL PARK IN WYOMING (32nd wedding anniversary)

Each destination was special and will hold fantastic memories and that is in part why I have this blog…..to help me remember these amaZING places and experiences.

I just wanted to post some photos of the past three years of anniversary adventures.

Truckee River going into Boca Lake.

This year we pushed north to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks – wow, no disappointment there. What a fantastic place.

http://app.strava.com/swims/12980724

I am guessing there were about 3000 waiting and watching Old Faithful with us.

http://app.strava.com/rides/12576525 – My phone battery went dead into Ouray…The entire ride was more like 16 miles.

The Ghost town of tomboy – 3000 feet above telluride.

Thanks to the folks from Boulder who gave me a lift into Ouray from the summit. Without them it would have been a LONG ride down the hill.

Every morning we walked the pups.

My brother Gary and his wife Susie joined us for a couple of days.

Last Dollar Road moto ride

Lewis and Clark

Love the travels to some anaZING places with my best friend and life partner.

Thanks to my parents for house/dog sitting. Pam and Roberto and Matt for the gifts of lodging.

Thanks brenda for 32 amaZING years of marriage.

One life one wife make it great.

“Don’t accumulation possessions, accumulate experiences.” – Mark Batterson

Steve

Life experiences, Ragbrai, Telluride, Travel, Yosemite

I’ve had my “ups and downs” this summer

The summer of 2011 was an amazing four months of being on the go.

From Missouri, Iowa, to Colorado and California and then back to our beautiful Arizona, it has been a great experience to say the least.

In June Brenda and I were given the opportunity to speak for our friends Pastor Jesse and Missy Quiroz and the thriving congregation called Journey Church in Troy Missouri. (Elevation: 650 ft)

Then in July we took our family vacation to Telluride Colorado. (Elevation, 8750 ft)

After Telluride, was a dream trip to my home state of Iowa for the RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa).

Six days and 550 miles on the bike was and amazing experience for me and 10,000 other riders in the humidity of Iowa (Elevation is 580 ft).

(“Bike Tire Dip” in the Mississippi River – Davenport Iowa.)

After Ragbrai, I was able to attend Summit Leaders for four days in Yosemite National Park. The leadership anti conference is lead by world traveler and adventure nut Joel Malm. This years speaker was author and pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington D.C. .

What a great event. We climbed Half Dome (elevation 8842 feet ).

The Cables of Half Dome.

At the top of Half Dome BY the “diving board” not on it.

To wrap up the summer of expeditions, my daughter and I along with 18 others from Journey Church hiked the 17 plus mile hike to the Colorado river through Havasupai Canyon. (elevation 3205 ft at Havasupai village).

It is safe to say that I have traveled some 8500 vertical feet this summer.

Yes it has been a summer of “UPS AND DOWNS” for sure.

What an amazing four months.

I want to adventure as much as possible before I cannot hike, bike or explore anymore.

“The world is a big place and I want to see all of it before it gets dark”. – John Muir

Steve Lummer – a guy who had a great summer:)

canoing, cycling, family, Life experiences, Mountain biking, outdoors, rivers, Telluride, Travel

2011 FAMILY VACATION IN TELLURIDE

I just wanted to post a few pics of our 2011 family vacation in Telluride Colorado.

Special thanks to an amazing friend who offered our family his amazing cabin for the week.

What Makes Telluride Unique? Telluride is a small ski resort in the southwest corner of Colorado. Tucked away in a box canyon, surrounded by the mighty peaks of the San Juans, Telluride started off as a mining town in the 1800’s and later on, in 1973, became a ski resort and in the warmer months an epic mountain bike destination.

http://www.telluride.com/telluride/the-telluride-story/telluride-history

http://www.telluride.com/telluride/the-telluride-story

This year was special because we were able to take my daughter and her husband Adam with us for some much needed R & R.

Our bunch hiked, biked, rafted, canoed, fished, shopped, reflected, and rested.

This is a pic of us after we put our bikes on the gondola and made it up to the ski area that is converted into a mtn bike mecca during the summer months.

The Riverside trail is an amazing addition to the Telluride trail system.

These two pics pretty much sums up why I enjoyed this years vacation. 🙂

We ventured out on Trout Lake for some fishing/exploring….Adam and Tash pretty much wished they would have had a canoe instead of a ducky to float in.