Peaceful, Easy Feeling

That pretty much sums up our time here in Steamboat. Our concierge (Robert) timed this portion of our trip just perfectly because we needed some time to do nothing and more importantly, spread out. We spent the day today on outdoor activities and had a great time doing new things. We rented tubes and floated a short 40-45 minutes down the Yampa River. Parker and Robert had their own tubes, but I got a figure-8 double one for me and Maggie. There were a couple of small rapids, but we never even came close to flipping. It was a fun and new thing for us all to do, and the girls enjoyed it.

After taking a 2 hour nap this afternoon with Maggie (yay!), we decided on renting bikes. There is a great path that runs along the Yampa River that we took and rode for about an hour. I was so proud of the girls for riding so long over bridges and through tunnels and up and down hills. Maggie is still a tad shaky on a 2-wheeler and did take one tumble and reinjured a skinned knee from a rug burn in a hotel room last week. Have you noticed that she is my accident-prone, things always happen to, child? Bless her heart. But she is a trooper and after I rode to get paper towels to clean her up, she got back on the bike and finished the ride. Note to self...take SOME kind of first aid item(s) on a family bike ride in a strange place.

Downtown Steamboat is a neat place full of little shops and restaurants. We are heading out in the morning to drive to Jackson Hole. It should take us about 6 hours to get there. We were going to stay here until Friday, but I think we are on the verge of missing home. We've been gone for 12 days now and we still have a lot to do. I'm looking forward to Yellowstone. I've heard so much about it and know it will be a great place, with even cooler temps than here. It's actually been pretty hot for the mountains this week - highs in the 80's. I know my Memphis friends are laughing as you have heat indices in the 100's this week. Hang in there!

Well, I just heard the washer and dryer turn off. I'm trying to get all the laundry finished so that we will have all our clothes for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness for mountain time. It's just now midnight here!

Nighty night!