Jason and I have performed and instructed steps at some esteemed affairs. Recently, we waltzed for royalty.
Our vintage-dance group got hooped and gemmed up to teach and twirl at the Princess Festival. The gathered czarinas seemed enthusiastic about their hopping education. We caught glimpses of them trying to replicate their “princess dance” throughout the night.
Collectively, our hoopskirts consumed a hulking space.
We had an eventful weekend recently filled with unrelated points of interest: chocolate, magic, and mountains.
Yes, Jason was on the run.
On Friday, we went to Taste with Jason’s parents as a birthday treat. As its name suggests, Taste is a place for tasting fine foods with pinky fingers up. Evaluating different types of high-end chocolate was a treat!
Expedious Momentum!
Nope, I’m not too cool for this.
On Saturday, we participated in the Muggles Battle Cancer 5K. We created quick, and reasonably-breathable, costumes for this event using what we had on hand. Jason’s Death Eater tattoo was impressive for a two-minute Sharpie job. It was over 90 degrees when we started this race, so it might have more appropriately been named Muggles Battle Heatstroke. Perspiro Maxima!
Our hiking band included some little rookies.
Below Sunset Peak, Brighton’s lakes formed a string of shimmering circles.
On Sunday, we hiked to Sunset Peak with some of my family members via Lake Mary, Lake Martha, and Lake Catherine. Getting to Lake Catherine takes a 2.2-mile trek. From there, it’s a little over a mile to the top of Sunset Peak. If you are a math whiz, you can add that up to be about 3.3 miles each way or 6.6 miles total. You whiz! Somehow, our distance summed to 7.6 miles, presumably from sidetracks to Dog Lake and around shorelines. I’m going to blame that extra mile for the extra hour it took us to complete this hike. Five hours was the estimate, but we required six.
Wildflowers added a delicate dash of color to Brighton’s terrain.
The air was murky during our climb because of particulates blown in from the California and Oregon wildfires. Sunset Peak still provided inspiring views from its 10,648 feet, but some of the surrounding beauty was concealed in a veil of haze.
Sunset Peak rose above hillsides dimmed by smoke.
It was a varied weekend with a little something for the mouth, the eyes, and the heart.
Some think birthdays are a reason to be sad. Jason and I think birthdays are an excuse to be rad. When both our birthdays came up this summer, rad we were… or kind of cool at least.
Good friends are better treasure than fake gold.
Although Jason took me to California for my birthday, more than enough of a celebration, he still wanted to get together with a few of our chums in honor of my oldness. Hence, he arranged for us to spend three full hours breaking out of Vizzini’s House of Escape with some of our slippery buddies. We covered both floors of Vizzini’s, including Mr. Body’s Game Room and the Pirate Hunter. Mr. Body’s became a battle of boys vs. girls that no one won. (The girls got closer though, which bears mentioning.) We felt a little potato brained after our 90 minutes with Mr. Body, but the prospect of acquiring Queen Anne’s treasure soon had us digging through hidden maps and bone piles with enthusiasm. We completed our swashbuckling quest with 10 or 15 minutes to spare. I guess our minds resembled brains more than spuds after all.
This amazing cake was just one of the three bestowed on us by my friend Robyn this year.
To commemorate Jason’s birthday, I invited a small group of old friends to join us for supper at Brio Tuscan Grille. We gobbled tenderloin on a too-full table and talked about bizarre travel faux pas. It was both a satisfying and entertaining evening.
Birthdays should be a hands-on experience.
I didn’t take Jason anywhere as turbulent as Disneyland for his birthday, but the two of us did gain some heights at Sundance Resort. We ate a bulky breakfast at the Foundry Grill and then took a sultry chairlift ride to the top of the mountain. After disembarking to appreciate some of the landscape, we hiked back to the bottom of the mountain via Stewart Falls. In keeping with the inadvertent woodsy theme of the day, we ate dinner at Log Haven. Log Haven is one of my favorite places to dine during the summer. The food is amazing, and its outdoor patio is filled with the unmistakable scent of pine and the rhythmic splashing of a mossy waterfall.
Red’s Summit is a perfect place to contemplate the passing of another eventful year.
No shoes + a cool stream = a tranquil birthday.
Thanks friends for joining in our birthday adventures. Happy birthday to you and me but mostly me!*
*This is a nerdy Captain Hammer reference not an actual narcissistic declaration.
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