Will someone please honk a horn up here?

Katy and I recently returned from a wonderful week in Colorado. We spent the first half of the week at the Simpson family cabin, followed by four fun-filled days of festivities in Steamboat for my cousin Andrea's wedding.

The first night spent at the cabin - situated on the north shore of Lake Granby in Grand County, Colorado - was rather unsettling. Do you know how hard it is to sleep without the comforting sounds of cars whooshing by? Horns honking at all hours? Reggaeton music blasting from the building across the street? Do you know how annoying it is to wake up to the barely audible sound of a hummingbird flying overhead? I mean, seriously, can someone just make some freakin' noise up here???

Oh, and don't get us started on all of the open space and lack of crowds. I mean, everywhere we went, there were open fields, big lakes, and uninhabited forests! The grocery stores had friendly checkers and no lines. When we did (finally!) see a person, they said things like "hello!" and "How ya doin'?" and other creepy things like that. And they smiled. Weirdos.

Please don't even mention the prices. Seriously. Four seventy-five for a double cheeseburger? Get real. Those things should cost twelve bucks. Everyone knows that. Three bucks for a pint of beer?? Must be fake beer. Twenty bucks to rent a canoe for two hours? I mean, seriously, I can rent a two-foot remote-controlled sailboat for four times that in the park back home! Four dollars for a gallon of gas? I can get two sticks of butter for that!!

Well, since I'm already on this rant, I'll go ahead and say this. . .fresh air is *so* 19th century. No wonder the people up in the mountains are so weird. They don't get their daily allotment of carbon monoxide, and they've probably never known the joys of smelling a city coated in dog urine on a warm, humid day!

Despite all of these things, we managed to have some fun. We scampered up the hills and rock outcroppings across from the cabin. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the beautiful view, the peace and serenity, and the sounds of nature. I played a round of golf at the local course with Katy as my caddie. We paddled a canoe around Grand Lake. We played cards. We had hamburgers and beers at the Lariat Saloon. . .which is probably the best place ever. We had ice cream cones. We played horseshoes. In the words of Tony the Tiger, it was Grrreat!

With love,

Katy and Erik

Look closely for the streak of white (next to sign) -- that's the golf ball.