Picnic

On Sunday last weekend we went to Viestenz-Smith Park (owned by the City of Loveland) for a picnic with some friends Lily and Sam. The day was beautiful, the company great and the food delicious. Hamburgers and hotdogs are the perfect picnic food, I think.

Brett and Sam solving the world's problems one hotdog/hamburger at a time.

The park is very well kept with lots of native flowers and trees. There are bees and birds. The Stellar Jays keep an eye on things so they don't miss a free meal.... The breeze was just enough to keep us from being hot and the children playing were fun to watch. This is a picture of the path that circles the middle of the park. Families have donated plants in memory of loved ones.

You can't see it but to the left of the picture is the Big Thompson river. In '76 an enormous amount of rain flooded the river canyon and killed 144 people. This link
http://www.coloradoan.com/news/thompson/ tells about the flood and it's aftermath.

A bumblebee getting his afternoon snack to take home. He's brown/red on his back and his pollen sacks were full.

This is a view east near our picnic site. The water flows from the Rocky Mountains to the west through the river canyon and on through Loveland. The Big Thompson has had plenty of water this year because of all the rain. A man came by with about 8 trout on a string and his friend had 6 or so, all caught with grasshoppers. Trout are pretty but (sacrilege!) I've never tasted one that didn't taste VERY fishy. I like milder fish and miss grouper and bass from the south.

The sound of the river was very relaxing...just loud enough to drown out most of the crowd noise and just quiet enough not to jangle your brain. Rushing water always provides a peaceful feeling.

Enjoy your weekend.