Wonderful lunch

After morning exercises, I packed a lunch and we set off for the mountains.

downward facing dog?

It was forecast to be in the 90's so the cooler elevations west of us sounded like a perfect use of the day.  Our niece and her husband are renting a cabin in Allenspark when they come for Jesse's wedding so that became our destination.

We made a loop from Golden, through Boulder and north into Lyons.   Out of Lyons we took scenic route 7 heading toward the tiny town of Allenspark.

We found a wonderful spot for lunch right on the St. Vrain River.  

No one else around, just us, some wildflowers and the rushing river.

We packed up our food and jugs of water and clambered over the smooth river rocks down to the water's edge.   The river's  flow is a mere whisper of its spring time roar but being able to put our feet in the water made up for the lack of thunder.

Our same everyday sandwiches were elevated by the delightful surroundings.

The sky was impossibly blue, the sun hot and the water cold.  We found a couple large flat, butt shaped rocks to rest on and stayed well beyond our lunch.

Dave takes a postprandial wade

Finally the cold water couldn't overcome the hot sun so we packed up and reluctantly left.

We stopped several more times along the river to marvel at the huge boulders diverting the stream, creating waterfalls and direction changes.

And the water smoothed rocky shores keeping the summer river in check.

We continued our drive into Allenspark, looked for the rental cabin (no luck), admired the mountain views, then turned south on route 72 into Nederland.  Out of Nederland on route 119 south to route 46 (Golden Gate Canyon Road) and east through the canyon into Golden.     A totally lovely day!