A breath of fresh air

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous...record-breaking temperatures, colorado blue skies, the first great weekend of the season. Mark and I made all sorts of plans earlier in the week to take advantage of the weather. And then Carter came home sick on Friday. Full out sick with a fever of 103.5, runny nose, looking miserable. So Mark and I had to take a deep breath and revise our weekend plans.

Since we had bought a bike trailer for Carter earlier in the week, we decided to take Saturday to pull together the biking project. Mark's new bike with fancy disc brakes wouldn't accommodate the trailer attachment, so Mark took some time to weld together a modification (which works beautifully, I might add). Mark refused to be seen with me on my bike that has been vandalized with white paint, white lightning he calls it, so we also fixed up Mark's old bike for me to ride, complete with new seat, handle grips, and tire. We did have a bit of a debate over pedals...$9 plastic ones or $40 metal ones...I never even knew there was a difference and was happy with plastic, but Mark felt there was no reason to skimp. We compromised by putting on my pedals from my other bike until I found some clip-in cycling shoes.

By about 5pm the project was done and we were ready to roll. With Carter in his trailer attached to Mark's bike, and I on my new and improved set of wheels, we were off. (Winston flipped us off from the front window, saying not only have we taken away his backyard, now we're not even taking him with us on our outdoor adventures. We may as well put a gun to his head.)

We turned our tires toward Bear Creek Lake Park, a beautiful Open Space/Park just over the hill from us. It was about 75 degrees and that beautiful time of night where the sun's rays are partly blocked by the mountains, so the light's a bit softer. The faint breeze and smooth-riding cart gently swayed sick Carter to sleep. Mark and I relished in finally getting outside TOGETHER without having to constantly worry whether Carter had found some nightshade to eat or a mountain lion to play with.

We tentatively rode past the turn-off we had agreed to take if Carter hated the whole thing and set our sights on Willy's Wings. We made it all the way there without a single snafu and spent much of the ride concluding that the bike trailer had solved most of the world's problems...or at least our problem trying to get outside together with Carter in tow.

It was one of those delicious moments in life where you feel like something from above is shining down on you and giving you a chance to regain that belief that life is good. Mark and I actually got to eat a meal without chasing Carter (one of the few benefits of a sick kid--he's content to just sit in your lap and be) and just enjoy the scenery. I felt like every breath rejuvenated me and gave me one more ounce of energy to deal with what life throws at you. It was an evening to remember.