Dahl Family Reunion

On the heels of our trip to Lake Powell, we flew to Colorado for a reunion with Dan's brothers and sisters and their families. About 70 people were able to make it to all or part of the fun planned by Dana and Linda. Pat has built an amazing cabin in the mountains two hours southwest of Denver near Fairplay. The "cabin" has 30 beds! They built it to accommodate their kids and grandkids, but also to rent out as a vacation destination. It is the perfect spot for a family reunion!

Bryce spent most of his time with Zach. They slept in a tent behind the cabin (well, they didn't sleep much - mostly played) and enjoyed their few days together.

Adam and Bryce played with cousins they knew, and made new cousin-friends too. Dan and Michelle enjoyed all the visiting with family that is spread far and wide.

The boys gathered in the basement for some card games. Starting with Bryce and going clockwise, the players are Bryce, David, Zach, Alan, and Adam.

On Friday, Dana had set up a river rafting trip for us (actually part went on Friday and some on Saturday to accommodate babysitting needs). Our family went on Friday and had a blast. We will give more detail in a separate post.

On Saturday the original plan was to climb a fourteener (a 14,000 ft. peak), but the peak they were planning to climb had a "cornice" of snow around the top and would be difficult to hike, also everyone was exhausted from all the activities, combined with the early morning and late nights, so Plan B was to go geocaching. Adam is hooked. I will include the details of that adventure in a separate post also.

Pat's cabin has a gourmet kitchen in it, and Dana and Linda provided gourmet meals for us. One evening we dined on Pat's famous BBQ. He does catering in the Denver area and makes melt-in-your-mouth BBQ, baked beans, and all the trimmings.

With the weather so lovely outside, the kids spent all their time in the great outdoors. There was bike riding - Bryce and Zach biked down to the main highway four times - about a 4 miles trip one way. It was a quick ride down (down hill) and a slow ride back (up hill). But that didn't keep them from repeating the trip again and again.

The adults found time to learn some new card games - "13" and "hand and foot" and we found out who the competitors are in the family!

Adam found another Adam - Adam Hendrix, along with lots of other cousins. They used scraps from Uncle Pat's projects and built a house out in the forest. There was a huge bonfire each night that was a magnet for the kids armed with marshmallows and chocolate for s'mores. They even squeezed in a few hours of fishing at a nearby pond.

On Saturday afternoon, Dan and Charlie (along with Pat, Bob and Jon) returned to Mosquito Pass, where they had attempted to drive over the pass many many years ago in Charlie's old Chevelle. The long and the short of the story is that the Chevelle did not make it over the pass, but while Dan and Charlie were stopped (with a dead battery) a man driving mules zipped by them with good advice - "Next time get a mule!"


Once again, the lack of high clearance and low range stopped them, but they had a lovely drive with a picturesque view of this corner of the Rockies.


It was a quick trip, but it was fun to visit and catch up on what is happening in the family. Thanks to Pat and Linda for opening their beautiful mountain cabin to us, and thanks to Dana for putting this all together. It was a great reunion!