Summer 2016

First of all, let me apologize for the lengthiness of the post. 
 
Wow!!! It's been three months since I last wrote. A lot has happened in that time. Where do I start.


Well, shortly after tryouts, I went home. I spent a few days at home with my family and helping my mom in her class the last two days of school. On June 4th my family packed up the car and we embarked on our family road trip.

Destination: Branson, Mo
       The Las Vegas of the Mid-west, purple heart city, gem of the Ozark Mountains (which are more like hills), and smack in the middle of the bible belt.

Day one:
       We drove east out of Colorado, through Kansas, and then south into Missouri. 

 

Day two:
       After deciding which shows we wanted to see, we decided to explore Branson a little bit. We drove around town and then headed for Table Rock Lake. Created by a dam in the river, Table Rock Lake has been preventing flooding in the area for many years. The Lake has become a location for boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. We also stopped by the fish hatchery at the bottom of the dam. I must say, watching fish swarm when you throw fish food into the water can be quite entertaining.
       We also decided to go by the Rilpey's Believe it or Not museum. Although not a huge follower of world records, the museum had some interesting and engaging aspects. Here are just a few pictures I took. 

Iron Man

All summer I talked about wanting to see a Buffalo. This was the closest I got. A buffalo made out of nails.

Day three:
       Fun Fact: The owner of Silver Dollar City was once on Undercover Boss.
   Anyways... Silver Dollar City is a western themed amusement park. I would say there was a good mixture of large rides, small rides, shows, and specialty shops. We were able to explore the whole park and ride desired rides by around 5 o'clock. We also decided to go on a cave tour. Marvel cave is one of many caves in the Ozark Mountains, and just happens to be located in the park. Unfortunately,  the part of the cave, which has many different rooms, was flooded. The tour was only half the length. The tour started with an abundant amount of stairs to reach the first room in the cave. After exploring two other rooms in the cave, the tour turned around, and climbed back up the stairs we had just come down. Many of the people of the tour with us had difficulty climbing the stairs. But after training at 7220 ft, this was a peice of cake.
Again, some pictures...

 

Day four:
         This was the day my mom was most excited for. Before we even left Colorado, she already had tickets for the Titanic museum. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside the museum. But believe me, the self guided tour with narration is well worth it. I learned a lot about the ship, the on board life style, and the passengers. It was educational, as well as fun.
Here's a picture from outside the museum.

Later that day we visited the Veteran's Museum. Coming from a military background, it was interesting to walk through the museum with my dad, listening to his stories, observing history, and honoring our military men and women; both past, present, and future. It was a very moving experience. Each section of the museum was dedicated to a certain time period, or war. Each section had a space or wall where the names of service member who were killed in action were listed. Although each list was moving, the most impact list was from WWII. When you learn about WWII in school, you are taught that this war resulted in the most deaths out of any war. But looking at the list, it was overwhelming. The list took up three very large walls, floor to ceiling, very fine print. It really hit me when my mom sat in front of a spot on the wall. She had stopped by her maiden name.  She believes she found her great-grandfathers name; my great-great-grandfather. It was a truly moving experience.
Out of respect, I did not take any pictures.

To end the day, we went to the Hamner's Variety Show. This included singing, dancing, magic, and many other amazing acts. During the show, I was asked to volunteer for a magic trick. I was brought on stage, asked my name and where I was from. The magician, asked me if I was a Denver Broncos fan, and I proudly replied YES!! Then the magic trick began. He had me lie on a wooden board being held up about 3 feet off the floor. All I had to do was lie perfectly still with my eyes closed. Which was precisely what I did. I kept my eyes closed. I felt a few small movements of the board, but remained still with my eyes closed. I was pretty sure I knew what was happening, but I didn't know for sure until I was off stage.
Still can't figure it out. Here's a picture

Yep. That's me. Levitating. Go ahead. Ask how I did it.

Magic!!!

Day five:
      After a well needed night of sleep, we resumed our vacation with a river boat cruise along Lake Taneycomo. Taneycomo stands for Taney County Missouri. That night we went to "Moses," a musical representation of the life of Moses. This was an amazing show, full of effects, real animals, and fantastic acting.

Day six:
       This was possibly my favorite day of our vacation. We drove a little south of Branson, Mo, almost to Arkansas, to a place called  Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. Absolutely beautiful. Highly recommended. We rented bikes at the park and took a bike ride through the park.
Although pictures don't do it justice, here are some to look at.

After our bike ride, we ate some BBQ, and drove to Arkansas to find a cave tour.

Day seven: Relaxing and pool day
       Exactly what it sounds like. We relaxed, hung out at the pool for a little while, and packed.I think this was also the day we went and saw Captain America: Civil War.

Day eight: Drive home
       Couldn't have picked a better day to spend in the car. The temperature driving through Kansas was at least 100 decrease the entire time. We stopped at a gas station along I-70, and I though I was going to melt.

Overall, our family vacation to Branson, Mo was fun. We made some great memories and enjoyed our time. Would I ever go back to Branson? Probably not. Kinda like a go once and that's all type of thing. At least for me. But it was still fun.


After returning to Colorado, I spent a few days relaxing at home, then returned to Laradise. Back to the old grind. Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, wake up, go to work, so on and so forth. But on July 1st, I finally got a break from work and took the short drive down to Greeley, Co to see my life long best friend and partner in crime. My cousin, Kaycee.

We had some big plans for the weekend. To start the fourth of July weekend off right, we had an amazing opportunity for free tickets though a family member to see Thomas Rhett at the Greeley Stamped. We were beyond excited. But that morning we still did not have conformation on our tickets and were not 100% sure we were actually going. The concert began at 7pm. We got a text message at 2pm confirming that our tickets would be waiting for us at the Stampede. We were going.

We finished getting ready. Hair, Make-up, Outfit, Boots, the whole nine yards. As we headed toward the Stampede, it began to rain. Light at first, and then in began to pour. As we approached the parking lot, the rain lightened up and it looked as if it was done. We contemplated the umbrella, deciding it would be too much of a hassle at a concert and left in the car. Little did we know the rain was far from done. As we began to walk into the park, the ran started falling again. Starting out lightly, we figured we might get damp. But within seconds the rain picked up and we found ourselves in the middle of a down pour. Soaking wet, we found shelter under a vendors plastic tarp tent. After waiting the storm out for nearly half an hour, we decided to go find something to eat and go get out tickets.

Meeting up with our family member, we learned we had SRO wrist bands. Standing Room Only. Right in front of the stage. We got in the SRO line and waited for the gates to open. As we began to approach the gate, we were met with a very unpleasant surprise. All the rain that had just fallen had resulted in the dirt of SRO to to transformed into a sloppy muddy mess. We were ankle deep in mud. But what happened next was beyond belief. We claimed our space in front of the stage. Right in the middle. About four people back. Perfect spots.

So, there are so many great little stories I could tell about this night, but pictures might do a better job.
And please... excuse the obnoxious singing. I was a little excited.

By far one of the best concerts I've been to.


The next day we went to brunch at IHOP, did a little shopping, and headed to Loveland to see Finding Dory.

Then Sunday, we cleaned our boots and headed back to the Stampede for round two. ANother free concert. Granger Smith feat. Eric Dibbles Jr and Chris Janson. Together, the three have three well know songs. Two for Granger Smith and one for Chris Janson. But man can these guys put on a show. Definitely a fun night. The best part was, I got to see one of my close friends from high school, who was also at this concert.

I had such an amazing weekend and I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else.

On the 4th of July, I meet my parents in northern Colorado and we headed to Curt Gowdy Park in Wyoming to hike to hidden falls. We then ate lunch, played put-put in Fort Collins, and watched a variety of fireworks from my grandparents house in the country.

July 5th. Back to Laramie I went.
But this time, we started practice. We had practice the 7th, 8th, and 10th, with Laramie Jubilee Days that weekend and the parade on the 9th. And then came camp.

NCA Home Elite Camp was way different then I thought it would be. For the past 5 years, I had gone to a regular NCA camp, and the past two years had been one of the largest NCA Collegiate Camps in the nation. These camps are extremely competitive and exhausting. The entire time while at camp, you are chanting, engaging with other teams, under stress to hit new stunts, perfecting routines, and ultimately competing for a bid to nationals. However, this year, due to a poor state economy and major budget cuts, we opted to stay in Wyoming and have four camp instructors come visit us. We were able to personalize the material we were learning. For example, instead of learning cheers and sideline dances, which we had already perfected for our team and traditions, we were able to focus more on stunting and pyramids. We were able to custom create a performance routine for our athletic department and again skip the game-day cheering routine. And most importantly, we were able to receive one-on-one instruction the entire time and build relationships with our instructors.

Our team grew not only in our skills, but with our relationships and team dynamic. We worked together to accomplish some amazing things, and really grow.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our three day home camp.

Team photo with Drew, Kelsie, and Stetson

Baskets

Back-tuck Basket

Now. I seem to have skipped a very important part of my summer.

On July 8th, I received a phone call for a job interview where I had submitted an application earlier in the summer. On July 11th, the first day of camp, I went to my first interview. I received another phone call a few days later for an interview at the second location. On July 19th I had my second interview, and on July 20th, I was offered the job.

Meanwhile, my mom's birthday was approaching. What did she ask for for her birthday. Tickets to see Keith Urban in Denver. So on July 22nd, after completing my job orientation, I headed to Colorado. My mom and I went to dinner and then walked to Fiddlers Green Amphitheater for the RipCord Tour Concert. This is a huge venue and it was completely sold out. The concert opened with Marren Morris, then Brett Eldredge, and finally Keith Urban. I would have to say I was as excited for Brett Eldedge as my mom was for Keith Urban. Brett Eldredge and Thomas Rhett have to be two of my favorite artist, in addition to FGL. But that story comes later.

One of my favorite parts of the concert was when Brett sang his song he recorder with Thomas called "You Can't Stop Me." But this has got to be by far my absolute favorite part of the concert.

 Keith Urban and Brett Eldredge on a stage in the middle of the audience messing around with the camera.

The next morning, I drove up to Cheyenne for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade.

Roommates

 The following week was my last full week at Sonic. That weekend it was time for some more cousin bonding concert time. This time in Laramie. Thursday, July 28th, my cousin drove up to Laramie and then we drove to Cheyenne for round three. Old Dominion and Jake Owen. Favorite part of this concert was the jazz band featured in almost every song.

 Finally Saturday came. Round 4. The day we had been planing for months. In November CFD announced Cole Swindell and Florida Georgia Line would be performing in 2016. Immediately my cousin and I decided we would be going. We had gone in 2014 right as FGL started to become big, right before the release of their "Anything Goes" album. We asked for tickets as a Christmas gift from our grandparents. Eight months later we were finally on our way. We arrived at Frontier Park and found our seats. This has got to be, besides Thomas Rhett, and only because of where we were standing, one of my favorite concerts of all time. I was packed. Completely sold out. Broke a Cheyenne Frontier Days concert attendance record with 25,011. There were reportedly 60,000 people that showed up, many of which did not get tickets. After the concert, it took an hour and a half to catch a bus back to the parking lot.
As usual, some pictures/videos...

 

It was actually only 25,011 in the stands

Cheyenne Frontier Days 2016 was officially over.

Now back to work. Monday, August 1st, I started my first day of work at Basic Beginnings. As of today, I have officially completed week three. I am absolutely in love. I absolutely love those kids. They range from 10 months to 16 months old. They are learning to walk, dance, and sign. I love watching them grow and explore everyday. I would not trade it for anything. At least for right now. However, I am still currently working at Sonic on the weekends. As of Tuesday, August 23rd, I will have worked 34 out of the last 41 days. Crazy!!!

Speaking of weekends, we have been having practice on the weekends. Here are some progress update photos and videos.

Well...
I think I have finally covered everything. Sorry for such a long post, but I've had a busy summer, and this only included the highlights. Next week we have Spirit Team Orientation Week and then the following week school starts. I hope to be writing more often the year. So be on the look out.
Thanks for reading

Until Next Time
Ashley