Stupid, but Fun and Beautiful

I did something incredibly stupid yesterday - it ended up being a fun, beautiful, and eye-opening experience, and, thankfully nothing terrible happened, so I was just very lucky.  We were lucky, since Beatrice went along on the escapade.  What did I/we do?  I looked at several maps, but didn't take any with me; the SUV I was driving doesn't have GPS (not that I know how to use it, or even want to know how to use it).  We decided we needed a day away from the city and decided to go driving in Larimer County - around Rist Canyon, the Cache la Poudre Canyon, and the Red Feather Lakes.  I'd driven around Rist Canyon and the eastern part of the Cache la Poudre. I didn't think anything about not having a map with me.  We had brunch and set out...
   We took a few back roads up to Fort Collins and Laporte, drove through Bellvue, and headed west along Rist Canyon.  We headed north along Stove Prairie until we hit the Cache la Poudre, then headed west toward Rustic.  I later found that Larimer County contains 2,634 square miles; and the majority of roads are not paved.  We had taken along some snacks and water to quench our thirst - but hadn't thought about toilet paper and/or bathroom availability. Duuuhhhh.  That shows that I'm a dumb Eastern tourist....   Luckily we had some plastic bags and a new box of Kleenex in the car.
   We ended up in the Rawah Wilderness area, and kept turning right or left arbitrarily.  Looking at a map last night, I realized that, at one point we were just 3 miles south of the Wyoming state line... but the views were glorious!  Open valleys and prairies, mountains and buttes, lakes, creeks and rivers - horses, cattle, buffalo, open range signs and lots of cattle guards to cross.  Mule deer, elk, moose, squirrels, birds of all kinds, chipmunks, pack rats, marmots - all there to see and hear.  The lonesome skreee of a hawk on the wing and the raucous call of a Stellar jay...   It was totally magnificent.  Blue skies with a few clouds; temperatures in the upper 70s (F), and a continuous breeze.
   We finally decided the only way to get home was to backtrack our original drive - which we did until we hit Stove Prairie; then we followed the Cache la Poudre back to Laporte.  It was a fantastic day.  No worries.  No radio. No telephones. No television.  No people - except Bea.  We laughed and joked and talked about our families and growing up.  We talked about religion and politics.  We talked about respect and history.  We laughed until we cried.  It was a wonderful day with a friend.

Union Rags Wins Belmont; Wildfires

I was completely wrong regarding Union Rags.  His win in yesterday's Belmont Stakes was a real triumph, especially his battle with Paynter in the depth of the stretch drive.  He is related to Hyperion and *Forli, the stallion line we used at Sleepy Hollow - but I honestly didn't think he had enough bottom to win a race that is a mile and a half long.  Apparently, too, my disliking his eyes is irrelevant.
Union Rags won by a short neck over Paynter, with Atigun in third place.  My four picks for yesterday finished in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places.  Union Rags won the Belmont over a fast track in 2.30.42; Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont in 2.24 (and gaining speed with each eighth of a mile he ran). I will happily admit that Union Rags had terrible traffic problems in both the Derby and the Preakness, and I honestly didn't think he could win the Belmont.  My hat is off to you, Union Rags!  - The complete order of finish was: (1) Union Rags, (2) Paynter, (3) Atigun, (4) Street Life, (5) Five Sixteen, (6) Unstoppable U, (7) Dullahan, (8) My Adonis, (9) Ravelo's Boy, (10) Optimizer, and (11) Guyana Star Dweej.  Union Rags and Dullahan were the betting co-favorites just before the start of the race.
   I can smell and see a smoky haze all over and through Boulder.  Another wildfire has erupted in Larimer County, to our north - this time starting in Rist Canyon, one of my favorite areas; it's being called the High Park fire, and is about 15 miles north west of Fort Collins.  The fire was first reported at 8 yesterday morning, and was estimated at 2 acres.  This morning, it has grown to over 10,000 acres, with 18 homes burned down - and it's running toward the Poudre Canyon, which is  still dealing with its own fire.  There are Clean Air Alerts throughout Colorado and New Mexico, due to smoke, ash and particulates in the air.  There have been over 1500 evacuation notices delivered by reverse 911 calls - and winds are blowing about 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 45 and 50 mph.  The entire town of Bellevue has been evacuated.  Not only do we have the fires in Larimer County, there is also the huge still-burning fire in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, but there is also a new 10,000+ acre fire north of Ruidoso, too.  (And the Eastern Shore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia has a Clean Air Alert out due to low-lying ozone....)  And the wind is certainly whipping around Boulder this morning.
   I had a wonderful day yesterday - lazed around most of the morning and early afternoon, watching HRTV, the switched to NBC for their Belmont coverage.  Kathy showed up and watched the race with me, then went and picked up a mutual friend, grabbed supper at the China Gourmet, and joined Jim  and I for supper.  The four of us sat around the table and talked for almost 4 hours, while consuming our Chinese food, a fruit tart, and freshly made strawberry, and peach, ice creams.  It was a very relaxing, laid back, pleasant day.

Rist Canyon

I'm watching the rain fall softly onto the flowers, trees and grass of Alexy's backyard. Cloudy and Shady are lying in repose on the covered patio and thinking their secret thoughts. I left Lovey in her chair getting high on catnip, while Neddy was chasing his tail in the bathroom sink, when I came over this morning. (Lovey and Neddy actually played a game of chase last night, so I'm very happy and excited that they are getting along.) The weather folks say we won't reach 60 today, and that's fine with me. I plan on reading and baking and playing with the two kits here and the two kits at home. As we are expecting showers again tomorrow, it's nice that I have a car this weekend; although I rented it with the idea of exploring some country roads this weekend, and not just using it as a way to stay dry going between my place and Alexy's.

I got the car yesterday, and was happily surprised with it. I had rented the least expensive economy car available, and was told I'd have a Chevy Aveo. I ended up with a 2010 Prius Hybrid. It's nice. I drove up to Fort Collins yesterday afternoon and went on to Laporte, then west to Bellvue, and then up Rist Canyon. I have never seen any place so breathtakingly beautiful in my entire life. The views on both sides of the road are amazing - the colors and shapes are spectacular, and each curve of the road brought an even prettier view. I drove 11 miles up the Canyon, and then turned left onto Spring Valley Road - words can't describe the peacefulness of the air, the sounds of only the creek and birds, the austerity of the mountain rock against new green grass... I fell in love with an entire canyon. I'm pretty sure Jeffrey would have loved it, too. I could have driven further west into the canyon, but I turned back towards Fort Collins. I just might have to go up there again either this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon, and, if possible, I hope to get some nice photos to share on this blog.