Latest Day Trip

I have lived in Boulder since November in 2004 - almost 15 years now.  I have lived in suburban and urban parts of the town - and believe me, I am a country girl at heart and in my soul.  Every once in a while, I need to hit the road and see areas of the state that I haven't seen before, as well as looking at familiar and well-loved landscapes.  Since I had access to a very nice car, I checked everything out (under the hood and tires, etc) and Friday my room-mate and I went on a ten hour drive.  That's not counting photography stops, bathroom breaks, and lunch.  We had drinks and snacks with us, too, so we didn't have to make hunger stops.
    The last time I was in Steamboat Springs was in 1972, so I  made that my objective, even though I knew we wouldn't have time to stop and explore the town.  So we drove a large loop, going up through Berthoud and Loveland to Fort Collins, where we headed west and then drove north along the east side of Horsetooth Reservoir.  Then to Laporte and Bellvue and over to one of my favorite places, Rist Canyon (which was hit heavily by the High Park Fire in 2012), and then Stove Prairie, up to the Cache la Poudre River and then west.... We ran into snow on the ground well before Cameron Pass, and I was out of the car in my shorts, T-shirt and sneakers up at Craig Camp Grounds at the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest stop.  Stopped in Walden for an ice cream sandwich and to stretch our legs, then on across pastures full of snow-melt near the road and snow-covered mountains beyond, to route 40 and Muddy Pass.  There we turned (kinda) north and went over Rabbit Ears Pass and into Steamboat Springs, where we had a late lunch.
  Leaving Steamboat Springs, we were on route 131 and I dearly wish there had been a lot more places where I could have stopped and taken photos.  A lot of views were breath-taking, but on a two-lane road with less than 12 inches of shoulder, I simply couldn't stop and take the photos I wanted.  And then we got caught behind a person driving a car with Nebraska plates who drove at 15 to 20 miles per hour below the speed limit - again, a two lane road, multiple hills and curves and double yellow lines.  Some vehicles behind us passed anyway - a line of six cars - and frequently we all had to break when a vehicle appeared nearby in the on-coming lane.  Finally, the Nebraska car turned off at Oak Creek, and we were once again able to proceed at the speed limit and space out.
   There was a vast open gulf to the left of us between State Bridge and Wolcott - I think it was the Edwards Draw - but the drop and span of the open area was amazing to me.  Photos of that area are what I really wish I had been able to take.  Beautiful vista and gorgeous colors...  Ah, well.   At Wolcott, we got onto I-70 and headed back east, passing by Avon, Vail, Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne and Keystone, on to Idaho Springs, and, finally, Golden, where we turned north to return to Boulder.
    It was a long drive, and by the time we reached Idaho Springs my backside, butt, rear-end (whatever you want to call it), had gone to sleep, so I was very happy to get out of the car and fill it up with gas.  Got home to complaining kitties, who were very upset about having a late supper and absolutely no company all day.  But it was great to get away from the city and the rat race.  Other than the line of cars behind the Nebraska car on 131, and the traffic on I-70, and when we ate in Steamboat Springs, we saw few other people and very little traffic.  It was a great trip.

Horsetooth Mountain

Horsetooth Reservoir

Top of Rist Canyon, headed down to Stove Prairie

Indian Meadows, Cache la Poudre River

 Cameron Pass

Near Walden

Rabbit Ears Pass

Steamboat Springs

Finger Rock, Yampa

Vail Valley near Wolcott

Bits & Pieces

The apartment maintenance men "fixed" our HVAC unit on 5 July, but also informed us that the condensation drip pan was affixed at exactly the opposite slant that it should have been.  Everything worked fine until Tuesday night, 11 July - when water was dripping at a rate of 40 to 50 drips per minute.  We put a bucket down and called maintenance.  Chris came back with another assistant and completely cleaned all the drains - but it still dripped occasionally.  He had to call an HVAC company to come and re-fit the pan.  They did so yesterday morning, which was great...   They were in and out in an hour, which made the cats very happy.
   On Thursday we had an adventure planned, and we carried it out.  We left Boulder mid-morning, and drove up Magnolia Mountain to Nederland, and visited the Carousel of Happiness.  Then we took the Peak to Peak Highway down to Black Hawk, and on to Idaho Springs, where we got onto Interstate 70 West.  I hadn't been through the Eisenhower Tunnel since 1974 or 1976, and Bea had never been through it.  What was amazing to me was the next 8 miles of 7 and 8% grade downhill... it was great fun to drive that!  When we arrived at Dillon, we turned off and visited the Dillon Reservoir; and then made our way back east via route 6, winding through the ski areas and finally over Loveland Pass.  The pass itself is at 11,990 feet; the temperature was 57 degrees (F) and a stiff breeze was blowing.  There were still snow drifts clinging to the sides and tops of ridges around the pass.  It was very impressive!  The rest of the trip was rather anticlimactic, once we descended from Loveland Pass and returned east on I-70.  We followed 6 into Golden and had supper at Mimi's Cafe, having a nice chat with a new server (he had been a server for 10 days, was a  student at the Colorado School of Mines, and was also an Air Force Cadet).  Then we returned home and caught up on the daily riff-raff report.
    Weirdness is normal in Boulder - Friday was the 10th Annual Tube to Work Day, in which you get onto, or into, Boulder Creek near the Judicial Center on 6th Street, and ride in your inner tube or Rubber Duckie Ring down the stream until you exit near your place of work....  This year there were more than 1,000 participants who floated down the icy creek waters to begin their daily grinds.
    We did have one oddity - a man was walking his dog on the Boulder Creek Path, between the Judicial Center and the Public Library, on Thursday night when he heard jogging footsteps behind him.  This is normal 24 hours a day on that Path, so the man thought nothing of it.  The runner passed the dog-walker, then spun around and, the dog-walker thought, punched him in the stomach.  The runner then turned back in the direction he had been heading, and continued running.  The dog owner put his hand to his stomach, because it hurt, and walked his dog back to his car.  When he opened the car door, he found that he was bleeding - the runner had stabbed him in the stomach without saying a word.  The dog owner drove himself to the hospital and was admitted for surgery to repair the 5-inch deep stab wound.  The assailant was a white male, dressed completely in black, with a hood covering his head and neck.  The attacker is still being sought.....
   ......  So.  Who was not in the room with Donald Junior in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016?   First the list of attendees was four; then five; then six or seven; then eight.... and possibly more.  The entire Trump family and all of his campaign people, as well as all of his transition team, are guilty as hell of collusion with a national enemy, and guilty of treason against our country.  I say:  Lock 'em all up!