edandfran.org

no snow = change of plans

2012-01-16T16:18:00.003-07:00

With little snow in the forecast we traded in our ski boots for desert sandals for the first week of 2012. We welcomed in the new year amidst the Saguaro cactus instead of the ice covered slopes of the San Juan Mountains.

The view from our campsite. Great sunset and an iconic picture

The sandals are so much more comfortable
The icicles along 550 in the Uncompahgre gorge.

all in a week

2011-11-08T15:20:00.003-07:00

The past seven days have been fun. We started the week by taking advantage of some early November good weather in the canyons and ended by skiing on Grand Mesa.

Riding the newish Intrepid Trail/Big Chief loop at Dead Horse SP. What a great loop! We enjoyed it so much we rode it twice in two days.
One fun ride was down the Shafer trail down to Mussel man arch and then back up, about 14.5 kilometers and about a 400 meter climb out
What can I say. Then it was back home to write a little. I finally got a small writing contract for October and November. So, between adventures I write!
The storm that ended our Canyon trip dumped over 50 cm on the Grand Mesa. We took Tuesday and visited Skyway which was just being re-groomed after receiving another 2 cm from the night before. Ah...Western Colorado!

Across the Grand Canyon

2011-10-14T19:47:00.003-06:00

We had decided long ago, when the opportunity to walk across the Grand Canyon presents itself we would grab it. Well the time came and we did it!

This was no ordinary lets stroll across the canyon trip. We did this while taking a class from the Grand Canyon field institute. Yes, it was a geology class. Fun times at every turn.

We spent one night at the north rim, hiked down to Cottonwood Camp. The next day found us at the Colorado River at Bright Angel camp where we spent two nights. From there we started upward, spending one night at Indian Garden and then to the top. Wow! It really was fun times at every turn.

Fran standing atop the Cocconino sandstone. That is the Bright Angel fault, canyon and trail in the background. Our home for the next few days.

Hiking a narrow section through the Redwall limestone, a fantastic cliff former throughout the canyon.
The silver bridge crossing the mighty Colorado. It was hard to believe we had been canoeing the same river not so long ago albeit a few hundred miles north.
On the way back up at Panorama point. It was a great view looking back on where we had been.
At the top, we corralled some nice people to take a picture to end our trip.

In the same week

2011-09-19T16:18:00.003-06:00

Early this past week we had the chance to spend some time on the Colorado River. Then later in the week we were up high in the San Juan Mountains. The difference is astounding. The locations are less than 150 miles apart however, there is over 8,000 feet in elevation between them.

Atop Corkscrew Pass (12,200'). The 2"-4" of snow was new that morning

Red Mountain #1
Canoeing down the Colorado River
Camping in the Cottonwoods

Katie's home visit

2011-09-08T21:46:00.004-06:00

August means recess and Katie comes home to Colorado

Playing on the banks of the Uncompahgre River

Working in the garden
Planting the crops
Relaxing on Ridgway Reservoir

The changing of the guard

2011-08-10T17:15:00.002-06:00

It was just time...the old coffee pot had issues and when the handle almost fell off we knew it was time.

Here is the changing of the pot ceremony as the old pot handed over water boiling duties to the new Coleman $14.95 model. By the way, the campsite is above Gothic where we spent the night between bike rides through some incredible scenery and flowers.

To a Lavender Festival we go

2011-07-29T16:40:00.006-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Fran wanted to go to the first annual Lavender festival in Grand Junction. There was to be a tour of lavender farms in Western Colorado. Low and behold, they sold out the tour before we had a chance to reserve a space. So........ by chance Fran came across a Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington (on the Olympic Peninsula) at the very same time! We packed the truck and off we went on a whimsical, spontaneous trip to the NW.

Our trip turned into lavender bookended by geology with a lot of bike riding in between.

So much beautiful lavender-there are 350 different kinds!
So, we got a little wet riding to the farms....Olympic Discovery Trail is awesome!
We also road through Craters of the Moon National Monument-Staying on the road is critical there!
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon was next on our Geology Tour.

Ahhhhhh........The the Lavender Fest! Three fun-filled days picking lavender, eating lavender, looking at every conceivable thing that can be made out of lavender, and enjoying the company of lots of ladies who are entranced with lavender! The farms are beautiful!
More riding on the Spruce Railroad (Rails to Trails) trail in Olympic National Park. It is obvious that the rain truly makes a difference in the vegetation in the NW!
Ed cruising down the fabulous bike trail around Lake Crescent.
On to the coast for a walk among the tidal pools. So many sea stars!
Then a trip into the Hoh Rainforest. Look closely and you will see Fran hiking among the trees.
Two days later on our way East in Lewiston Idaho riding in the tree-less plains!

After that was 30 miles of mountain biking near Missoula, MT in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area.
Our last day of our adventure before driving across Wyoming into Utah then Colorado was spent riding the few trails that Yellowstone allows bikes on. We slept in the Tetons and then up early for the long drive home. All in all a great adventure in the vast, beautiful West!

Where is everyone

2011-07-06T19:56:00.002-06:00

A few years ago we had a set of clocks in the living room with times set according to where our far flung family was living. Well, the clocks were not of the greatest quality and one by one they stopped working. We then converted the clocks to National Park posters and lost that connection...until now.

Our first thought was to make a MASH like directional sign but we didn't want to have a post in the middle of the back yard. Then as happens so often, a brilliant idea sprang forth and the signs have now found a home.

We are once again connected via skype, face time, email, facebook, cell phones and signs in the backyard to remind us where all the kids and other family members are spending their day.

A visitor from the past

2011-07-02T20:17:00.006-06:00

Way back in the mid-70's a couple of newly minted 18 year olds started school at CU in Boulder, Colorado. Four years later, one was a Michigan Wolverine alum (Susie), the other a CU Buffalo (Fran). Even though one wears the blue and gold and the other the black and gold they have remained friends through the years and even get to see each other "in person" once in a while. Thanks to Susie and Laura for the hours at the airport in GR, on the plane and in the car making their way to our abode in Montrose! We had a great time :)

Stroll down memory lane with us in this little photo montage.....

Susie and Fran now.....

Fran, Susie and Laura (Susie's lovely daughter) picnicking up Camp Bird Road in Ouray, CO.

Susie and Fran-Halloween 1975

Yum! We did like to cook and eat goodies back then!

Climbing in Ouray with the girls.

The 2011 petroglyph tour

2011-06-17T21:08:00.005-06:00

As usual we left the day after school got out for our Southwest camping expedition. Last summer the emphasis was on mountain biking; this summer our focus was on the ancient ones of the four corners.

I am not sure if the bullet holes add anything of value to these ancient petroglyphs. We saw these on our first day in teh canyons.

Yes, the temperature shows 113 degrees F. But at least it is a dry heat. We chose a canyon that still had water running in the creek and we took advantage.
Cliff dwellings
a reverse hand print
Cooling off
Big horn sheep on a stick
A thinking lizard man
The middle part of the trip was a float down the San Juan River. What a fun way to do archeology...and of course study the geology.
An ancient baseball fan
After floating, we continued our explorations by backpack. We hiked 8.5 miles down the wash to Keet Seel in the Navajo NM.
A turkey pictograph
Keet Seel
More big horn petroglyphs.
The last part of the adventure was spent in the slot canyons of the Paria drainage. Wow!

A little late, pictures from spring break with the kids

2011-05-02T20:07:00.002-06:00

Camping in Zion...someone said it would be warm here.

The California kid is introduced to snow.
Helping Grandma in the garden
checking out the waterfall

Visitors for the weekend

2011-04-03T22:05:00.000-06:00

We had a few visitors for the weekend

Springtime in the backyard

2011-03-19T15:57:00.003-06:00

Stayed home on Saturday and did a little yard work.

We woke up the waterfall for the 2011 season.

Found green stuff coming up from the over-winter crop
Did the early spring potato planting

Spring fun in Canyonlands

2011-03-18T17:51:00.001-06:00

Above the Colorado River
Riding in red rock country
Riding in the grabens

A tale of two climates

2011-02-21T19:53:00.003-07:00

This weekend Fran took off on a girls hut trip into the San Juan Mountains. She and a few friends took off in marginal weather and made their way 5 miles up a beautiful drainage to spend a few nights in a backcountry cabin.

That night the winds gusted to near 60 mph at the ridge tops and 6 inches of snow fell near the cabin.

After the storm
Fun times at the cabin, making a luge run
One reason we left the high country was to see what a growing season looked like. This winter, we are starting a few plants both inside and outside the greenhouse in late February. Fran is planting lettuce. News to follow when the first crop of 2011 comes in.

A visit to California in the middle of the winter

2011-01-18T20:02:00.003-07:00

The 3 day weekend and the proximity to Wes' first birthday provided all the incentive we needed to fly out, escape the cold and enjoy some grandson time. For icing on the proverbial cake, all flights were on time and our "stuff" actually accompanied us the whole way. The only issue was the airport screeners had trouble identifying the plastic birthday cake toy that we transported with us. A good laugh was had by everyone in line.

While in California:

We babysat for an afternoon and took a small 6 mile walk around town, visiting the little zoo and museum, walking down streets that had flowers coming up (hey we live in the cold and it was great seeing spring!) went out to lunch and walked across campus. We went hiking on some fun local trails. viewed butterflies and walked through the fog.

Here Wes is playing the drums on my head as we walk down the road. He stayed in that position for just a short time before he had to walk on his own.

Wes is checking out the animal exhibits with Grandma. Notice the intent looking baby checking out the raccoon.
Another California day was spent hiking through the fog slowly climbing up out of the clouds.
One really fun place we visited was to check out the Monarch butterflies hanging out enjoying the California winter. Here Wes and dad are checking out the butterflies high in the trees.
And, no matter when or where, Wes will always enjoy a reading a book with Grandma.

What a wonderful time

2011-01-02T19:16:00.003-07:00

It was a good thing that the congressional recess coincided with Christmas break for yet another year. Katie flew home ahead of the big eastern snow storm (which incidentally we had experienced a few days earlier) and arrived just a few hours late. Our week had all the parts for a fun Christmas. Making cookies, setting up the tree and other Christmas decorations, traveling to friends, family and arches all in the snow.

The consensus is that sugar cookies are just a vehicle for the transport of frosting.

The traditional family picture in front of the tree.
Watching it snow!
The traditional family picture in front of Delicate Arch.

Can you believe?

2010-12-06T17:48:00.002-07:00

This winter the snow contest is certainly being won by the north part of the state. Our mountains are at best scoring a C- is the snow depth department. All this means is that we headed back to the canyons for yet one more weekend of biking. We keep thinking its the last time for the year...but not yet.

Sundays ride on some nice easy roads above Spring and Hell Roaring Canyons brought us to an abandoned well complete with windmill and stock tanks.

Fortunately the trail just went along the edge and didn't try to descend into the canyon. That is the Window section of Arches in the background.
Riding on the east of Arches looking towards the La Sal mountains a fine looking laccolith!

Changes in plans

2010-11-23T15:33:00.002-07:00

The Thanksgiving storm has changed our travel plans. Staying home for the holiday and no one coming to visit. Sometimes the mountains make a large barrier.

Oh ya...the orange color shows a blizzard warning for Wednesday.

Another Canyon Adventure Weekend

2010-11-07T20:38:00.002-07:00

The weather was beautiful and it is still hunting season in the mountains so we decided to visit some of our favorite terrain, the canyons of SE Utah! As usual, we pick a canyon, descend and then see what we see. There are so many archeology sites it is difficult to not see something.

An ancient high rise. You can see the roof supports of an ancient dwelling that was seriously difficult to enter... so we didn't even try.

A few wildflowers were still blooming in some of the more protected parts of the canyon.
Always evidence that we were not the first ones down this way.
There were lots of pools left over from the floods of last month. Here a reflection of the canyon wall reflected in the water.

Hiking in Arches NP after the rain

2010-10-24T20:18:00.004-06:00

We spent the past weekend in Moab attending a writers/readers conference. Most of the activities we attended were in the evening giving us the whole day to explore. However, this was a rainy weekend in the desert so we stuck close to town and were rewarded with a desert river running high and red.

Lunch on the banks of the wash.

Crossing the river on a beaver dam. They were not at all pleased that the river rose a few feet the night before and even less so that we used their structure to help us cross the flooded area.
What a great spot. The river is usually a few feet across and perfectly clear.
..and from the other side

To Grandma's house and back

2010-10-11T17:47:00.005-06:00

After reading Chris' airline itinerary on facebook, we thought we could share a typical drive to Grandma's house and back for a weekend. A total of 840 miles. Of course this is the scenic route. We could have done it in only 706 miles, but it was a pretty weekend. We had this idea as we were driving back, so all of the images are borrowed from the Internet and do not reflect current conditions.

A Waterfall in the Backyard

2010-10-03T18:25:00.002-06:00

After a little bit of planning, a lot of digging and many rocks moved we now have a "water feature" in the backyard.

The video portion of our program

Canning

2010-09-20T20:29:00.003-06:00

Last week we picked 55 pounds of peaches. We certainly can't eat them fast enough so we froze a few last week and tonight canned another 8 jars. Nothing like eating your own canned peaches in the middle of a February snow storm. It is the culinary analog of cutting wood. You put out the effort in September and enjoy the product all winter long.

Our new jet engine to heat the canning water. Note all the matches it took me to get the dumb thing going.

Watch the thumbs!
Prep work

A Trip Way Back in Time

2010-09-12T17:41:00.007-06:00

Last month we visited Colonial Wiliamsburg and had so much fun in 1776 that we decided to travel back to 1140 and see how the Ancestral Puebloans lived during their hayday. This year Mesa Verde NP offered a few longer ranger led hikes to different parts of the park. We decided to visit Spring House ruin in Wikiup Canyon.

This was a fantastic experience. The ranger not only knew his history but knew how to entertain a group for a day long hike (not the easiest thing to do). I would recommend this experience to anyone that can hike 9-10 miles with a bit of elevation gain. And we all earned our junior ranger badges.

The trail we used was created by the CCC and was used by park visitors until the resource was so damaged that the back country was closed. Hence the opening of the resource but with park service employees in charge.

As always when traveling in the American Southwest, ladders help gain access to some steeper terrain...and they are fun to use.
A ruin along the route.
Spring House! This ruin has not been stabilized. The spring that created the alcove is still flowing and most of the visible masonry is original.
Just to remind us that we were traveling in the back country. The rattle snake with full on rattle. I am guessing he did not like us interrupting his meal of field mouse.

A Proud New Junior Ranger!

2010-09-06T19:44:00.002-06:00

While on a Ranger led backcountry hike in Mesa Verde National Park, I answered a really, really hard question (!) and I earned my Junior Ranger Badge. I will treasure it for a really long time, or until it breaks, whichever comes first.

A trip back into time

2010-08-28T17:34:00.005-06:00

During the summer of 2010, we decided to go back to the year 1776 and see what was happening on the east coast of North America. For our trip to DC during the August recess we decided against a visit to the monuments and we trained our way down to Williamsburg VA. It was an excellent way to remember why and how our country was founded.

Our tour guide to the 18th Century. He took us around the Governors Palace as Williamsburg was the Colonial Capital for Virginia.

Katie discussing the goings on with some of the locals. They kept in character and explained to us what was happening right before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The continental army on maneuvers.
Katie in character
The border between then and now
Even the rest rooms were in character, although the running water was probably not authentic 18th century
General Washington explaining why the American Revolution
Fran in court with her newly appointed apprentice.

Phase 1

2010-08-12T20:55:00.003-06:00

Phase one of our orchard! We have been talking about planting fruit trees since we moved to Montrose. Well, today we started the orchard with two apple trees, a Macintosh and Honey Crisp. In theory these two trees will provide the necessary pollen at the right time for each other.

Digging the holes. The Mancos shale insures a nice clay soil no matter where you dig. At least it is not all rock like it was in Ouray.

Rest time yet? Just thinking ahead to apples next year.
Trees are in the ground and now need some TLC to get them through transplant shock.
The happy gardener expanding her expertise into fruit trees. Cherry will be next.

The adventures continue...canoe the Green River

2010-08-09T14:32:00.002-06:00

Last week found us floating between Green River UT and Mineral Bottom through Labyrinth Canyon. This has become a yearly event for us as I teach a geology class along this stretch for the Colorado School of Mines teacher enhancement program. This year I did not teach the class, but the outfitters invited us on another trip just because I love this area so much. All of the images below are from prior years as we did not take a camera this year.

This year was a little different as the monsoonal flow was more than generous the week before and washed out many upstream sand bars, while coating the edges with a solid layer of very fine grained mud. That is, most side drainages flashed the week before

A happy boat, floating the Green.

A typical sand bar camp.
Looking at a river runner register.
Lunch below the Wingate. This is one of my favorite spots on the river
This inscription was carved in 1912. I had heard rumors of a strange inscription along the river. It took us three years to find the inscription and another year for a photograph. Not the usual Anasazi or miner writing on the wall. It just goes to show that river people are a strange breed.

Bike paths around Colorado

2010-08-02T20:25:00.006-06:00

Fran's purchase of a road bike has opened some new recreational doors for us (like we needed more??) Fran being a consummate librarian quickly researched nearby long paved bike trails preferably part of a rails to trails network. Her results:

Carbondale to Crystal River Ranch 6 miles

Glenwood Springs to Aspen 42 miles

Glenwood Canyon 16 miles

Leadville loop 12.5 miles

Our usual method of exploration is to park in the middle and do an out and back ride. This means that we do every ride twice, uphill and downhill. This was no exception. One day we rode the Carbondale path AND the path from Carbondale to Glenwood Springs. (36 miles) The next day we rode from Carbondale to almost Aspen (51 miles). We then headed to Leadville but were rained out. On the way home we rode the Glenwood Canyon path (32 miles). Total 3 days of riding: 119 miles

At the park and ride Carbondale

One of the sign posts keeping us on the right track
More information about Glenwood canyon
Longest ride of the year
What do you do after a long ride? Hit the riverside hotsprings of course!

Animal sightings both big and small

2010-07-17T15:05:00.002-06:00

The mountains around Steamboat always have fun observations of the faunal type. While riding near Buffalo Pass on the Continental Divide trail we came near a mom moose and her baby. Click on the image for a close up. Needless to say we didn't want to stress them out nor did we want mom to get angry with us. After a hasty picture we were on our way.

However, back in camp the mosquito population was quite healthy. In this case however, we did not care if we stressed the poor little buggers out nor were we worried about any attack besides the near constant biting. Below, Fran is modeling one of our new head nets that enabled us to keep the bites limited to the rest of our bodies. This is the first time we have ever had to resort to netting. It appears that Northern Colorado has had a wet spring and a bumper crop of the secondary consumers.

Nothing like a bike ride to feel like a kid again

2010-07-10T07:52:00.003-06:00

Our search for a flat handled road bike ended successfully last week as we found the only size small Specialized Vita in western Colorado. We decided that we both like the flat handle bars for both comfort and for its similarity to our mountain bikes. Unfortunately, it appears that the bike manufactures misjudged their orders both last year and this year. This translates to it was pretty difficult to find a bike to even try out. After traveling to the nearest city and trying a handful of brands and models we decided on a powder blue, girl specific, flat handle bar road bike from Specialized.

Just opening up an one more fitness venue here on the western slope.

between adventures

2010-07-07T20:39:00.003-06:00

Last week between adventures we hosted two of our youngest nieces for a short visit. We visited a nearby national park, a ghost town and a restored mine. We also threw lots of rocks into creeks, rode bikes to ice cream shops and watched deer wander close by.

Checking out a ghost town

Watching wildlife
Throwing rocks
A good time was had by all.

A divergent adventure

2010-07-02T20:53:00.004-06:00

Just about every state requires teachers to take a few classes every five years to be re-certified as a teacher in a public school. Because I teach most summers, I have been a bit behind in collecting the required credits. So...this year I decided to take a class very similar to what I teach, that is doing geology in a very pretty part of the country. In this case it was along the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.

While I was in class, Fran flew into the SF bay area and played with our grandson and visited our son and daughter-in-law.

Rafting through Split Mountain
The start of the Split Mountain anticline
One happy baby
Reliving those days at the swing in the playground.
One happy grandmother

back home...for a short time

2010-06-17T11:34:00.004-06:00

Once again, the canyons of Utah provided a welcome rest at the end of another school year. We camped for 12 nights, visited 3 National parks, 2 wilderness areas and one fantastic national monument. We hiked about 80 miles and rode bikes for an additional 130 miles using some single track and lots of remote desert jeep tracks. We were also able to enjoy the melt water from an above average snow pack in Central Utah. A few of the canyons we visited sported full on rivers that felt so good in the usual desert heat.

Riding the trails in Kodachrome SP

Riding in Grand Staircase Escalante NM
Sunrise at Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon NP
Crossing the Escalante River, one of 30 crossings.
Resting in Deer Creek, Grand Staircase NM
Riding towards Capitol Reef NP in the Circle Cliffs, GSENM
The back door

end of school trip

2010-06-04T17:13:00.003-06:00

RES version 2009-2010 ended today. This means we will take off tomorrow for our annual right-out-of-school trip. As usual we are heading to the deserts and canyons of Southern Utah. The weather has dramatically turned warm however, with temperature forecasts in the mid 90's for the next few days. I am unsure how that will impact our plans. One thing for sure...right now, I am not sad we didn't score the Grand Canyon hiking permits. Canyon bottom temps are hovering around 106 F.

One thing is certain, we will enjoy the red rock desert, but probably from a shady spot, and near water. Stories and pictures will follow. Here are some old images, just to whet the appetite.

Calf Creek Falls

Thinking deep thoughts on a previous expedition.
Geology as art, sandstone, desert varnish and water falls

a weekend climb

2010-06-01T21:04:00.003-06:00

We had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Monday dawned bright and clear so we did our almost-a-tradition climb of baldy Mountain. Not many flowers yet, we saw a few deer at lower elevations and the occasional lion scat on up the trail. No pictures of the lion scat.

The official USGS summit benchmark.

Pasque flowers! Yes, these are supposed to bloom closer to Easter, but at 10,000 feet, spring is just starting.
A great summit lunch spot.
A yellow bird high above the valley floor.
A male grouse doing the strutting thing.

The Desert is in Bloom

2010-05-24T11:48:00.002-06:00

Our weekend trip to Arches NP was very colorful indeed. The weather was not the best for bikes so we kept to the canyon bottoms and had a very enjoyable time exploring some of the less-known corners of a very popular national park.

A RUINed Weekend

2010-05-17T19:17:00.003-06:00

The weather turned nice and we took the truck and bikes down to the SW corner of Colorado and the SE corner of Utah to see how the desert was looking. The abundant moisture of the winter is being felt now as the desert was in bloom. It was difficult to keep our eyes on the trail as we hiked a bit and biked across a few of the canyons looking at ancient Anasazi ruins and a plethora of wild flowers.

Navigating our way.

Canyon of the Ancients with Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background.

Cliff Rose. Is here any flower more fragrant in the spring time?

An ancient two level town house.

The trail through the cliffs.

Finished

2010-05-11T21:09:00.003-06:00

The last nail

The last drop of paint

Pictures up on the wall

The shower curtain hung with care

A spring weekend

2010-05-10T19:08:00.003-06:00

After a succession of less-than-optimal-weather weekends, we were presented with a Saturday and Sunday that was warm and dry. To take advantage of the weather, before it decided to get windy cloud up and rain on our parade hike, we decided that Saturday wold be used to get the garden ready and Sunday would our play day. We hiked up to the rattlesnake canyon Arches. The second largest concentration of natural arches in the world. We would visit a geologic wonderland while traversing the spring desert alive with flowers!

The tools of the trade on Saturday., gloves, seeds and irrigation equipment. We were able to turn every square millimeter of garden space as well as add some homegrown compost. This year we are adding some new garden space, about four square meters worth of dirt.

More dirt tools. The ever present wheel barrow filled here with compost being added to the main raised beds. last year we nailed the irrigation on these big beds so this year I am just copying the old system. Unfortunately, not every garden space had optimum irrigation, so we are trying some new configurations in other spots.

Working on the sun flower and Hollyhock area.

On the steep climb above Polluck canyon a collared lizard stopped to let us do some wild life photography.
Two of the many arches to be seen in Rattlesnake Canyon.
The flowers are incredibly colorful this time of year.

A change of routine

2010-05-06T20:33:00.002-06:00

Last week I had the chance to travel to DC and take in some National Geographic training and was able to visit Katie.

We visited the embassy open houses.

No visit to DC is complete without some time at the National Cathedral
Looking down the mall at the SOP, Seat of Power (more commonly known as the US Capitol)
Another DC landmark.

a milestone passed

2010-04-26T21:15:00.003-06:00

Since the last post:

tile in

grouted

sealed

caulked

fixtures assembled

water turned on!!!

shelves installed

The new storage area with shelves in the background.

The bath/shower ready for the first bathing.

a weekend in the canyons

2010-04-26T21:08:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday we took a quick trip up the Monument trail in the Colorado National Monument.

Collared Lizard sitting still for a photo shoot.

A whole family of sheep came down the hillside as we were walking up. Here a baby with his baby sitter look out on the world.

the projects continue

2010-04-20T19:34:00.002-06:00

The past few weeks have been taken up with finishing up our not-so-little projects. The big items on our list is the bathroom remodel and putting electricity out to the green house.

We took the old bathtub and shower out. The colors behind the tub are for comparisons. The square above the colors is now a window.

Fran does anything in the house that requires skill and talent. Here she is starting the tile work. Notice the new window!

While Fran tiled, I painted the corner. You can see the green behind Fran. This used to be a shower but will now be a storage area. the shower will be part and parcel with the tub. Notice the skill and finesse in putting tile on the wall.

The last wall was just the perfect chair height. Fran is sitting in the tub, "buttering" each tile before sticking them on the wall. My part in all this was to cut the tile to her specifications.

Hopefully soon the tile will have grout, the faucet and control knobs will be connected and the construction materials will be out of our bathroom...more pictures to follow. Hopefully soon.

Who went this way before me?

2010-04-16T20:53:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I wandered in Ironton for a few hours. I was following an old trail through the trees where there was a coating of new white snow on top of an old dirty snow layer. This clean white on top of old and dirty provided great contrast for this set of mountain lion tracks. It was very clear that this large feline had gone this way not too long ago. At this point there is only one way to go, so I followed the tracks for awhile, hoping that I wasn't going to surprise anyone.

more projects

2010-03-20T21:08:00.004-06:00

This week saw the completion of a simple picture project and the actual start of "the" big project with some bathroom demolition. The clock wall has now become the national park wall. The clocks were all of inferior quality and over the past few months they have all stopped working for various reasons...none due to the lack of power. Montrose was the first to slow down (really no surprises there). China and San Francisco then started losing time and finally stopped altogether. The biggest surprise was that Washington DC just kept on ticking, never lost a beat and always told the correct time. ...so, we decided to change looks.

WPA posters of: Yellowstone, Arches, Rocky Mountain and Zion National Parks. All favorites of ours!

Mom making the last adjustments to Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain. The caption invites all to spend the night at the Boulderfield Cabin where there are no modern conveniences, no trees to get in the view and freezing temperatures every night of the year
Our bathroom with some major changes. The old tub and shower are out. The new tub will be deeper and will have its own shower. In the space of the old shower will be storage for bathroom stuff, like towels and such.
More pictures to come as the projects move along.

the sewing room

2010-03-07T21:43:00.004-07:00

This weekend we finished up the sewing room.

The room once sported a large (7 feet long) mantle like thing with a florescent light...very modern looking. So we tore it down changed the wiring a little, added some track lighting and then went wild with every form of storage you can attach to a wall. We have shelves, thread holders, a magnetic white board, peg board and a bulletin board like surface. We then added color and patterns to "cuten" up everything.

It looks pretty good even if I say so my self. Next project...new faucets on all the old sinks. When will these winter projects end? I want to get outside.

A close up by the sewing machine

The big view showing the sewing console, colorful bulletin boards and the magnetic white board.

Another view, same thing different aspect.

Silly me

2010-02-16T19:32:00.003-07:00

So, I thought the 2010 Olympics (we are in the 2nd decade of the 21st century) would have an impressive online presence. Not so much. So, 2 weeks ago I called my ISP (bresnan) and asked about their TV contract. ( I was about to go out and even buy a TV!) Can you believe the woman who answered my questions really didn't want to help me. She wasn't very customer centric. Did you know that NBC won't let you stream if you don't already have a TV contract with someone? Again, my bad. I ended up with no TV coverage as the games started. I didn't realize the stranglehold NBC had on Olympic coverage.

We were about to throw in the towel, but with an olympian effort, we found that our old rabbit ears TV can catch the local NBC signal. I feel so connected now. Who needs computers and Wi Fi and istuff.

The imac, cold and dark. Good for email, itunes and online shopping...but not the olympics if you are a bresnan customer.

Watching woman's luge from the Whistler sliding center.
Gotta go and watch now!

The last month...

2010-02-03T19:08:00.003-07:00

I haven't felt the need to update because the 3 people who read our blog already know what we have been up to.

Of course the highlight of January was the birth of our first grand child, Wesley.

We are back home now and looking forward to the end of winter.

Ending 2009 and starting 2010 with a ski

2010-01-03T20:31:00.005-07:00

New Years Eve was the 2nd full moon for the month of December. We took advantage of the full moon, new snow, cold temps and a nearby National Park to ski out the old year. The pictures don't do justice to skiing along a very large canyon. Oh ya, the temperature at the start of the ski was +3 F!

Skiing by moonlight.

New years day and the weather was perfect. What better way to usher in a new year than a ski in the Colorado high country and a soak in a natural hot spring?

Here we are crossing Red Mountain Creek.

Skiing up an old railroad grade

The perfect Colorado winter day.

weather in the midwest changes plans for many people

2009-12-25T13:24:00.004-07:00

Katie's flight was cancelled so AA sent her to a "nearby" airport. We drove to Eagle Vail last night. The plane landed at midnight. We got home at 3 am Christmas morning. The good news is that we all made the 450 mile trek and are together for Christmas. The bad news...Katies luggage is still in AA land somewhere.

View Larger Map

Avalanche

2009-12-20T16:37:00.004-07:00

Its been awhile since I posted anything.

We went snow shoeing above Red Mountain Pass today. The day was perfect, the snow just slightly less so. There are a few feet of snow on the ground at 11,000 feet. New, deep snow makes breaking trail quite a bit of a workout, so we took our time. We climbed up an old mine road from 11,000 to about 12,000 feet. We were hoping to ascend the ridge and then perhaps the summit...or not. It was a beautiful day and we just wanted to be outside. As the trail turned into the basin, we could see a few recent slide paths. We stayed in the trees, that being the safest route and found ourselves at the same level as this rather large slide. After taking a few pictures, we decided that the best route down, was the same one we took up!

This is a bit over exposed (I guess I left the camera at 1600 ISO) but it gives you the idea of the scale of the slide.

Better lighting. We are looking over at the slide.

You can see how far down the debris field is.

Looking back, a beautiful day.

Cute parents.

One last fall weekend

2009-11-11T19:52:00.005-07:00

With our second Winter Storm predicted for this weekend I guess our fall days are coming to an end.

Riding Klondike Bluffs

Looking down into Lockhart Basin

Looking way down into the basin

Islands in the Sky

Riding towards the Henrys

Early season snow

2009-10-30T17:27:00.004-06:00

Although nothing like what the Front Range of Colorado saw. We had our own little snow storm that will make cleaning up the garden a bit harder.

a wonderful fall weekend

2009-10-25T20:10:00.003-06:00

With a three day weekend to do some serious recreating our thoughts of course centered around the canyons of Utah. Our list was culled down to just a few spots and in the end Canyonlands NP won out. Really no surprise there. It is one of my favorite places on the planet. Friday was spent driving, setting camp and riding in the grabens from Elephant Hill. Saturday was spent hiking a large 14 mile loop through the needles themselves and Sunday we rode out Lockhart basin. An incredible weekend in an incredible place.

Ladders...need I say more?

A contented look in the red rock desert

Riding the grabens

Mom riding up the trail...yes that is the trail.

shed is finished now its time to go a bike ride

2009-10-22T21:40:00.001-06:00

The view from inside.

we are ready for some sun and some seeds

building the solar shed

2009-10-17T20:15:00.003-06:00

Putting the trusses together.

putting the walls in place

siding!

Before the windows were placed

We are missing one piece before we can finish up. The missing part is being shipped and should be here soon. The finished product will be featured in a new blog post.

potato harvest

2009-10-03T19:41:00.004-06:00

That is one big spud! We didn't get many but they were all large especially this 1.5 pound monster. (cell phone for scale)

Harvest time

2009-09-30T17:25:00.001-06:00

What time is it?

2009-08-30T20:13:00.003-06:00

Our Guatemala clock becomes a Zhangye China clock as Fran tries her hand at Chinese characters.

The literal translation is Middle Kingdom.

The backyard fire place with the first set of smores.

The summit of Jura Knob (12,614')

A Sunday arts and crafts day

2009-08-23T17:51:00.002-06:00

A "chill" Sunday was the perfect day to get those bird houses painted as well as create the "to" signs for the back yard (reminiscent of the sign post on MASH). I spent the day taking out old fence posts.

Here the two creative minds of the operation

The first of the "to" signs for the sign post. Other signs will include: San Francisco, Zhangye Gansu, Fort Collins, Windham NH and Moab UT. Images will come later.

The finished products hidden among the greenery.

The two artists with their masterpieces.

What can I say?

Across the country

2009-08-16T16:01:00.005-06:00

The last 3 weeks were spent driving to New England and back again. I can't say it enough...this is a big country!

above: Looking in the mirror with the fields of Kansas for a background

below: The moose of Bennington Vermont

walking the beach

the summit of Mt. Lafayette (5260 feet, almost Denver)

One of many covered bridges

After dinner rest

lobster night

you don't see these traffic signs just anywhere

home of Radar in MASH

Flower season

2009-07-11T20:12:00.004-06:00

Last week was spent traversing the San Juan Mountains in search of this year's wildflowers. We started near Creede, backpacking into the La Garita Wilderness for an overnight stay at the Wheeler Geologic Area. From Creede we traveled to American Basin at the foot of Handies Peak for the traditional Columbine exhibition...we were not disappointed. Our last stop was in Gothic Colorado, home to the Rocky Mountain Biological Institute. WOW. Everything else paled in comparison to the flowers around Schofield Pass. Our route home then took us over Kebler Pass with another astounding display of this season's crop of wild flowers. The images that follow are just a small collection of pictures that really do not do the fields of flowers justice.

Mule's Ears

King's Crown

Larkspur

Sulphur flowers

Mountain Sunflower

La Garita Wilderness and Fran

Iris

Colorado Blue Columbine

Summer in the Rockies

2009-07-03T18:16:00.003-06:00

Last week was spent visiting a few high country lakes. Most lakes above 12,000 are still frozen and there were a few snow fields that we had to climb to get high enough. It was a great time!

Fran in Porphyry Basin

Ed crossing that last stream in lower Ice Lake Basin

A few flowers on the trail

Climbing towards Hope Lake Pass

Lunch!

Been busier

2009-06-23T21:23:00.003-06:00

Wow, lots has happened since that last post. Semesters ended, a visit from the Guatemala kids a road trip to Yosemite to visit the California kids a quick trip to the Front Range and a geology class to be taught.

Rain in Yosemite

Grandma and Kelly

The Colorado River class

Dinner at home with the Guate kids

Below, the oldest junior rangers in the program

Been busy these past few weeks

2009-05-29T14:53:00.004-06:00

Doing more geology on the Green River

Climbing up to Rattlesnake arches

Climbing steep trails

Going to weddings

Visiting Ashville NC

Mothers Day 2009

2009-05-11T15:03:00.003-06:00

Great weather and great hiking! Here on a Entrada sandstone island looking at the La Sal Mountains

Desert Dogwood

Indian Paintbrush

Over looking the Colorado River from the top of the world

more snow

2009-04-17T17:01:00.004-06:00

Woke up this morning to snow, enough for mom to have the 1st snow day of the year!

The garden gnome

the garden

the snowgirl

the bird houses

Spring Break, Aloha style

2009-04-06T21:16:00.005-06:00

no snorkeling today

tourists on the big island

Waterfalls

Our first day on a tropical island

on the cusp of tsunami danger

In the RAIN forest

newly hatched fern

petroglyphs

volcano watching...I think there is a volcano there

sea life, don't touch!

looking for sea life: fish, turtles, sea urchins and sharks

picking Macadamia nuts

Our weekend in the canyons

2009-03-24T16:43:00.000-06:00

We visited our favorite spot in Utah. This time we explored the upper Armstrong canyon as well as Collins canyon down to Grand Gulch. Spring was definitely in the air! I bet by next week all of the trees will have leaves. We saw a great pictograph panel with some Barrier Canyon figures, a few ruins and one very intact granary.

Mesa top hike with the Red House cliffs and Henrys in the background.

Owachomo Bridge

Dinner time in the PJ forest

Small petroglyph

Canyon explorer!

Desert waterfall

Back to Washington

2009-03-09T21:52:00.000-06:00

Last month I had a chance to travel to Washington and now it was Fran's turn. A combination of a three day weekend, low airfares, a free weekend for Katie and a work weekend for dad sent Fran winging across the country for a quick 2 day visit to our nation's SOP. Stops while there included the Library of Congress, Botanical Gardens, Georgetown and Roosevelt Island. making the weekend a little more affordable, mom was able to use the Katie and Kelly B&B for 2 nights. A wonderful time was had by all. The only problems in the whole trip were the airlines. Of the four legs of the trip, only one left on time. Pictures include a self portrait by the capitol, the two girls in front of the capitol, in the botanical gardens and the front of the Lincoln exhibit at the Library of Congress

Spring Canyon Hiking

2009-03-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Spring has come to Western Colorado! The snow is still deep up high, but conditions are deteriorating as each warm day passes with no new precipitation. So, we go to the canyons where we can walk on dirt! Here we are just a couple of hundred feet above the canyon floor. What a lunch spot!

newest color

2009-02-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot. I promised to show the color of the bedroom. The walls are periwinkle, which is a purple-ish-blue. Well at least to my sub standard color vision it is. The new comforter is encased in a yellow comforter encaser. Mom is still doing thought experiments on different window coverings because right now it's just a sheet hanging up.

There are only 2 rooms that haven't seen the paint brush left. One bathroom and the sewing room that will need quality time taking down a wallpaper border.

The Seat of Power

2009-02-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

Last week I had the chance to visit Katie again. I was working on some new science labs for NG and since I was in the neighborhood...Katie and I had one of our quick visits, dinner out and a walk around a view of the capitol and then back on the metro. We had a fun time, its too bad that the route back to where we stay is so long. The metro to a bus to a shuttle all via Dulles. Crazy! But at least we were able to get a visit it!

Valentines/Presidents day long weekend!

2009-02-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Just in time we had a 3 day weekend to enjoy in the middle of the winter. Our plans were to visit either Comb wash and explore the canyons on the East side of the uplift or to stay in Moab and perhaps bring the bikes. Then there was plan C which was to stay at home because the weather wasn't good enough to warrant the expense of staying anywhere. Plan C won! Saturday was the worst day with high winds and snow up high. We stayed at home and painted our bedroom. What color do you think would go with the rest of the house ( our current colors are: yellow and yellow, blue and another blue green, darker green and red)? I will post again when I get some pictures of the room all finished.

That night we celebrated Valentines Day. We used a steak from our 0.25 cow with all of the fixings as well as cards, flowers and a few gifts.

Sunday was a much nicer day. We drove up to Ironton and played in the new snow and visited our favorite mining head frame. When we started skiing it was 10 degrees but quickly warmed up. We didn't bring the camera so these pictures are from last year. We got home from the ski and finished painting. This morning we went back up to Ouray before the next storm hits, and snowshoed on the Dallas trail. It is a quick 1300 foot climb! I can certainly tell I live at a lower elevation. Now we are just doing the finishing touches on the bedroom and getting things ready for the work week ahead of us. This week, we start with a winter storm warning. On Wednesday, I get to visit Katie when NG sends me out to DC to help create and test some new labs for the energy curriculum they are designing. I think it will be a fun week. And Hawaii in just 6 weeks!

Did it Again

2009-02-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Another weekend more blue skies and had to get the skis out. Mom has a new pair of ski boots that has eliminated the blister problem of the past few years. Today was spent on the Grand Mesa with a few colleagues of mom's from RES.

The snow was in pretty good shape and I think everyone enjoyed the ski. Then we all came over our place for an early dinner of bread and soup before heading home and preparing for tomorrows return to work ...or maybe they just wanted to go somewhere that had TV reception to watch a football game.

The next week is supposed to be warm and dry. So I cleaned up the bike and have it ready for a ride at anytime.

weekend project

2009-01-25T20:17:00.001-07:00

The last time we met you probably thought all we did was ski or snow shoe on weekends...and that is mostly true. Sometimes we hike and bike and camp too.

This weekend was spent sprucing up the house. Last warm weather had definitely taken the powder out of the snow and the weather this weekend looked wet so we decided to paint one of the few white rooms left. Our guest room was still the blaring snow white that all the rooms looked like when we bought the house. Since we have mostly "outdoor" pictures in this room we decide to go with the "grass cloth-green" that looked good with images of Sleeping Ute, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, "The Thorne" and Pico de Orizaba.We threw blankets on the furniture, cleaned and taped the walls. And, in one short day the room was painted

the carpet cleaned, the

tape was de-taped and the pictures hung back with care. The computer is set back up and we are ready to hit the work week again! The mountains are receiving snow as I type this, so I hope next weekend will be back to normal with a ski on saturday and a snow shoe on Sunday (or perhaps the other way around)

The artist resting after a hard painting day. Oh ya, we also took a 8.5 mile urban-rural hike around central Montrose this afternoon.

High Country Blue Sky Day

2009-01-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Rockies had another fantastic weekend. The ridge of high pressure has made the outdoor recreation fun, even though the snow conditions deteriorate by the hour. The temperature at our high point was about 40 degrees, there was no wind at all and a cloudless sky. Sun burn was a definite possibility.

We spent Monday snowshoeing up to the base of Brown Mt. at an elevation of about 11,700 feet. The next time you aren't sure of where to set your stair master, try the Brown Mt. setting. I guarantee a good workout.

The lower slopes had crusty snow but up on top, it was still very dry crystals and a pleasure to break trail. We looped around here, ate lunch and then headed down to the car, 2000 feet below.

Beautiful ski

2009-01-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today was spent skiing near Lizard Head Pass. The sky was that Colorado blue, the temperatures warmer than they should be (its a cycle...right?) making the snow a little less than perfect. However, you can't fault the view, in any direction.

We started at

the top of the pass, skied down the Gallop

ing Goose Trail to the Trout Lake Trestle, turned uphill towards Hope Lake Pass and skied all day, which translates to 10.5 miles round trip. A fun way to get tired.

The continuation

2009-01-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

of the adventure.