Weather at 30,000 Feet

I found this link on the Weather Channel’s website by accident, but thought both the pictures and the airline facts are worthy of sharing…enjoy!

Things are Changing

We’re starting to feel a little more settled.  Or at least feel that a sense of normalcy is on the horizon.  Lots has changed recently, and it’ll be nice to have some sort of routine again in our lives.

We’ve closed on our new condo, we’ve moved in and now have it furnished enough to feel comfortable, and we’ve sold our Spirit.  It was a sad day for us to hand over the keys to someone else, yet at the same time we have met some nice people who have gotten us very excited about choosing Arvada as our new home.  It has been nice meeting people who just love living here and who have taken advantage of all the hiking and biking in the area.

I’ll try to post some pics of our new home soon enough.  For now, we’re just trying to get back to some normalcy – exercising, working, and playing.  We’re thinking about going hiking tomorrow…so check back soon.

PS  The two feet of snow that got dumped on us last week is mostly gone and the weather has been in the 60’s/70’s.  Just glorious!

This Little Piggy

Swine flu.  Eight days and counting.  The first four days felt like death, but I think I’m finally over the hump now.

It started innocently enough last Saturday morning – an odd hollow feeling in the chest.  By 3:00 pm I was in bed.  For days.  They say it comes on “suddenly”.  Boy, they weren’t kidding.

Andy took me to Pine Valley Open Space yesterday so I could sit and read (or sit and sleep!) in the warm sun with fresh air.  The sounds of a babbling brook soothed my achy body.  I was able to go for a little walk, too…but good thing there was a park bench to lay down on before my return trip.

We’re crossing our fingers that Andy doesn’t follow suit.  The doctor gave us a prescription for Tamiflu for Andy to take.  Once you are showing full-blown symptoms, there’s nothing they can give you.  But hopefully the Tamiflu will work for Andy.

Eldorado Canyon State Park

On Saturday we chose Eldorado Canyon State Park as our new place to explore.  South of Boulder, and just 3 miles west of Hwy 93, it’s one of the closest State Parks to us. 

The beauty of this rock canyon grabs you as you drive through the tiny dirt-road town of Eldorado Springs and approach the entrance to the state park.  It’s a rock-climber’s dream, and they frequent this park year-round from the sounds of it.

We hiked Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, which gives fabulous views of the rock walls on the opposite side of the canyon.

At the Crags Hotel ruins (the resort burned down in 1912), we not only enjoyed the views but got to get our hands dirty looking for remnants of life long ago.  People left their findings on top of the old fireplace.

We got a peek at the Continental Divide…

We were a little surprised when we heard some loud rumbling during our hike.  Then we realized that it was a train. 

An amazing feat.  A train track at 1,200’ above the canyon floor (which I’m guessing was around 6,000’ elevation).  The track was cut into the mountainside, which appeared to have seen some slides.  We could only see a short section of the track since it was bookended with two tunnels.  Of course, when the trail came close to the track, we had to bypass the private property signs and go peek into one of the tunnels.  Who knew there’d be a second train so soon?  Good thing we had returned to the trail just minutes before we heard that rumbling sound again.  I don’t think this six-engine train could’ve stopped for us…

The reds and golds of fall made the hike even more enjoyable.

I’d like to go back again just to watch the rock climbers.  I’m always very impressed by their abilities and lack of fear.

There’s a couple of more pics on the CO_October WebAlbum.

RV for Sale

I can’t believe I’m typing those words.  But we have officially listed our RV for sale.  Our wonderful Spirit, who has given us so much fun and adventure over the last five years.

As you may already know, our RVing adventures started out as a “once in a lifetime opportunity to take one year off and explore the country”.  It became addictive and for the last three years we have been trying to make an income and travel at the same time. 

We’ve realized that for us to be successful at our new business (Rolling Sands Harmony) we need to be in one place with more space to take in inventory.

If you’re interested (or know anybody who is) please visit our website to read more about our RV for sale.  You’ll find the manufacturer’s spec sheet, recent photos, and a list of all our add-ons and upgrades.  Our contact information is listed on the website page as well.  We are in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. 

Spirit can take you places, too.  Places filled with such beauty and wonder…just imagine.  You could call it a “once in a lifetime opportunity”!

The Flipside of Humidity

…would be the lack of humidity.  We’re finding that running in 9% humidity can be just as  difficult as running in 90% humidity.  Just different.  Nose, throats and lungs burn from the dryness.  Allergies and asthma can kick in.  Apparently the optimum humidity for outdoor exercise is between 30% and 65%.   Who knew?

So will this make us stronger?  Running at the extremes in humidity levels?  How ‘bout the elevation differences – 5’ and 5,000’?  If we were training for an Ironman or Half-Ironman like several of our friends, this would be a great training practice!

What Do You Do on your Anniversary?

Most couples would spend the day doing something romantic, right?  We, on the other hand, go for a 34-mile bike ride.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Fourteen years, and I’m still happy to say that Andy is my best friend and the love of my life. 

We have a lot of the same interests and enjoy doing it together.  So spending a few hours biking around town was a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. 

We rode the Clear Creek Trail east, then connected to the Ralston Creek trail northwest, before riding south on some designated bike routes back to the Clear Creek Trail to make it a loop ride.

Most of this was “new territory” for us.  I’m hoping that biking these trails will help improve my biking – in Florida we’re not used to curvy roads and hills.  The Creek Trails are quite curvy as they zigzag back and forth over the creeks.  At the western end of Ralston we got to tackle the hills around the Arvada Reservoir.  A couple of laps around that reservoir would be great hill practice for me.

After we reached the Clear Creek Trail near Golden, Andy realized that we were only three miles from our favorite local microbrewery – Golden City Brewery.  So off we went – in the opposite direction!  He always lies, too, saying he’s just going to get “one beer”.  Yesterday, we ended up with “one”.  But it was one pitcher.  Cheers!

A Daytrip to Breckenridge

Aspens and snow.  Those were the two primary reasons for dragging my husband out on a 168-mile day trip into the mountains.  We drove a loop drive via I-70 to Breckenridge, then across Boreas Pass via a 16.5 mile dirt road, and back to Denver via US 285.

It was a beautiful day, but lots of driving.  Next time we’ll spend the night in Frisco or Breckenridge to get in some hiking and biking.

Some stops along the way included:

* Georgetown – for an arts festival, but we missed the Bighorn Sheep Viewing area (darn!).  Learned that the lake in Georgetown has a recorded max wind speed of 123 mph.  It was windy when we visited, but not that bad!

* Frisco – I just had to stop for pictures of kayaks and sailboats with snow-capped mountains in the backdrop.

Frisco looks like a cute town – there’s also a microbrewery and a (10-mile?) paved bike trail to Breckenridge.

* Breckenridge – we played tourists.  Hit the shops, walked the streets, ate lunch…

* Boreas Pass Road – I heard about this road as an “Aspen Viewing” spot from the Denver weather website.  So no wonder ‘his forecast’ was wrong!  Ha!  He wrote a “11-mile” unpaved road, but it was actually 16.5 miles of unpaved road to get across the mountain.  When you’re driving 5-15mph that extra distance adds quite a bit of time.  It was beautiful with Aspens and snow…

Andy usually complains a little bit before these ‘unpaved, mountain drives’ – but then he loves it.  He’s like a kid driving a go-cart:  swerving to avoid a mine-field of potholes, passing cars on sections so narrow you think you’ll drop off if you shift over one more inch, or having to back up when all of a sudden it goes to one lane…on a blind curve…with other cars coming…

I just have to say, I’m glad Andy’s such a good driver on these roads!  I would’ve dropped off a cliff years ago.  He’d rather drive, and I’d rather enjoy the scenery and take photos.  (Sshhh, don’t tell him, but I have a few more mountain passes to drive over before too much snow falls!)

Lots more photos on our Colorado_Sept WebAlbums.