November 25, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
Fall is one of the most
beautiful
times of the year here in the mountains. As September merges into
October, the days are usually warm and the nights cool for
sleeping. By Hallowe’en, cold winds from
the north usually collide with moisture from the south and west, and we
can count on tracks in the snow for trick or treaters (or, for the
adults in the area, “Trick or Drinking,” a quaint neighbor excuse to
visit since no kids have ever come to our door.) Historically, November
is our second snowiest month (March is first), but this year the glory
days of fall have extended well past Hallowe’en.
November 2008 has been warm and dry. Our road is dusty, and the meadow
out back is a mass of dry grass and weeds that crunch under foot. The
community Thanksgiving dinner, served free of charge to any and all who
come, was held on a sunny Sunday before Thanksgiving. As we’ve
done in the past, we cooked a turkey for the occasion along with a
dozen or more others from the community. No one had to
bundle up and plod through snow drifts this year. We don’t
miss icy roads, snowy dog feet, or making morning or evening fires in
the wood stove, though we’ve had a few. The lack of moisture keeps
lurking in the back of our heads as we hear about water restrictions,
smaller snow packs during the winter, and the threat of forest fires.
However, I’m getting a bit
ahead
of myself. Since I posted the summer newsletter in late August, we have…
1. SPENT THREE WEEKS IN ALASKA
Our Alaska excursion in
August/September was
an eclectic mixture of travel styles, geographic diversity, and scenery
that was as dramatic as we’d hoped for. Among other experiences, we
enjoyed our first cruise, hooked up with a friend I hadn’t seen since
junior high school, hiked on an icefield, spent a day in the saddle,
ate our fill of fresh salmon and halibut, and looked in awe at the
tallest mountain in North America. And much more. Reliving the trip
through the photos we took brings back the desire to return. If you’ve
been, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, perhaps our online account
can encourage
you to make the trip.
2. CAMPED IN THE HIGH COUNTRY
We had been home no more
than a
week or so—just long enough to get unpacked, reacquainted with Sophie
and Bella, and do some laundry—when we headed south for a camping trip
we’d planned months ago to Mueller State Park
on the west side of Pikes Peak. We had camped there in the spring and
knew the aspen groves would be outstanding late September. They were as
stunning as we'd hoped,
and we spent five days hiking through stands of reds, yellows, and
oranges that
send landscape photographers into ecstasy. As wet as Alaska was for
most of our time there, the central Rockies were dry and sunny.
Our site had a spectacular view
of the west side of Pikes Peak with splashes of gold sprinkled among
the evergreens all the way to timberline. Before we left, a dusting of
snow blanketed the rock face above 11,000'. Each day Judy ran on either
the paved roads through the park or on well-groomed trails. I bicycled
at the same time. After breakfast we generally spent half a day hiking
a new trail—with over 50 miles of trails, we still haven’t been on all
of them. Afternoons were spent with the dogs, reading, and relaxing—all
the things we should do more of at home but don’t seem to take the time
to do them.
On the way home we detoured
through Leadville to spend a
weekend with Boulder friends who share the use of a home in this
up-and-coming mining town. (While we were there we learned that the Climax
Mine, one of the largest producers of molybdenum in the world, was
planning to reopen which would be a huge economic shot in the arm to
this historic town and home of Horace and “Baby
Doe” Tabor’s famous “Matchless Mine.”
However, now month later, the future of the
Climax re-opening is in some doubt due to a dramatic decline in the
price of molybdenum.) We spent a very relaxing
weekend running and biking on the 12-mile
Mineral Belt bike path above 10,000' that winds its way through the
historic
mining district, window shopping along Harrison Avenue, playing cards
and shooting pool with the other guests.
3. RELAXED IN PUERTO VALLARTA
A week in Puerto Vallarta has
been a highlight of our fall travels since the mid-1990s. Since we
anticipate cold weather and snow here at home, early November is a good
opportunity to appreciate some warm, humid weather before the harsh
winds of winter converge in our area. For the past three years we’ve
planned our trip during the celebration of Day
of the Dead, and so that Judy could compete in the 5K race that’s
held in conjunction with the Puerto Vallarta Half Marathon, which
continues to grow and attract runners from Kenya as well as
the USA, Canada, and Mexico. She took first place this year, which was
good for 1,000 pesos or about $74.
Jean-Pierre and Linda Georges,
fellow trekkers in Bhutan,
came with us this year. Their abiding passion is birding, and this was
their first opportunity to gather some Mexican birds for their life
lists. They planned a guided birding trip with a tour company while we
spent the day at the Puerto Vallarta Yacht Club with Chuck and Clis
Prather, a retired couple with whom we had traveled in Copper Canyon ten
years ago. They live full time on their 60' cruiser, spending most of
their time recently docked at the marina at Nuevo Vallarta.
We also found that J-P and Linda
enjoy good restaurants as much as we do. They seemed to like every
place we suggested: Pipi’s, Tino’s, Viejo Vallarta, Joe Jack’s (below), and El
Arrayan. Even the light dinner at the Krystal was delightful for
the
stunning sunset and relaxed atmosphere the night before the race. They
seemed to have a good time window shopping downtown and walking the
Malecon in the evenings watching the families on Halloween and the
street performers on other nights. Together we prowled the cemetery
taking photos of the graves elaborately decorated for Day
of the Dead
celebrations.
Together we attended an election
night gala hosted by Restaurant Marazul
and the Costa Banderas Chapter
of Democrats Abroad Mexico where we watched the November 4 election
results with other Obama hopefuls, and enjoyed a great dinner, drinks,
and big screen TVs. The results, plus the beachside setting in Old
Town, made for a perfect evening.
This year our day trip (we try to
plan at least one day out of town) was to the Puerto Vallarta
Botanical Gardens, opened by a non-profit organization just three
years ago on 20 tropical mountain acres an hour bus ride south of the
city. It is home to over 3,000 different trees and plants with
self-guided trails and the Rio Los Horcones running through the
property. It was our first time there and we spent a relaxed half day
walking through the varied terrain (both fields and jungle) taking
loads of pictures, especially of the orchid collection near the main
building. We had a relaxing lunch at the Plantation House Restaurant
overlooking the grounds and spectacular mountain views. The public bus
picked us up at the entrance to the gardens to take us back to the
city. It was a splendid day altogether.
4. BEEN BUSY IN OUR COMMUNITY
1. Sophie continues to star
at Boulder Community Hospital, her presence providing gentle therapy
and making Monday mornings more comforting
and enjoyable for patients both young and old who look forward to the
company of a dog while they are recovering or receiving treatments.
In return, Sophie receives a generous share of treats from both
patients and staff. In addition, Sophie is Miss August
in the latest Boulder Community Hospital calendar for 2009. The $10
helps support the efforts of the volunteer program.
2. I worked the Visitors
Center
whenever we were not traveling. I continue to suggest where to eat,
where to hike, what to do, where the public rest rooms are located, how
far it is to Estes Park, where the best biking trails are, etc.
However, in
October I had an unusual situation occur. Earlier in the day I had
suggested to a couple that the hiking was particularly good from a
trail head they could drive to if they were especially careful about a
water crossing where large rocks presented a hazard to the car’s
underside. The assured me their SUV had enough clearance. Later in the
afternoon, the fellow came back looking for a tow truck (drive train
was destroyed) and needing transportation to
Boulder where he could rent a car to get him to the airport in time to
captain a flight out of DIA. I called a tow truck and a car rental in
Boulder and then drove him to Boulder to pick up the rental car. I
never heard back from him; I can only presume he made his flight. Just
another courtesy tourists can find at most local visitors centers. It
can
happen anywhere. We’re trained to provide these
kinds of services. You just need to ask.
3. Our local Backdoor Theater,
which shows movies on weekends, looks for volunteers to help sell
snacks and clean up after the show is over. Judy and I have done this
off and on for a while. It’s a great volunteer gig: a free movie ($12
value) plus two giant popcorns and soda ($9) for an equivalent of about
$21/couple
for an hour’s effort. We saw some pretty good first run movies this
fall, including “No Country for Old Men.”
4. Judy traveled to Winter Park
with the ladies of the Rocky
Mountain Team Survivors to spend a
weekend together hiking, eating, talking, playing cards, and generally
socializing while the weather outside was trying to decide if it was
winter to late summer on the west side of the continental divide. This
trip was even more memorable because the parent organization hired a
massage therapist to come with the group. All eight of the women got an
hour and a half massage.
5. Out of the blue, my
computer—my faithful
iMac—experienced something called a “kernel panic” which caused me
several weeks of cyber withdrawal and sent the computer to rehab. The
diagnosis was complex and treatment was going to be expensive. In the
end, I traded for a new and improved model for not much more than the
cost of repair. I am loving the new iMac which is bigger, faster,
more robust, more RAM, and has more bells, whistles, lights, icons,
graphics, etc.
than I will ever use. I learned a
valuable and long overdue lesson from the whole experience: Though I’ve
used a Macintosh
computer since the mid-1980s (remember squinting at a Mac Plus?) I’ve
never had an
extended warranty and I've never had a back-up system. Well, I have
both now
and am grateful that things were not worse. Yes, I lost all my email
addresses, I lost a lot of email files, and a lot of music files—and,
for a while, my sense of humor!—but I didn’t lose sight of the way to
protect against a repeat situation. Now I back up daily and can have
hardware issues and kernel panics repaired free.
Thanksgiving this year will be a
a day to give thanks that Judy's now semi-annual scans came back clear
and clean. We’ll celebrate with Michael and Cindy who are coming
up to play cards,
watch the Deetroit Lions get beat up as usual, eat turkey and pumpkin
pie, and play more
cards. Sophie and Bella will play nice with Gidget. It may snow (a
40% chance the weather guys predict), but we’ll
take our traditional walk between dinner and dessert as usual. Our
neighbors, who are hosting a house full of family (Tracy’s
mom, two
sisters, brother, two nephews, a niece, and a sister-in-law), most from
out of state, have invited the four of us to join them for after dinner
sweets and
drinks. It would be rude to decline such a generous offer. We’ll
do the
right thing and leave the dogs at home while
visiting.
Our best to you and your family this
Thanksgiving. We hope you’re having a traditional celebration
also.
All good wishes, Judy and Hughes
