Rocky Mountain Air Show

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A day at the Rocky Mountain Air Show in Broomfield, CO!

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport – Broomfield, CO
Small planes….
….Big planes. This plane is from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Its most recent research mission was in Nashville, TN.
It was a hot summer day, but lots of fun!
Can you fly this?
Tail Gunner
Fifi is the only active flying Boeing B-29 remaining.
Diamond Lil is the oldest B-24 in existence. She was the 25th of over 18,000 built
An airplane with personality
Pyrotechnic Explosion
Fifi is based out of Addison, Texas.
Diamond Lil
Great Walls of Fire!

 

San Diego #worktravel

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I just returned home from a two week visit to San Diego.  This was my first visit to California, and I can’t wait to make a return trip with J.  The weather was perfect…70 degrees, sunny, and a light breeze every day.  The seafood was great and the scenery was amazing.  If you haven’t been there yet, San Diego should be a must on everyone’s travel list.

San Diego and Coronado Island

San Diego and Coronado Island

Bridge between Coronado and San Diego

Bridge to Coronado

Hotel del Coronado is a magnificent beach getaway built in 1888.  It is celebrating its 125th birthday this year!

Hotel del CoronadoHotel del Coronado

San Diego has a large military population, mostly made up of the Navy and Marines.  Below is the USS Recruit (USS Neversail), which was commissioned July 27, 1949.  It is 2/3 scale model ship used to train around 50,000 Navy recruits.  It is the only Navy commissioned ship to never reach water.

USS Recruit

Sail boats in the Bay

San Diego Bay

I’m not a big fan of chotskies and souveniers, but I did bring back some Mexican candies for J and a California tan.

Souvenirs

Red Cone Pass

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Group at rock gardenLast weekend, some friends and I went to Red Cone Pass south west of Denver. Unfortunately K was still in San Diego, so it was just Furry B and me on this trip. This 4×4 trail is considered moderate and the views are some of the best on any front range trail I have been on to date. We met at the Aspen Park shopping center in Conifer, fueled up and headed down the road. The group consisted of two 100 Series Cruisers, an 80 Series and an FJ40, so it was a pretty good representation of the Land Cruiser family. We aired our tires down soon after we left the pavement and headed up the trail. Clouds were looming overhead and we hoped for some clearing as wet rocks are no fun. Immediately the trail narrowed with lots of loose rock and we arrived at our first obstacle. All of us crawled over the rock in the middle of the trail with no problem and continued on. Next was the “rock garden” – an area of large loose rocks that you had to carefully navigate which then brought us to a beautiful Aspen grove. Switchback, after switchback we continued up the trail gaining elevation.

This trail is notorious for being a tire eater, so careful tire placement was a must. Nearing treeline we could see the surrounding mountains and the clouds finally gave way to bright blue skies. We entered the “meadow” and stopped for snacks and to let the kids and dogs stretch their legs. This was a relatively flat area above treeline and the last stopping point before you make the uphill push to the summit. After the kids and slobbery dogs were worn out, we piled back in the trucks and made our way up the loose rock trail. Finally we made the summit at 12,801 feet and stopped for pictures. The temperature was in the upper 50’s with clear skies, so we couldn’t have asked for better weather. What an awesome panorama. There were even some large snow fields still lingering near the tops of the mountains.

Mountain Goat hitching a rideAs we started our descent, we noticed two white shapes on the trail below. As we got closer, we realized they were Mountain Goats out for an afternoon stroll. We quickly snapped a few pictures as they made their way up the nearby ridge.

The sun was beginning to set and the shadows from the mountains slowly crept up the trail. When we finally made it below treeline, we were greeted by some mule deer grazing in a small pasture. Just before sunset, we arrived at the trail-head, aired our tires back up and decided to grab some pizza at JJ Madwells in Conifer before heading home. It was a great ending to an awesome day on the trail.

 

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3rd Annual 100s in the Hills

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After months of emails, texts and conference calls with the 3 other Co-Directors, it was finally time to hit the road. Bandit and I had the Cruiser and trailer packed up and we were off for the 3rd Annual 100s in the Hills event. Some of you might remember a few years ago a trip we took to the San Juans to camp and wheel with some friends. Well, this small excursion has grown significantly in the past three years to a nationally recognized event. This year we had almost 30 vehicles from all over the country, 65 people in attendance and twenty-three sponsors. Located in a remote area where everyone is to be self sufficient, we require all participants to practice the leave no trace principles. This event takes quite a bit of logistics and planning, which was completely worthwhile. No one left disappointed.

Unfortunately Kristy was out of town on business, but she is sure to attend next year. I wrote an article that was published in the November/December issue of Toyota Trails magazine on this years event. Please click below for the online edition of the article page 19:

Toyota Trails Nov/Dec 3013

Below are more pictures and a link to the 100s in the Hills Facebook page:

Facebook/100s in the Hills

Day #1: Clear Lake family fun run

Reflections
Clear Lake
Why I didn’t catch any trout…
Panorama

Day #2: Ophir Pass & Imogene Pass

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Day #3: Black Bear Pass

Stopped the group for pictures
Sharing some space with the free ranging sheep
San Juan panorama
Black Bear Pass summit: 12,840 ft
Heading down
Ingram Falls
Telluride far below
Bridal Veil Falls

Day #3 continued, Directors run back to camp and night run:

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The Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days Train

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DSC02062What do you think about when you think about “The West?”  Maybe cowboys, trains, buffalo, wide open spaces???  J and I experienced a full day of wild west nostalgia on board The Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) Train.  Thanks to The Denver Post we were thrilled to receive two tickets to the sold out 22nd annual event.  The CFD train was a tradition from 1908 to 1970 and then brought back to life in 1992 by The Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton and has been going strong ever since.  The train took us from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we attended the Cheyenne Frontier Days and The “Daddy of ’em All” rodeo.  Our day on the CFD Train was a day to be remembered and one we hope to be a part of again next year.

Since Union Station is currently closed for renovations, we met around 6am at the Denver Coliseum and took a shuttle to the nearby train.  We were surrounded by cowboys, cowgirls, and hundreds of other guests dressed in their western best.  We found our car, Car 6 – Sunshine Special, and climbed aboard.  Our early morning started with breakfast on the train and then a 3 hour scenic ride to Cheyenne to the Frontier Days celebration.  The train was led by Union Pacific’s steam locomotive No. 844, which has been in service since 1944.

You can't beat the view from a train!

You can’t beat the view from a train!

At 7am sharp, the train whistle blew, and the locomotive  wheels started turning.  The excitement of the train was apparent as soon as we left the Union Pacific (UP) Rail Yard, with a crowd of onlookers waving the train good bye.   As we traveled north towards Cheyenne, we were greeted by excited and waving crowds all along the tracks and at every train crossing and bridge.  This annual train ride is an eagerly anticipated event, as it is one of the only passenger trains that frequents this set of tracks.  It was truly special to be a part of this train ride and feel the excitement generated by the enthusiastic crowds waving us on.

DSC02167Upon our arrival in Cheyenne, we were welcomed at the depot by a band and friendly town folk, just like in the old days!  After touring the depot, we hopped on a bus, and headed to the Frontier Days grounds.  We started our time in Cheyenne with the Behind the Chutes Tour of the famous rodeo arena and then enjoyed some Cheyenne history at the Old West Museum.  By then it was noon, and we were ready for lunch.  The Denver Post knows how to treat a guest, by providing all train riders with a big BBQ spread, dessert, and beverages, all inside a nice cool tent.  During lunch, Colorado Governor Hickenlooper and Wyoming Governor Mead spoke and welcomed everyone to the festivities.  With satisfied stomachs we explored Frontier Days and then went to The Daddy of Em All Rodeo to see buckin’ broncs, barrell racing, calf roping, the wild horse roundup, and of course bull riding.  The Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo is the largest outdoor rodeo in the world.

With the close of the rodeo and storm clouds rolling in, it was time to head back to downtown Cheyenne to the train depot.  The train was leaving promptly at 5:30 pm and dinner and drinks were waiting for us on board.  We said “So Long!” to Cheyenne and enjoyed the evening ride back to Denver.  The Dance Car (Car 8 – Council Bluffs) was the place to be, with a live western band and bar.  There was so much excitement on board, that it was hard to say goodbye to our day on the CFD train when we reached the UP Rail Yard a little after 8pm.  The CFD train is a great experience and attracts train enthusiasts from all over the country.  We can’t wait to be a part of it next year, so mark your calendars for the 23rd Annual and ride with us on Saturday, July 19, 2014!

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Indian Peaks Wilderness

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DSC01993After K’s trip to the concrete jungle of our nation’s capital, she was ready to hike and get some good ole’ Rocky Mountain fresh air.  We had everything packed and ready to go for an early Friday morning start.  We left the house around 7am and drove up to Nederland and headed into the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  This is now one of our new favorite places and we look forward to going back to explore other trails.  I am not going to name the trail-head, as we want to keep it a secret location as there is some killer trout fishing in the numerous lakes.

DSC01995We hiked from the dirt parking area, crossed a creek and headed through an old mining town site.  There wasn’t anything left of the town, just a historical marker but the wildflowers that were along the trail were awesome.  We then crossed another creek before we headed up a very rocky trail.  After a few miles the trail opened up into a meadow around 9,800 ft that was loaded with Columbines and Indian Paint Brushes.

A few more miles up the trail we came to the lake that was to be our lunch and fishing spot.  We broke out the Italian wraps that we made the night before and enjoyed the beautiful view.  There was still snow up on the mountains in places and at one point just before the lake there was a snow drift that was at least 10ft tall and its mid July!DSC02016

After eating, I grabbed my fishing gear and headed to the lake.  On the third cast I had a small trout on the line.  I released him and made my way around the lake pulling one in every third cast or so.  I never caught anything big, but it was a lot of fun.  I was mesmerized by the fishing action and didn’t notice the clouds moving in.  K yelled from across the lake that we needed to get going.  “One more cast!”  I lost count of how many fish I caught, but this is a spot we will be returning to to camp and fish.

We packed up and made our way down the trail.  It started raining on us and then the thunder and lightning began to close in.  We had to take cover for about 20 minutes before we headed into the open meadow we had crossed earlier.  The lightning storm finally moved out and we continued down in the rain.  When we got back down to the river, it was overflowing its banks because of how much rain fell in such a short amount of time.

It was a fun 10 mile hike even though we got wet.  Good thing we came prepared with our rain gear.

Jimmy, I might take you up there to fish, but we’ll have to blind fold you…

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Taylor Reservoir

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38 miles west of Buena Vista, CO lies one of the best areas in the state for ATV trails.  After a 2 hour drive from home, we arrived in Buena Vista, took the Cottonwood Pass route west and at 12,126 ft we crossed the Continental Divide.  Once on the other side and near the reservoir, we met the rest of the family who had driven in from the Western Slope, unloaded the ATVs and moved into our cabin at Holt’s Guest Ranch.  The cabins are exactly what you need when out riding and fishing.  They are very simple with a couple beds, a bathroom, kitchen and, yes, electricity.

After unloading everything we took a quick 4wheeler ride through the old mining town of TinCup and up to Mirror Lake to do some fishing.  On our way up we saw a moose hanging out below the lake.  Unfortunately, we got soaked with rain on the way and the lighting didn’t cooperate once we arrived.  We turned around and headed back to camp.

The next day we got up, mapped out our route and headed up the trail.  The idea was to do some fishing at another high lake, but with all the riding possibilities, we got side tracked.  We rode 70+ miles on the Taylor Reservoir trails and saw some amazing Colorado back-country.

It was a short weekend, but it was great to spend time with our Meeker family and we found yet another place to go back and explore.

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Check out the video of one of the trails.  No ride is complete without a water crossing: