On To Steamboat Springs

Little House on the very-nearly-a Prairie

Saturday was adventure day. It was off for the scenic drive over hill and dale, from Denver to Shingle Springs Colorado.

We stopped in a cute little town to get some fresh peaches at a roadside stand. Gooood peaches!

Showing off fresh peaches

The scenery was pretty and fun for us, but as in California, bits of Colorado were aflame with wildfire. We were reminded when we passed a camping area where fire fighters spent down time.

Fire Fighters Camp

The fire fighter's camp was an omen of things to come - we hit a snag in our route -  blocked due to wildfire in the mountains. 

We were in two cars so there was a window to window chat by Dave & Tom. A different route was chosen, but what the heck - any route in Colorado is bound to be interesting and likely down right beautiful. 

 Tom pointed out Rabbit Ears Mountain which until recently featured two rabbity ears at its top. One ear toppled over of late, so now its sort of 1.3 ears sticking up.

Rabbit Ears Mountain (on the right side) One ear down, one to go

You know, along the way, I was drive by birding. I hoped to add more birds to my Colorado life list. The photo on the right here of a nice Black-billed Magpie.




And we'd already passed a couple of Sand Hill Cranes, far off in the distance that I couldn't get a shot of, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. We drove through on a quiet country road - it's all country out there really - and what did we all spy, but lounging Sand Hill Cranes. We stopped to admire the flock. There were a little over a dozen birds. Turn down the volume - it's mostly wind noise -  to watch a few of the grand birds strutting about.


 And then we arrived at the little house in the rangeland! David & Tom's 'country home' is a cute little (ok, not so little) red house nestled between chaparral covered hillsides. 

Tada! The beautiful little home on the rangeland

It was quite the 'homecoming' for us. 

Cousin Carol on her way in

We all claimed our beds & our rooms and made ourselves at home.

 By the by, in the photo below Cousin David is wearing the 2nd of the two tee-shirt designs he had made for two of our Pop-up reunions. He spoils us all rotten!

Better-than-a-sous-chef Cousin David at meal prep

It wasn't too long before we were outside on the front porch. I got in some birding and there was some wildlife on hand too. 

Little buck Mule Deer in the 'front yard' its antlers in velvet

While I was happy to lounge on the porch, Tom took eager Jonni across the road for a short hike up to a cliff that overlooks the property. I used telephoto to snag some shots of them.

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Yet another fantastic day enjoyed in the company of our family. Life is sooo good. 

The Denver Pop-up Reunion

Enroute to Denver

 These days, there is nothing a Carter loves more than getting together for mini-reunion. Cousin David came up with the moniker 'Pop-Reunion' which is cool so that's what I call them now too.

As per usual, as always sad but necessary, several Carters that wanted to attend had to opt out. So in the end it was David & Cousin-in-lawTom, the San Diego reps, Charlaine and Jonni-ann, the NYC rep Carol and the Fair Oaks rep, 'moi'. We all arrived at the Denver Airport about the same time, greeted by David & Tom. They whisked us to their fantastic Denver home.

Humm I should have called out 'Say Cheese!'

We made ourselves comfortable. We were sorted into rooms because D&T's house has loads of bedrooms. Mine has become the big room off the bigger room in the downstairs basement. I have had lots of happy dreams down there.

When all our luggage & stuff was safely secured in our rooms, there was a cousin drive to a local grocery store so we could stock up on snacks - least we starve to death - and get a few ingredients for dinner.

Wow, grocery shopping can really be a v. fun group activity if you do it right!






 Later we all enjoyed a David/Tom prepared meal, tasty indeed. You may as well know - we Carters love our food! All of our meal, from the lobster Po'boys to the Avocado Cold Soup, it was all homemade & yummy.

We spent the remainder of the day looking over the family album photos that everyone brought, as well as archival items, such as the wedding licenses of our parents, birth and death certificates. We are getting our family history into the archives. Oh, and the blue bags below, are prezzie bags from the boy cuzzies for all of us girl cuzzies - squeee!  

A little sitting and reminiscing 

Posing with Snow Mastodon by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The next morning began with David & Tom ferrying us about for a spin around Denver to see some sights. We started off near the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Charlaine, Tom, David, Carol, myself and
with a dinosaur in the rear

The dinos by the elevators

Our next stop was at a favorite restaurant of D&T, where we filled a booth and enjoyed hearty breakfasts. Charlaine and I had the classic choice for a Denver breakfast, the Denver Omelette!

Voila! My Denver Omelette in Denver!

Our Denver Pop-up Reunion is off to a great start. 

Fort Bragg

Oh dear... I just had the loveliest visit with a friends Jo (Joan). I drove over via Hwy 20 which crosses through Clear Lake County, and Barb drove up via HWY 101. She says the traffic from Santa Cruz on was at .002 mph.  By the time she & doggie Chori arrived at Jo's, Barb was a wreck.

This is the first visit during which I was so lackadaisical, that I never bothered to visit Mendocino or MacKerricher State Park which is literally in walking distance from Jo's house. Jo did take us all for a walk on the beach. I enjoyed my leisurely stroll along the beach, happy to be a little chilly as opposed to being back in Sacramento County with its 100 plus temperatures. I cannot wait to relocate to cooler climes, if I can indeed pull that off - many people are secretly betting I cannot and even I am a little overwhelmed by the necessary organization involved. UGH! Back to the beach - it was heavenly.

Fog one minute...

Blue skies the next.

The skies can be blue and foggy at the same time

Last time I was at Jo's it was Spring, and the bird life was hoppin', with Ospreys, Falcons, and my favorite a Olive-sided Flycatcher that called 'Quick Three Beers!' just in case you thought you might be thirsty. This time it is mid-summer and the feathered sorts were there, but not as varied in species. My favorites were the Cliff Swallows that annually nest under the eaves. Both nests contain nestlings that seem about half way to fledging.

The two nests under the eaves

HOLY CRAP! Is that Batman in there or a Chupacabra?

Waiting for Mom & Dad to get back

Whew... these are the nestlings in the right-hand clay nest, who look like the grumpiest of old men.
The nestlings had us cracking up every single night. After dark, when Barb would let her doggie Chori out for a last pee for the evening, she'd turn on the porch light and the poor nestlings thought it had been the shortest night ever and they'd shriek, "CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP!" The second the light went out there was nothing to be heard but crickets. Too cute.

The last day & night of our stay was unnerving. Jo got a call from a friend, Teje (Tee-gee) who lives in Clear Lake, which I safely drove through last Tuesday. Due to out-of-control wildfire, Teje was ordered to evacuate. So with her dog Annie, Teje called Jo, then headed over to Jo's house, seeking for shelter from the fire storms. Teje generously brought with her, a lot of BBQ food (electricity was out at her place) so as with my favorite saying, "No great harm without some small good" we feasted on steak, grilled ears of corn and massive salad. All sated, we solemnly awaited the news of the fire. Last report - from a friend of Teje's who stubbornly refused to vacate her home - all was safe, the fire had passed by their little neck of the oak woodlands, proving that Miracles do happen.

Here's a little miracle I filmed in Jo's front yard, set to an old tune from the 70s. Enjoy.