Quick Trip To Breckenridge

Nice thing about living in Denver is that the mountains are right next door. So, when the bride and I decided we'd prefer not to sit around in 90º heat, up to Breckenridge and room temperatures we went! Be sure to click on the pictures below to get the BIG version!

Our first stop was for breakfast in Idaho Springs. Mountain air makes me hungry. Everything makes me hungry.

After settling in at the lodge, off for a drive on a Forest Service road.

Looking down on Breckenridge from way up heah.

Back down in the valley, a big ol' brown barr decided he wanted to cross the road to get to the other side. 

The afternoon views from the room at The Great Divide Lodge. 

Heading back to Denver, we stopped to check out a Forest Service campground. No utilities but fantastic views. The pine beetles have been busy killing the pine trees, so the Forest Service is busy cutting down ded/diseased trees. This campground used to be much more forested than now, but as you can see, grasses, flowers, and new trees sprang up where the forest used to be. The hope is that eventually a diverse forest will grow where only pine used to be. That would mean less devastation from insects in the future.

Looking back from whence we came atop the Loveland Pass.

Well, mebby not today.

Atop the Loveland Pass. To the East, the water flows thisaway. To the West, the water flows thataway.

Why, there's I-70 down theah! If you don't want to drive over the pass, you can always drive I-70 and use the Eisenhower Tunnel. I think the view is better up heah than in a tunnel.

A Drive In The Colorado Countryside

Took a Sunday drive north of Denver. Lots of folks had the same idea!

Somebody's load o' hay caught fire, so southbound I-25 was a mess for miles.

We found a nice lake in the foothills near Berthoud. Must camp here sometime soon.

There are lots of lakes scattered about just waiting for us to visit 'em!

Great views from above the lake.

Cherry Creek State Park

Hint: The best time to camp at this urban prairie state park is during the week! Click on the pictures to make 'em bigger.

Some storms remained in the area after we set up camp. But that made the air nice 'n fresh!

They hadn't mowed yet, so there were lots of flowers on the ground.

Cherry Creek SP is an urban park, where the prairie meets the city. 

Satellite radio, tv, iPad... All the necessities!

Denver, I-225 seen from the top of Cherry Creek Dam.

The lake.

Beenie weenies 'n bier. Good eatin' outdoors!

Wetlands filter pollution outta the water.

Sunrise Over Denver

Biloxi Visit, Pre-Hurricane

The Beau Rivage Hotel in Biloxi. A smaller version of The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Nice.

 

 The Marina at the Hotel.

  The Gulf.

Two models were posing for a TV commercial. Notice that they don't look like anybody else at the pool.

The Mississippi Coastline, pre-hurricane.

Travelin' The Desert

I'm searching for the fotos we took a few years ago when we traveled in our Winnebago Minnie Winnie from Las Vegas to Houston via Zion National Park. While Zion is stunning, the drive along the Vermilion Cliffs and Marble Canyon along Hwy. 89 was breathtaking!

Until I find those fotos, here are some pictures from Wikipedia that replicate the fotos and views we enjoyed. As always on this blog, click on the picture to get the huge version.

This is the incredible view that greets you as you drive towards the Vermilion Cliffs from the Zion area. Wowzers!

This is the Navajo Bridge that crosses the Colorado River and Marble Canyon. The Grand Canyon is located downstream from here.

After this drive from Las Vegas and Zion, we spent a frozen night at a KOA Kampground in Flagstaff, Arizona. We arrived after dark and I set up camp in the snow. In the morning I got a lapfull of frozen poo when I tried to open the black tank drain. Imagine stinky frozen coca cola. Real stinky.

Health Conditions Worsen as AZ Fire Spreads

SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) -- Smoke from a massive wildfire in eastern Arizona that has claimed more than 30 homes and forced nearly 10,000 people to flee has officials worried about serious health impacts to residents and firefighters as tiny particles of soot in the air reached "astronomical" levels.

"It was off the charts," Mark Shaffer of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality said Friday night.

Calmer winds helped firefighters gain some ground, but also concentrated the sooty air, keeping it stagnate and raising pollution to levels officials hadn't seen yet since the blaze began several weeks ago.

"We've got a serious potential health problem on our hands," Shaffer said. "When you get levels like this, it's off the map."

The Weather Channel

Back 'Ta Hooton, One More Time.

Took the Windy down to Hooton to clean out TEH BUNKER. T'was really HOT. Now we're back in God's Country, where it's gonna be room temperature outside for awhile. Excellent!

The Windy enjoying a break at a Kansas rest stop.

Beastie helping with the packing.

The pank 'n gray iMacs!

TEH BUNKER is all empty.

They have to chain down the buffalo in Kansas.

We stopped at Walker Lake on the way back to DenBRRR. Must camp here some time.

Beastie restin' in The Windy.