Getting ready to head out on a camping trip for the weekend.
Doug & Heidi invited us to share the weekend with them camping.
We are headed South and West toward Aspen. We are going to a place called the US Forest Service Difficult Campground. Difficult Campground is located within the boundaries of the White River National Forest at an elevation of 8,180 feet.
This will be our first time camping in about 5 years. The last time we camped was just overnite in the Tetons. This will be for 3 days. Will my back handle it? Time will tell. Keep posted.
While there we will hopefully be able to go the Maroon Bells. A place that we have heard about for years from other photographers as a great place to go. Anytime of the day should be good for pictures. Will let you know what we find.
Preparing for cool weather at nite....expected to be in 30's or 40's.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Red Wing Marsh
We took a drive west to Red Wing Marsh tonite. Took a 30 minute walk around the area. Found a fisherman trying his hand at catching bass --- no luck.
Looks like a great place to explore in the early spring.
Will be back.
Many red wing black birds singing in the weeds.
Looks like a great place to explore in the early spring.
Will be back.
Many red wing black birds singing in the weeds.
Bobcat Ridge Natural Area
On Monday evening, we decided to explore one of the Open Space areas in the Fort Collins Area. We drove about 25 miles southwest to the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area for a short walk and hopefully a great sunset. Area closes at sunset so we knew we had limited time for this walk.
The drive to the Natural Area took us on a road that led around the perimeter of Horsetooth Reservoir. Very beautiful. A busy area of boaters and campers. We put on our long sleeves, sprayed on the bug repellent and set off down the trail. Either the repellent worked or there were no mosquitoes here at all. We lucked out! Good paths to walk on and someplace we will definitely come back to in the future when we have more time to explore.
A bright full moon led us home! Beautiful orange in color. No camera available so you will have to use your imaginations.
However, we do have these pictures to share of the Natural Area.
The drive to the Natural Area took us on a road that led around the perimeter of Horsetooth Reservoir. Very beautiful. A busy area of boaters and campers. We put on our long sleeves, sprayed on the bug repellent and set off down the trail. Either the repellent worked or there were no mosquitoes here at all. We lucked out! Good paths to walk on and someplace we will definitely come back to in the future when we have more time to explore.
A bright full moon led us home! Beautiful orange in color. No camera available so you will have to use your imaginations.
However, we do have these pictures to share of the Natural Area.
Another drive home to Colorado
On Saturday, July 24th, we started out early from the "Fried's B & B" in Waukesha and headed to Oak Creek to drop off some moving straps that we had borrowed from Jason W. Also wanted to see if he needed any help because of the heavy rainfall the night before. He said the family was doing ok even though they had lost power temporarily.
Basement flooding - a real problem sometimes.
We took off for Colorado about 8:30AM and our destination for the evening was somewhere around Omaha, NE. Not knowing what was planned in Omaha, we did not know if there would be rooms available. Instead of taking our "normal" route heading South and West along 43, 39 and then HWY 80 we decided to take a more scenic route for a change. This came about because of a discussion we had with the Fried's the night before as to how they came back to MKE the last time they were in Colorado. The route along 151 and 20 proved to be much more scenic and great for a diversion.
We listened to an audio book on the way (Peter did and I napped off and on. Always waking up when something important happened! Peter did fill me in). Only made stops for the bathrooms, water, ice, coffee and gas along the way. Made good time and arrived in the Omaha area around 6PM. As we began checking motels for a place to stay that night, we soon found that there were several major activities planned for the weekend and we would find it very difficult to find accommodations. We plugged in motels on our GPS in nearby locations and came up with Goodman, NE. Very small town with not much going on. We were tired, hungry and did not care at that point, so we took the room. Stopped at the local cafe for a bite to eat before hitting the bed.
Took off early on Sunday morning hoping to arrive back home in Colorado by mid afternoon. Weather was much cooler than our last trip making the drive more pleasant. We continued to listen to our book....this time I stayed awake! Arrived home by 4PM and unloaded our van. Looking for something cold to drink, we opened the freezer to get some ice only to find that the freezer/refrigerator was not working! We called management and were told that we would have to wait until Monday to check on a repair. Luckily we still had our other freezer stored in the garage, so we plugged that in and put our foodstuffs in there. Better freezing it than having it spoil I guess!
Monday came with a repairman. But we were told that he did not service our brand, we would have to get service from Sears. Another call to management told us that we would have to wait until Thursday afternoon to get it repaired. We were not happy to say the least, and after another call we were told that they could come out on Tuesday morning. That they did! And now we have a working refrigerator/freezer. Headed out to the store to replenish our larder. So much fun in 2 days!
Basement flooding - a real problem sometimes.
We took off for Colorado about 8:30AM and our destination for the evening was somewhere around Omaha, NE. Not knowing what was planned in Omaha, we did not know if there would be rooms available. Instead of taking our "normal" route heading South and West along 43, 39 and then HWY 80 we decided to take a more scenic route for a change. This came about because of a discussion we had with the Fried's the night before as to how they came back to MKE the last time they were in Colorado. The route along 151 and 20 proved to be much more scenic and great for a diversion.
We listened to an audio book on the way (Peter did and I napped off and on. Always waking up when something important happened! Peter did fill me in). Only made stops for the bathrooms, water, ice, coffee and gas along the way. Made good time and arrived in the Omaha area around 6PM. As we began checking motels for a place to stay that night, we soon found that there were several major activities planned for the weekend and we would find it very difficult to find accommodations. We plugged in motels on our GPS in nearby locations and came up with Goodman, NE. Very small town with not much going on. We were tired, hungry and did not care at that point, so we took the room. Stopped at the local cafe for a bite to eat before hitting the bed.
Took off early on Sunday morning hoping to arrive back home in Colorado by mid afternoon. Weather was much cooler than our last trip making the drive more pleasant. We continued to listen to our book....this time I stayed awake! Arrived home by 4PM and unloaded our van. Looking for something cold to drink, we opened the freezer to get some ice only to find that the freezer/refrigerator was not working! We called management and were told that we would have to wait until Monday to check on a repair. Luckily we still had our other freezer stored in the garage, so we plugged that in and put our foodstuffs in there. Better freezing it than having it spoil I guess!
Monday came with a repairman. But we were told that he did not service our brand, we would have to get service from Sears. Another call to management told us that we would have to wait until Thursday afternoon to get it repaired. We were not happy to say the least, and after another call we were told that they could come out on Tuesday morning. That they did! And now we have a working refrigerator/freezer. Headed out to the store to replenish our larder. So much fun in 2 days!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Cleaning out our storage unit.
On Friday morning, we went to the storage unit to pick up the art work and display units that we intended to use at the Milwaukee Artist Marketplace on Saturday. It was again raining and had been raining through most of the night. We discussed the pros and cons of setting up our tent and art work at the lakefront if this weather was going to continue. We decided that it really would not be wise to set up everything and then be caught in a downpour. This happened to us in June when we were at a show in West Allis and some of our inventory was spoiled. We did not want that to happen again, so we opted out of the show. It was a disappointment, but probably the wiser thing to do.
We did several errands during the day and then headed back to the Fried home. Paul & Maris had plans for the evening that were canceled because of the poor weather so they chose to come along with us for a fish fry with some of the Skiba's on the south side in St. Francis.
We did several errands during the day and then headed back to the Fried home. Paul & Maris had plans for the evening that were canceled because of the poor weather so they chose to come along with us for a fish fry with some of the Skiba's on the south side in St. Francis.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Flight to MKE
On Thursday morning, we finished loading our pictures onto our website for our representative to review, we finished packing and then waited a bit for the shuttle to arrive.
By 10:30 the shuttle was here for us. Door to Door service - not bad! Certainly a lot easier than having us drive to DIA, pay to park and then pick up the car when we return home. Thanks Doug for the tip!
Ride to the airport went relatively well except for the lack of AC on the bus. Very hot and stuffy!
Arrived at the airport at about 1:45PM. Plenty of time to catch our flight to MKE. After checking in and grabbing a bite to eat we walked to the area where our plane would take off only to find that it was going to be delayed another hour. Apparently the plane that we were going to board was coming in from an area where the weather was a bit dicey. We boarded at about 4 only to be told that the weather in MKE was not good and we may have to divert to Minneapolis. In order to be safe, the pilot had the plane filled to the max in case we did have to go to Minneapolis.
Several planes were in line waiting for takeoff. Others had been delayed as well. During our wait time we were treated to a delightful lightning show. Beginning of the flight was a bit bumpy, but as we made it above the clouds all settled down. That is until we neared MKE. We were told by the pilot that he was going to try once to land and if that was not possible we would head north to the Twin Cities.
The clouds that we went through were phenomenal! They were huge! This part of the flight was beautiful, wondrous and a tad frightening all at the same time. I love looking at the various cloud formations and to be right in the middle of them was stunning. By the way, I only lost one fingernail during this time!
As we landed, we noticed that both sides of the runway were covered in water. It was like landing in a lake. We were told later that the airport had actually been closed down a bit before we landed because of tornado warnings. Landing was relatively smooth and we all gave the pilots a big round of applause!
We had to wait for our luggage for a couple of hours because of the torrential downpour and the basement of the airport having too much water in it. Our friend, Paul Fried was again waiting for us at the airport to take us to their home for the weekend. But we could not get out of the airport because it had again been shut down. We were told that we were the last plane to land before closing. Many people apparently spent the nite in the airport waiting for connections. We were very lucky! As soon as luggage was gathered we made our way out of the airport.
Before leaving, we had a chance to watch some of the news reports on TV to find that we had flown through and landed in one of the worst rain storms since 1986. 7" in less than an hour in some parts of the city. A sink hole on the east side that swallowed a car and driver. More rain than the area obviously needed.
Paul found a safe way home and we all headed to bed knowing that we would have to rise early in the morning for a trip to the Clinic for blood work!
Another exciting trip. What else would be coming our way? Wait and see.
By 10:30 the shuttle was here for us. Door to Door service - not bad! Certainly a lot easier than having us drive to DIA, pay to park and then pick up the car when we return home. Thanks Doug for the tip!
Ride to the airport went relatively well except for the lack of AC on the bus. Very hot and stuffy!
Arrived at the airport at about 1:45PM. Plenty of time to catch our flight to MKE. After checking in and grabbing a bite to eat we walked to the area where our plane would take off only to find that it was going to be delayed another hour. Apparently the plane that we were going to board was coming in from an area where the weather was a bit dicey. We boarded at about 4 only to be told that the weather in MKE was not good and we may have to divert to Minneapolis. In order to be safe, the pilot had the plane filled to the max in case we did have to go to Minneapolis.
Several planes were in line waiting for takeoff. Others had been delayed as well. During our wait time we were treated to a delightful lightning show. Beginning of the flight was a bit bumpy, but as we made it above the clouds all settled down. That is until we neared MKE. We were told by the pilot that he was going to try once to land and if that was not possible we would head north to the Twin Cities.
The clouds that we went through were phenomenal! They were huge! This part of the flight was beautiful, wondrous and a tad frightening all at the same time. I love looking at the various cloud formations and to be right in the middle of them was stunning. By the way, I only lost one fingernail during this time!
As we landed, we noticed that both sides of the runway were covered in water. It was like landing in a lake. We were told later that the airport had actually been closed down a bit before we landed because of tornado warnings. Landing was relatively smooth and we all gave the pilots a big round of applause!
We had to wait for our luggage for a couple of hours because of the torrential downpour and the basement of the airport having too much water in it. Our friend, Paul Fried was again waiting for us at the airport to take us to their home for the weekend. But we could not get out of the airport because it had again been shut down. We were told that we were the last plane to land before closing. Many people apparently spent the nite in the airport waiting for connections. We were very lucky! As soon as luggage was gathered we made our way out of the airport.
Before leaving, we had a chance to watch some of the news reports on TV to find that we had flown through and landed in one of the worst rain storms since 1986. 7" in less than an hour in some parts of the city. A sink hole on the east side that swallowed a car and driver. More rain than the area obviously needed.
Paul found a safe way home and we all headed to bed knowing that we would have to rise early in the morning for a trip to the Clinic for blood work!
Another exciting trip. What else would be coming our way? Wait and see.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Call for Images
On Wednesday morning, we received a phone call from our representative saying that the hospital that was purchasing several of our images wanted to see more images that said "Springtime". As we were leaving for Milwaukee the next morning, we had to look through our stock quickly in order to gather together images that would meet her requirements. By late in the evening we had put together what we thought were images suitable for the space and uploaded them for review.
Began our packing at about midnight and then crashed for the evening.
At least this time we did not have to have the shuttle service pick us up at 3AM. A more reasonable hour of 10:30 was picked in order to get us to the Denver Airport on time for our flight at 3:15.
Began our packing at about midnight and then crashed for the evening.
At least this time we did not have to have the shuttle service pick us up at 3AM. A more reasonable hour of 10:30 was picked in order to get us to the Denver Airport on time for our flight at 3:15.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)