17. Plimoth Plantation

Week 17 11/18/15

We and 1700 third graders with their teachers explored Plimoth Plantation. We knew there would be school groups, but I think we were the only visitors not connected with a school on this day. We had a nice talk with a visitor assistant about the new Rick Burns documentary and with the man who does the building construction. We also talked with a craftsman who makes Wampanoag war headgear. This was our first visit since our children were little. 

16. Very deep and very high

Week 16 11/6/15

Julia took some amazing pictures of the following trips. I hope she sends them to me! Then I'll update this post.

We set off for an overnight to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Here we stopped at a visitor station near the Guanella Pass and saw the first hint of snow. Then we proceeded to drive (John drove the whole way in both directions) through a snow storm as we crossed the pass. Many trailer trucks were stopped to "chain up." This was enforced by police.

The National Park was even more amazing that we imagined. It is well worth a trip. Near the area below, it is 1/4 mile wide and over 2000 feet deep, so very steep sides. This park draws rock climbers, but even experts are urged to take a guide because of the extreme difficulty. The deepest point is 2600 feet. It is called the "Black Canyon" because sun hits the bottom only when the sun is at its peak. Below is how it appeared when we arrived in the late afternoon.

This photo is my attempt at showing the scale of the canyon on our second day. Of course no photo can do that adequately. But we met someone who could come close. A a professional nature photographer was very pleased with the weather and light. He had with him an amazing array of complex lenses and a high-tech drone.

At this spot near the northern end of the canyon we were struck by the depth, and then by the height of the West Elk mountain range which was always on the horizon - such a contrast.

At this spot I believe I might have burst into singing America the Beautiful.

John enjoyed this perch. He was often way ahead of the rest of us, then he would double back to meet us. Or sometimes we'd spot him way up ahead on a high rock -- or doing handstand pushups on a tree trunk -- or we'd walk under a tree branch and find him above our heads. I believe he is a combination of mountain goat/Cheshire cat /Jack LaLanne.

After a day of rest we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park which I'm sure we'll visit often because it is so close to Julia and John's house. We started off on a hike to Alberta Falls. The trail wasn't too hard but very slippery and I was not able to continue, so turned back, but I enjoyed the scenery and caught up on reading about the park. Paul, John and Julia finished the hike.

Next stop was Bear Lake. It was also slippery. We started around, but there was a wedding in progress, so we moved to our next destination. 

The highest mountains accessible by car are in the north of the park, but the road was closed for the season. This was taken at the turn-around point. Next time we'll take Trail Ridge Road all the way to see more spectacular views. Apparently Julia and John circumnavigated the whole park by car on their first visit last spring.

This is a herd of elk near the park. Going through the town of Estes Park we saw about 30 elk crowded into the little yard around the American Legion Hall, but couldn't get a photo there because we were driving and couldn't stop. On the trip we also saw bighorn sheep.

John took us back home to Broomfield by a different route, which must have been beautiful but it was dark. We went over a few high passes up to 11,000 feet plus.

15. Tea and clouds

Week 15 11/5/15

This was our first visit to Julia and John's  new home in Broomfield, Colorado. We spent a week visiting, cooking, hiking, driving through beautiful scenery and looking at art.

The first day we set off for the Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art which has a large collection of paintings and sculpture. Very impressive. We particularly liked the work of this landscape painter, Bill Hughes. This museum owns about 10 of his works, some of which include figures and horses. I guess he also painted some portraits. Besides the paintings at this museum, all of his work is in private hands. Most of the paintings are very large. One was at least 8 feet wide. Of course this photo is just meant to give you a rough idea of the work.

Near the museum is the headquarters of Celestial Seasonings Tea where we had our fill of a variety of any of their teas while waiting for a factory tour.

In the afternoon we visited the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, part way up the front range. This included a nice visitor center, gorgeous views and extensive hiking trails up the mountains. Bears and mountain lions are resident here.

It seemed appropriate that we should see some interesting clouds after that visit. I don't know if the type below has a name. Earlier, we saw three stacked nenticular couds which I wasn't able to get a picture of from the car. Unfortunately they dissipated by the time we stopped.

The second tea venue was the Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder http://www.boulderteahouse.com/. Besides a menu of hundreds of yummy teas and cocktails made with tea, they have a full breakfast/lunch/dinner menu and, of course, tea daily. The gorgeous building was constructed in Dushanbe Tajikistan as a gift to Boulder

The next week we returned to Dushanbe for lunch with my friend Tessa who lives in Denver. 

On Friday we went to the Denver Zoo. It's quite large and most of the animal displays were well done. I liked this setting for gibbons on a series of islands with the walkway among them. The gibbons can swing overhead. There were also rhino in the water, and one can be seen in the picture just to the left of Julia. Or is that a rhino? -  now I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly.