July 7, 2016
This road trip to Colorado was a 2,474 mile round trip, and well worth it. Had a great time.
Now I am back at my home base, Austin, Texas, resting up and preparing for my next adventure – A 10 day cruise to Alaska.
I will be leaving Austin on September 4 and flying to Seattle to board the Princess Cruise Ship Ruby Princess. Here is the itinerary:
Check back here in September!
July 3, 2016
My niece, Beth and her (now) husband, Luke:
On July 3, it rained off and on all day in the Colorado Rockies. It was raining as I drove to the wedding site in the late afternoon. A few minutes before the ceremony was to take place, it was still raining. It looked like there would be a lot of pictures with umbrellas.
However, just as the ceremony was about to start, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and all was well. As her father walked her down the aisle, Elvis sang “Can’t Help Falling In Love“. Very nice!
The best part of any wedding (for me) is the food at the reception. This was no exception, especially the mashed potatoes!
Joanna Gates Forever!
July 2, 2016
RAFTING
Several family members decided to do some whitewater rafting on Clear Creek this morning. It was a blast. Here is what it looked like:
BURGERS & BRATS
When the rafting trip was over, we all were pretty worn out and cold and hungry. Fortunately, the Kleppers had arranged a Burgers and Brats picnic for everyone in a very nice (and warm) park , so the hungry and cold problems were taken care of. Yummy!
After the rafting and after the Burgers & Brats, there was, surprise, a Texas Hold’em Poker tournament.
Setting up the game is serious business:
Unfortunately, the only person in the game actually from Texas (Me), came in third. Mark was the winner and Mahlon came in 2nd. Oh well.
Tomorrow. The Big Wedding!
July 1, 2016
GOLDEN, COLORADO
I arrived at the vacation house my niece Tammi arranged for the family members from out-of-town to stay. As usual, she did a good job. The house and the facilities were amazing. (Main house, two cabins, three hot tubs, old fashioned speakeasy-type barn, several kitchens, etc., etc.)
In the evening we all had a nice meal provided by the Dworak family. I was so involved in enjoying the food, I forgot to take any pictures. My bad.
June 30, 2016
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
On the way to the wedding in Golden, Colorado, I passed through Roswell, New Mexico. This is an interesting place. Back in 1947, a rancher near Roswell found some mysterious debris in his pasture. Officials at a nearby Army Air Force Base told him it was just a crashed weather balloon.
Almost immediately, rumors began circulating that the debris was actually the result of a flying saucer that had crashed in the pasture. The rumors continued into the 1950’s and evolved into a theory that the government was covering up the discovery of “alien” bodies and was hiding them somewhere near Roswell.
To make a long story short, the town of Roswell has played up the conspiracy story for all it is worth and there are references to “aliens” and “flying saucers” all over the place.
It has become a big tourist attraction for the city even though the government denies to this day that the alien theories have any merit … but who really knows? (Just kidding … our government is not smart enough to keep that big of a secret).
Here are some pics:
June 29, 2016
CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK
This turned out to be more interesting than I thought. Carlsbad Caverns is an underground cave that is deep in the earth and extends over many miles.
When you get there you have two ways to get to the main cave (called the Big Room). You can go to the Visitor’s Center and take an elevator down to the cave (it is 750 feet down – the size of a 75 story building). That takes about 50 seconds.
Or you can go to the natural opening of the cave in the side of a mountain and walk down. That takes about an hour and you really have to be in pretty good shape to travel the winding paths that lead to the Big Room and some of the areas are pretty tight and dark. Of course, I took the path less travelled. I don’t recommend it if you are claustrophobic or afraid of the dark.
Once at the lowest level, you can explore for yourself or take a guided tour by a Park Ranger. I was going to spend the whole day there, so I did both. The guided tour was extremely interesting and educational.
I am sure we all remember learning about stalactites and stalagmites in science class. Those are the formations that occur in caves as water from the surface slowly seeps down through the earth. As it makes its journey, the water picks up minerals. Drops of water hang from the cave ceiling. The water eventually evaporates and a tiny piece of mineral is left. Over millions of years, the formation grows towards the floor of the cave. These are called stalactites. Sometimes the water drops to the floor and the formation starts growing upwards. These are the stalagmites. Over a very long period (in the case of Carlsbad, about 250 million years), the result is absolutely stunning. I will post some pictures, but you really have to see them in person to appreciate the beauty of the formations.
I don’t want to get all judgmental here, but, there are actually people who think the earth is only about six thousand years old. I would advise those people to come to this place and see all the exhibits and explanations. If they still don’t believe, then … well, I give up.
I won’t bore you with everything I learned in that cave, but here is just one more example. At some point in the guided tour, when we got to a fairly small room in the cave, the Ranger turned off all the artificial lights and he told us to be very quiet.
When you are 750 feet below the surface, you experience total darkness and total silence. There is virtually no other place to experience that. Even in a very dark room, our eyes adjust to the darkness and we can see at least the shapes of things in the room. Our ears can hear sounds of traffic or people or weather outside the room, but we never experience total darkness and total silence. It was a very eerie experience. I highly recommend it.
Here are some pics:
June 28, 2016
OK folks, I am on the road again, heading to Golden, Colorado to attend the wedding of my niece, Beth. Nothing interesting to report.
On this first day, I made it from Austin to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Tomorrow I am going to spend the day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Stay tuned.
May 12, 2016
Right now, I have two road trips planned
Stay Tuned.
March 7, 2016
Well the cruise is over now and I have to say it was great. They really have everything down to an art. When I first signed up, everything looked pretty complicated, but the cruise people really made sure things went smoothly.
I will definitely do this again. Until the next time …
March 6, 2016
There is a lot of water out there.
Every morning when they make up your cabin, there is a different towel animal on your bed.
One of the activities they have is a class on how to make these animals when you get home. Of course, I am too cool to learn how to do that nerdy thing.
(Just between you and me, I DID go to that class. I made an elephant and took a picture of it. I am debating if I should post that picture).
Here is the class where they taught how to make the towel animals:
OK – Here is my elephant (Do NOT tell anybody).
