Day 99-100 - Rockin with the Reids

On Tuesday, Pete and Willie joined us for some Rocky Mountain Ruckus.

Nice place to find yourself...

We hadn't seen these two fun friends in a while, so we had a lot to catch up on. There was much to do including touring Steamboat, foraging for fine food, wandering the wilderness, banging back some booze, telling tall tales, harnessing Hahn's Peak, foraging for more food, and Bulls and Bands!

After a fun lunch at Rex's, we headed south for some off-road adventure near Stagecoach Park. Delighted, but far from satiated, we headed further south on CR-16 toward Gore Pass. The day was a wonderful warm-up and our pumps were primed for more rugged adventures to follow. We enjoyed a lovely dinner atop a two-story restaurant in the heart of Steamboat where we foraged for fine Mexican cuisine and managed many Margaritas all under the evening sky.

Today, was to be a full one. It began at the quaint Creekside Restaurant for breakfast. Our tummies filled with pancakes, burritos and granola, we headed to Hahns...peak, that is. The girls decided that Riding the Rockies was preferable to shopping in Steamboat. We all piled into Wildlife Willie's Red Rubicon. It wasn't long before we were winding our way up to Hahns Peak on some amazing mountain roads.

And so it begins...

Higher elevations still think it's Spring!

Gotta love the high meadows

Peeking at the peak...

It's been a while since I owned a serious 4WD vehicle, so watching Wild Willie wander was worthwhile. Ultimately, we shared the driving and spent the better part of six hours climbing our way up to some spectacular views of Hahns Peak and the surrounds.

Climbing higher

Rocky Mountain Splendor

Howdy Hahns! Here we come!!

It rained enough to render the road surfaces sufficiently slippery to provide some thrills. We bounced between 4WD HI and 4WD LOW to masterfully manage the mountain. It's fun straddling a 2-3 foot deep road rut. But, you're never unconcerned about what happens when you get stuck. Fortunately, our misadventures we slight and there were others on the mountain. If you get a chance, just ask Pete there names, their destinations and a bit about their families...she met them all!

Back close to where we began.

One of the many reasons for the adventure!

During our adventures we watched lots of wildlife including Marmots, Sandhill Cranes, deer and moose. We laughed at the sign below...perhaps you can see why.

Duh!

Wildlife Wille in action!!

Wow! What fun times!! Thanks Pete and Willie!!

Day 98 - Colorado Backroads in Pictures

There's the old adage, "you just had to be there." That's so true! We all experience life so differently; I suppose that's why there are Jeeps, Porsches, Ferraris and Chevys. Different flames light our respective fires and at much different intensities. The scene below says a lot about what turns Lenny and Lizzy on:

Click the pic for a bigger, better view!

Riding the backroads across this great land is like slowly turning the pages in a famous photographers coffee table book of his/her best shots. While I love photography, I certainly don't pretend to compete with "mother nature." In fact, more often that not I'm caught completely off-guard; I never seem to have brought along the proper equipment which would be the most helpful. Today was another of those days...

After being couped up with an aching back for most of a week, it was time to hit the backroads once again. We're anticipating the arrival of Pete and Willie for a few days, and thought we'd scout out some nifty sights for them to see. We headed for Stagecoach State Park just a few miles south of "The Boat" for a day of backroads voyeurism. It was a great day and a route we'll recommend highly to P&W.

Anyone can run down Hwy 131 from Steamboat and be at the park in 45 minutes; but. where's the fun in that? It's far more satisfying to crawl along Cr-14 and Cr-18 and see the sights!

Now here's something you don't see everyday!

The valley just east of Stagecoach State Park

While County Road-18 is far from an expert off-road challenge, it's not a road we could have handled in the Mazda MX-5. We did, however, ride it last year on the BMW GSA! These pictures are certainly not my best effort as I was squeezing everything possible out of my Panasonic Lumix. Don't get me wrong; it's a brilliant camera and far more capable than I; but hand holding it while in full zoom doesn't capture the feeling of watching a Bald Eagle in flight nor resting casually in a tree some 150 yards away.

Where's Wildlife Willie and his monster lens when you need him???

The day was splendid indeed and awarded us with some incredible vistas. Many of our favorite scenes include the creative way that mankind contrasts himself against natures splendid backdrop. I hope you enjoy these simple images, but again...you just had to be there!!

Backroad vista

Hay there!!

Aging beauty...

Accenting nature!

Pastoral scene

Turns out some of the pluses of Jeeps are also their Achilles Heels. The view from a Jeep is awesome; Why? Well...the front windshield is close to vertical which puts driver and passenger much closer than with a more slanted front glass barrier. That said, the vertical surface makes a much more inviting target and affords a solid contact for  passing rocks and gravel. Thus, in our first 8K of travel in the new Wrangler we collected a nice 3/4 inch hickey on our windscreen. Upon returning to "The Boat" we headed for Nesta Glass to have that bad boy repaired before it spread across the entire surface of the glass. The guys there were great! They accommodated us immediately and made the repair all for the nominal fee of $25. 

So what's the big deal, here? Just this...recall we had been blissfully basking in the beauty of the backroads all morning. So the repair dude says, "you can stay in your vehicle...or...you can go out back to our lovely patio and enjoy the view." So what do you think we did? Exactly! And here's that view (I enhanced it every way possible in Photoshop).

As I said...we all see the world differently. Ain't that a breath-taking view?!

Enjoy! and please let us hear from you...we miss you guys!

Days 94-97 Down in the Back

Thank goodness for British Open Weekend! We've made two lengthy day trips; one on Thursday to retrieve Lizzy's sacred pillow from the Days Inn in Fort Collins, and another on Saturday to pick up Lenny's sacred Gibson Dove guitar from the luthier. Before and after Lenny stood, laid, sat, bitched, moaned and complained about his aging and abused back. Seems it acts ups periodically and it seems that each flare-up is exponentially worse than the last. If you need any details or trivia from the British Open or the Tour de France, just ask Lenny. There was not much else going on in his life.

Day 93 - Bulls & Bands

Today was a full day to include a 3-mile walk into town and back, some off-road exploration near Hahn's Peak, and concluding with Bulls & Bands. All were fun and invigorating, but none were quite like the latter. What on earth is Bulls & Bands you ask? Seems the sport (if you can call it that) of American Freestyle Bullfighting began back in the early 70s. It was a sponsored by, none other than, Wrangler and lasted several years before going away. This year, Wrangler revived the event with three nights of bull fighting right here in Steamboat.

While the contest features genuine Mexican fighting bulls, there is no bloodshed, at least by the bulls. The two-legged contestants are rodeo clowns! These are some crazy dudes. The clown stands in the middle of a tiny arena awaiting the release of the bull. It's called freestyle because the interaction that follows is totally unpredictable. Several times the clown athletes jumped the charging bull. One of the attempts was a complete failure...ouch! In fact, contact is the name of the game. The more contact between and initiated by the clown, the higher the score. Like bull riding, the clown and the bull are evaluated.

Anyway...it was a hoot! While there was lots of butting and trampling of clowns, the were no stretchers or ambulances required. I can guarantee there are some very sore dudes tonight, however. Man! There was lots and lots of impact.

I hadn't planned to take photos, but one very rambunctious bull refused to leave the arena. It appears that one horse alone cannot pull and overpower a stubborn bull. It required an action-packed 15 minutes of strategic thrashing, bluffing, maneuvering, roping, groping and the like to just get this hearty soul out of the tiny arena. More time was required to maneuver it back into its holding pen.

We had a blast and can't wait to return to the finals, next week!

And so it begins. Horse vs bull...stubborn bull wins!

I said...I ain't leaving'!! (how many cowboys does it take to remove one bull from an arena?)

After the bull fights, we were entertained by Logan Mize, a Luke Bryan/Jason Aldean wanna be. Fun night!!

Sunsets in the mountains are great! Good night from "The Boat!"

Days 91-2 - The Road Less Traveled A.K.A Get you Jeep on...

Last night as we watched the sun go down on our condo...

...we decided to take our very first Colorado Jeep excursion. Turns out there's a cool route through what's known as Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway. Roughly, it runs from Yampa, CO to Meeker, CO. We had a blast; we'll let the pictures tell the story of the day and the trip:

The pictures are all High Resolution so "Click the Pic" for the best view possible!

Aspens abound!

Lizzy loves the wildflowers

Aspenglow!

Nothin' better than a barn

Kinda nice...

Thanks for riding along!!