Flying Cloud

September 30, 2007 by Lynn in iowa | permalink | comments (0)

September 28, 2007 by Lynn in iowa | permalink | comments (2)

I am spending a couple weeks at home in Iowa, arriving just in time for harvest season. I was thinking this might be the first time I've been home this time of year since, well, high school. The farm is in action - all the farms around here are in action. I might even ride in the combine this week, which would be the first time I've done that since I was, errr, 10? This is my brother Ben combining corn - he has forbade me from putting his picture on the blog in the past so this is as close as Ben will ever come to making an appearance here!

September 27, 2007 by Lynn in iowa | permalink | comments (0)

We had a pretty lazy weekend but on Sunday we went for one of those aimless Sunday drives and ended up at Eleven Mile State Park, a place we've never been to before. It was a cold and rainy day and even though the Aspens were much more yellow than last weekend, they weren't as pretty without the sun. Eleven Mile is a wild windswept place nearly devoid of people this time of year but I suspect is teeming with fishermen in the summer. They had a nice state park campground (with hookups) but the landscape of the campground looked much like the picture above, including the absence of trees. I doubt we will ever bring the trailer here, but if we had a boat.....

September 24, 2007 by Lynn in colorado | permalink | comments (0)

We spent last weekend in the southern San Juan Mountains between Horca and Platoro, Colorado along the Conejos River in Rio Grande National Forest. It's a spot that we never would have thought to go until we read here that Highway 17 is a great spot for fall color. We were a little early for some areas of the valley and right on the mark for others. As a whole, I think the leaves will peak later this week. The drive up Forest Road 250 to Platoro and beyond was just so pretty. There's no question (in our opinion) that September is the best month in the mountains. The smell of fall hung in the air, the temps were cool and crisp, and it wasn't the least bit crowded, although I doubt this area ever gets that crowded. Real people live in this valley; we appreciate that multi-million dollar mansions have not taken over where ranches once thrived (for the most part). The little town of Platoro is about as close to an old-time authentic mountain town as it gets, or so it seems to me anyway. As far as I could tell there wasn't a single souvenir shop for 30 miles (maybe 50) in any direction. Gotta love that.

Since the Forest Service's campground hosts have left for the season, the campgrounds go back to being self-serve where you put your 10 bucks in an envelop and drop it in a metal box. Sort of a nostalgic thing that my brother Ben remembers from our camping trip years ago in Colorado, but hard to find these days. Michael spied the host's vacant spot with luxurious water, sewer and electricity hookups, but darn it! they lock it all up. Oh well. We have not once camped in the trailer with hookups of any kind.

Dad's dream job. Maybe Katie's too.

Near Stunner Pass, el. 10,541 feet.

Near the Trail Creek Primitive camping area above the Conejos River.

A lone cow eating dinner along the road.

September 18, 2007 by Lynn in colorado | permalink | comments (3)

We returned today from one of the most enjoyable weekends in the mountains that we've had all year. I will write more about that tomorrow. But in the meantime, the train pictures are for my nephew Ryan. This is the Cumbres & Toltec narrow gauge train, which traverses back and forth across the Colorado and New Mexico border between Antonito, CO and Chama, NM. Unlike the Durango Silverton train, this one is run jointly by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, so it is less commercial and not nearly as well known as its Durango counterpart. Not to mention it is quite off the beaten path. We didn't ride the train but it's on our list of things to do next year and maybe Ryan will get to come too (hint hint, mom & dad)! :)

September 17, 2007 by Lynn in colorado | permalink | comments (1)

Heading home today. A very busy week and not enough time to get through my checklist of things to do...but great to see old friends. Batteries in camera died so I have few images to show for the trip. Tonight when I get home I think we are leaving on a trip to south central Colorado to go leaf peaking....

September 14, 2007 by Lynn in virginia | permalink | comments (0)

Yesterday I flew to DC for work, but last night I visited Shannon and Michaela in their brand new house in rural northern Virginia. I so love rural Virginia and the old farms and rolling hills, especially this time of year. I suppose it can't compare to Whidbey, but I thought the area near Shannon's house was lovely nonetheless. In fact I'm pretty sure I like it better than Shannon does at this point. But I think it will grow on her when the humidity finally gives up. Yesterday was also Shannon's birthday which gave all of us a great excuse to pig out on cake, ice cream and oreos. (Michaela approved of the super-sized yellow and blue grocery store frosting flowers.)

I miss DC but I miss the Virginia countryside more. Before there was the Flying Cloud and Colorado, there was the Virginia countryside in the Fall to happily occupy our weekends. We never got tired of the old houses, the farm stands, the pumpkin patches and the antique shops.

September 10, 2007 by Lynn in dc | permalink | comments (2)

Beth and I picked a ton of these Common Gaillardias, or Blanketflowers, in Idaho last month for Kelly's wedding flowers. Apparently they are also found with mostly yellow petals. 201 years earlier, Lewis and Clark collected a specimen of this flower in present day Montana. Of course I didn't know that at the time we found them. I don't what the butterfly is.

September 7, 2007 by Lynn in colorado | permalink | comments (4)

We decided to take the weekend "off." We -- gasp -- didn't go camping this weekend. We didn't go to the mountains, didn't hike, we hardly even got outside. On holiday weekends the mountains are unnaturally jam-packed with people, many of whom I figure haven't been out since Memorial Day. It's like recreation rush hour just trying to get up highway 24 out of town. We thought we'd let everyone else battle it out on the roads while we hang out in the city. We are saving up for about two weeks from now when all of Colorado turns a glorious golden yellow: the Aspens changing color.

Saturday we went to Denver and stayed overnight with Michael's sister's family. Sunday morning we had breakfast with Michael's old friends Steven and Sandy (pictured) and then went to Red Rocks Amphitheater to reminiscence (apparently). I had not been there since I was 11, and I've still never been to a concert there. Michael says his first "real" concert ever was at Red Rocks: Journey in 1980. I was still taking afternoon naps in 1980. (Nevermind that Michael is still taking afternoon naps in 2007.)

The weather here has just been spectacular. Fall (for me) started about two weeks ago when the daily highs dropped to the low 80s - with a few days when it topped out in the 60s. Afternoon thunderstorms have resumed on a nearly daily basis. Other than when Michael comes back from the gym overheated, we haven't had the AC on in two weeks. Some of my favorite birds have left for greener pastures in Mexico and new ones from up north are passing through and devouring the birdseed faster than I can keep the feeders full. Lately we have been filling to the brim the hummingbird feeder once/week, no doubt from hungry migrators passing through. Just as it was this Spring, hummingbirds are about as easy to spot as leaves on a tree. They are everywhere and I love it. I recently heard that hummingbird feeders should be taken down in the Fall to encourage the birds to begin their southward migration so I looked it up online and found out this seems to be a myth. In researching this I also discovered that hummingbirds "routinely accelerate and decelerate at 2 Gs -- three times the force that throws a car into a skid. Herein lies the human fascination with these phenomenal fliers -- they're extreme." (source) I thought this would impress Michael. (He routinely pulled 7 Gs in the jet, albeit not under his own sugar-fueled prowess.)

September 3, 2007 by Lynn in colorado | permalink | comments (0)