Happy Birthday #3, Charlie

Today is Charlie's birthday, 6/26/26, but it's also a palindrome day (the date reads the same forwards or backwards). Charlie got to celebrate in his favorite way - Bruce took him for a walk at the prairie dog park and I bought him a new pop-in treat bone. As you can see, he loves his treats.

This week was Bike-to-Work Day in Colorado. Normally, our club participates in the Denver breakfast and giveaway stations, but this year we took a little adventure into the mountains. On the first day, we had 17 people show up for a 9-mile ride up to Copper Mountain. It turned out to be a gorgeous day - not too hot and not too cold.

The bikers at the head of the group actually got a little carried away and rode past the turnoff for Copper Mountain. They finally turned around at the Fremont Pass (notice the signpost for Leadville). We were at 11,318 ft - about 1200 ft higher than we originally intended. No wonder I was totally out of breath. There's a distinct lack of oxygen when you're up that high.

After a high-speed ride back down that steep hill, we stopped at the Prospector Market Place in Frisco for lunch. This was a really interesting place - a food court in the alley between 2 downtown buildings. I had the empanadas, but I'll have to go back sometime for the fish tacos the place next to it was serving.

The next day was the official Bike-to-Work Day. Vendors set up tents around town and gave away breakfast items and bike goodies. Three of us got up early to hit the downtown Frisco station. I picked up a neck gator, a paddleboard dry bag, a first aid kit, and stickers along with some energy bars and fruit.

Then we met up with the rest of the club to bike to Breckenridge. Some people from the Copper Mountain ride had gone home, but others drove up for the day. It was another beautiful one.

I actually went up a day early to ride the Gore Creek Trail to Vail. I had great views on this ride of the mountains and the creek.

My destination in Vail was to visit the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. This is the highest botanical garden in North America at 8200 ft (about 3000 ft lower than we rode to the Fremont Pass). We've discovered since we moved here that it's a bit tricky to get plants to grow at high elevations, so this garden was filled with lots of rocks, benches, and gnarly old trees as well as native plants.

One of the buildings had a roof made entirely out of plants. These are the same kind of plants we've got growing in our backyard. They're pretty easy to grow, but once in a while the deer like to snack on them. 

There were also several sculptures interspersed throughout the gardens. I took a little break to sketch the one on the right - a conglomeration of colorful birdhouses.

It was a really fun, but exhausting 3 days. The interesting thing, however, is that when I got back home and looked on Facebook, I saw my picture from a previous ride in an advertisement for one of the Bike-to-Work stations in Parker. I'm famous!

Senior Week

A few weeks ago, I attended a Roadmap to Aging seminar, which made me think we should start doing a little estate planning. So first off, we met with a lawyer about making out a will. I thought it would be a simple process - leave everything to the kids with a 50/50 split. But when a lawyer and government regulations are involved, nothing is ever that simple. We got asked all kinds of questions like "what do you want done with your body" or "how long should the doctor wait to pull the plug if you're in a coma." I'm sure these are all important issues, but definitely a bit depressing. 

The next item from the seminar was to visit a senior independent living community. A group of us took a field trip to the Reserve in Lone Tree. I knew this probably wasn't the place for me when I walked in the door and saw their motto, "retirement for the rich at heart." It should have said, "rich in pocketbook," because this is currently the most expensive retirement home in Denver. It looked more like a giant cruise ship to me with 4 dining facilities, a saltwater pool, both dog and people spas, a theater, library, and bars everywhere you looked. The people who retire here must really be into drinking. The apartments themselves looked pretty much like the one my Dad had at the Parkway, but at 4 times the price. The manager told us the average age of their residents was 81, so I think I've got a few years before I need to worry about that.

Moving on to cheerier topics, for my "do something new" challenge this week, the Bike Club rode the Poudre River Trail from Greeley to Windsor, Colorado (22 miles). It's a new trail, all concrete, but pretty rural - lots of wild turkey and deer. There were no coffee shops along the route, but we stopped at a nice patio next to the Loaf & Jug convenience store for a snack break. 

On the way back to our cars, we got stopped by a huge train stopped across the trail (one of those with over 100 cars). I had a feeling the train was going to be there a while unloading or loading up freight. So, the conductor decoupled a couple cars and backed the train off the trail. I don't know how in the world we would have gotten back otherwise, because we were out in the middle of nowhere.

On Thursday, Bruce, Charlie, and I hiked the Panorama Point Trail in Jefferson County. This is one of my favorite places to hike, partly because there is a nice flat rock halfway up the trail that I can use to sketch while Bruce and Charlie continue hiking up the hill. But also, because it's right next to Smokehouse Barbecue, which has fabulous pulled pork and fried pickle sandwiches. Yum!

And on Friday, after all those disparate activities, I rode my bike to the Fika Coffee Shop for a little peace and quiet. Unfortunately, I think half of Parker had the same idea, because the place was packed. There's a little wishing well right near the front door of the shop. Someone had installed a trinket box jam-packed with stickers, bracelets, mini-figs, and small toys. The funny thing was I think every adult who passed the box, stopped to peek inside. 

New Challenge

I'm getting a little bored with walking and reading challenges, so I decided to set a goal of doing something new each week. It can be something educational like visiting a new museum or something for entertainment like going to a new movie. I just need some motivation to get outside away from my Kindle and computer. So, I started off with a trip to the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, CO. Mother Cabrini was an Italian nun who was sent to America by Pope Leo XIII (not the current Pope; he's Leo XIV). Her goal was to establish orphanages, schools, and hospitals for Italian-American immigrants. She was the first American to be canonized a saint. Truthfully, Mother Cabrini spent a lot more of her career in New York and Chicago than she ever did in Denver. But in order to become a saint, you have to have 2 miracles credited to you and one of hers was finding water on the top of the mountain where her shrine is located. 

I went on this trip with the Parker Senior Center. I always think their trips are very interesting, but this one turned out to be a little hairy. In order to get to the very top of the monument, you have to climb 350 steps. Since the average age of our group is around 85 and mobility is definitely iffy, we got permission to drive up there. I was totally freaked out when they pointed us to this dirt track that ran along the side of the mountain. Surprisingly, the bus had enough power to make the steep climb, but I opted to walk the 350 steps back down to the gift center when the tour was over.

My next little adventure was a trip to the Argo Mill in Idaho Springs, an historic gold mining and processing plant. It's considered an engineering marvel, because back in 1893 they built a 4-mile long tunnel to drain water from over 150 underground mines. The tunnel also provided a fast way for miners to get to the mill and process their ore (instead of climbing up and over the mountain). We only went about 50 yards into the tunnel, but that was enough for me.

We also toured the mill and learned about the chemistry of extracting the different metals from the surrounding rock. Mostly they used a lot of hazardous chemicals, so it's no wonder the mill workers had a life-expectancy of only 40 years.

At the end of the tour, we got to pan for gold. I personally thought this was really challenging not to lose your gold when you're swirling it around in a pan of sand and water. But I managed to find my 2 microscopic flakes. Surprisingly, they are worth about 50 cents.

On Thursday, Bruce, Charlie, and I went to Sandstone Ranch. Bruce and Charlie went on a hike, while I attended a Plein Air workshop. The teacher was an oil painter, but she focused on different types of setups for painting outdoors. Notice her big umbrella sitting on top of her easel. Surprisingly, she said with the intense UV in Colorado, an umbrella was almost as important as the paints you use. I thought about staying around to do a little painting of my own, but since Bruce and Charlie had finished their hike, we headed off to the Mexican restaurant in Larkspur for lunch instead... yum!

And speaking of Bruce, we got inspired by Janet's photo of her kids sealing her driveway for Mothers' Day, so Bruce took a day to seal ours. We haven't gotten any harsh cracks or spalling yet, but I figured it doesn't hurt to seal the concrete against Denver's harsh winter climate.

And the week wouldn't be complete without a bike ride or two... or three. On Monday, I went out exploring on my own. They paved a new trail in Denver along the Jackass Gulch (I'm sure that was named during the Gold Rush days) that leads down to the light rail station, crosses over a 6-lane road, and ends up at the Platte River Trail. It's so nice to find trails that feel safe, and it's an extra bonus when they are paved. On Wednesday, I led our bike group on a loop ride in this same area. We didn't take the Jackass Trail, because it's pretty steep to ride back up to the parking lot, but we did take another trail along the Platte River - very scenic and flat. On Friday, I rode to the Fika Coffee Shop by myself, because I wanted to do some sketching and I wanted to take a break from doing new things every day. My original goal was once a week; I need to remember that.

Finally, Some Warmth

Well, it's the first day of June, so hopefully the snow is over. I swear we got more snow in May than we did in the first 4 months of the year. I celebrated the odometer on my new bike hitting the 500-mile mark with a loop ride on the Bridge-to-Nowhere. I had to go out on a Saturday, since it rained all last week. It was nice to get out, but the bike trails are like freeways around here on weekends. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, so I can stick to riding on weekdays the rest of the summer. The trails are much less crowded.

The saga with the birds building nests in our entryway continues. Chicken wire didn't keep them out and neither did the shiny, dangling CDs. So, Bruce took down the chandelier-style porch light and installed a ceiling fan. We've been keeping it on all day, and so far, no new nests have shown up. Hopefully the birds found a new home on one of the neighbor's porches. 

Charlie and I have been walking over to Starbucks once a week from the Prairie Dog Park. The sidewalks are closed right now, because the road to Starbucks is under construction. But we can walk up to Starbucks from the back by driving over to the park. Charlie prefers riding in Bruce's Jeep, but he'll tolerate the back seat of my Mini Cooper if he gets to chase and sniff wildlife.

I finished Pearl's baby book for Janet this week. This one turned out to be easier to make than I expected. It helped finding a scrapbook kit on Amazon focused on baby girls, and a lot of the papers were in sage green (Melissa's chosen color). The pages look a little plain right now, but that's so Janet can embellish them with photos.

I've been doing a lot of reading the past month, since we've had so much rain. May's challenge was to read a book with a season in the title. "Falls" in New Girl in the Falls technically refers to water not autumn, but the only other books I could find with a season in the title referred to winter, and I was sick of anything to do with snow or cold. The book is about a former FBI agent who moves to Sweetwater Falls to be their sheriff when her husband is murdered in New York City. I like books about strong women, but the deputies in this book make some of the dumbest moves that anyone who's watched an episode of Law & Order wouldn't make. I read The Quitters Club to get a "Q" book for the alphabet challenge. It was a contemporary women's fiction, a genre I tend to avoid because of all the drama and whining, but it was free on Amazon and Q books are hard to find. I read Murder on the Oxford Canal for the category of reading a book from an author whose last name is a first name. I enjoy Faith Martin's books so much that I actually read the entire 14-book series. So, next on the list for June I have to find a #booktok rec... but first I have to figure out what in the world is a #booktok.

Happy Memorial Day

We decided to celebrate Memorial Day with a bike ride to the Mexican restaurant. That seems more like something we should have done for Cinco de Mayo, but it was snowing then. This time the husbands rode along, too.

While I was in Seattle I missed the grand opening of the Bridge-to-Nowhere - aptly nicknamed, because 2 years ago, the city installed a pedestrian bridge over a very busy 6-lane road but then gated it off because it didn't go anywhere (it connected 2 empty fields). Well, they finally finished paving a trail on both sides which luckily connects our neighborhood to the Cherry Creek Trail (the one I usually drive to). So, I got up early on Sunday and rode down to check it out myself. It was sort of a miserable day (cold and windy), but I managed to get back home before the rain hit.

And speaking of rain, it's done nothing but for the past week. We finally took Charlie to the dog park so he could work off a little energy. He was so wound up that he literally kept jumping up on this platform rather than run up the ramp. At least he was a little calmer when we got home.

I went to a couple events at the clubhouse this week. The first was a Roadmap to Aging talk titled, Aging with Joy. Mostly, they encouraged eating healthy, exercising, and not sitting around in a recliner for too long. That doesn't necessarily sound joyful to me.

The second was the annual spring fashion show. Like usual, the clothes were nothing I'd ever wear, but the lunch was nice. And it's always fun to catch up with other ladies from the neighborhood.

Spring in Seattle

Usually, I go to see Brian in August, but this year I decided to try visiting in the spring thinking I would avoid all the tourists. Wrong! They had people flocking to town for a Mariners/Padres game, a Roots of Recovery convention, Alaskan cruises, and the opening of Phantom of the Opera. 

Two things I noticed about Seattle the minute I got off the plane - the humidity and the foliage... everything is so lush and green. This little red car was practically encased in leaves. The owner probably has to get out the weed-wacker several times a year so he can get the car in the driveway.

The other thing about Seattle are the hills. Everyone thinks it's really steep in Denver, but they don't have anything like the steep sidewalks in downtown Seattle. When you have to put little ridges in the pavement to keep people from catapulting down the hill, that's really steep.

The first day, I took the early bus out to Redmond so I could stop at River Trail Roasters to do some sketching. The special that day was a Dirty Chai - spiced tea with 2 shots of espresso. That totally cured any residual jet lag! Then I walked along the Sammamish River Trail to Brian's house. All the trees and flowers are blooming in Seattle right now. If it wouldn't have been a little misty out, I would have done my sketch along the trail. 

Seattle is an incredibly bike-friendly town. Even though it rains a lot, bikers just throw on a raincoat and head off. When I was on the bus, I noticed the bike lanes are separated from traffic with double white lines and little poles set into the pavement. The scary thing though is that half the poles were either missing or lying flat on the ground. It sounds like my neighborhood where drivers go down the road with the left wheel in the driving lane and the right wheel in the bike lane. Denver doesn't bother putting up poles. 

Brian and I spent the day playing some new board games he picked up at his Las Vegas gaming convention. I even managed to beat him once. Then we took the new light rail down to Capitol Hill for our annual Mexican dinner at Fogon's. Luckily, Redmond is the first stop on the new line, because by the time we got downtown, the train was packed - both the seats and aisles. We had to wrestle our way to get out the door. I'm glad the train is so popular, especially since it just opened last month; but they need to run it more frequently, at least during rush hour.

The next day, I hit the ground running. I'd heard about a troll statue under a bridge in the Fremont neighborhood. So, after consulting Google Maps, I hopped on a bus to find it. I was kind of shocked at how huge and menacing it looked all made out of concrete and with only one eye - not warm and fuzzy like the wooden troll in Breckenridge. I'm not sure I'd like living next door to this statue even if he is supposed to be good luck. But the sign said you could make a wish. If it was a good wish, you were supposed to turn to the right. If it was a bad wish (in other words, you wanted something bad to stop happening), then you were supposed to turn to the left. I made a good wish.

My next stop on this little adventure was the Gas Works Park. I'd heard about this place from some of my Seattle Urban Sketcher friends. Well it looks exactly as it sounds - an old gas factory that they've turned into a "scenic sculpture" for a local park. 

This park actually has incredible views, probably because the gas factory was originally built on Lake Union so they could use the water for transportation and waste dumping. BTW, that bridge in the background is the one the troll is sitting under.

On the way back to the bus, I stumbled on the Burke-Gilman Trail. I've always wanted to rent a bike in Redmond and bike downtown along this trail (it's very long). It would have to be an eBike though, because I wouldn't be able to keep up with the commuters.

On my last day, I got up early to check out Pike Place Market before it got crowded. I picked up a Mystery Mocha at Ghost Alley Espresso and then walked through the market where vendors were setting up. There are very few fruit and vegetable stalls in the market, but flower sales are very popular (these bouquets were only $20!).

It was so nice to walk through the market without all the crowds. But I discovered that most of the people were down at the original Starbucks getting coffee. I can't believe they were all standing out in the rain in the switchback queues waiting to get into the shop. There are other Starbucks and independent coffee shops on every street corner in Seattle. Maybe Starbucks should start selling Lightening passes like they do at Disneyland, so people can skip to the front of the line.

I took the new pedestrian walkway down to the waterfront. It's very impressive and even a year later is still very clean. 

The designers incorporated a lot of seating and entertainment features into the walkway like this set of slides you can take to cut off the corner. If it wouldn't have been wet from the rain, I might have slid down one myself.

My last goal before I went to the airport was to find a quiet place to sit when the tourist traffic gets too intense and I found this pretty little covered waterfall garden just a couple blocks from my hotel. There were only a couple other people there both peacefully working on their laptops. I pulled out my paints for one last quick sketch. But wouldn't you know it... 4 visitors from Italy wandered in totally lost, but still blocking my view as they pulled out their phones for selfies. Oh well, I guess if I want true peace and quiet, I need to go someplace remote like Antarctica.