July 31 and August 1 Steamboat Springs - I liiiike this town!

It’s sunny and warm. The location is beautiful, scenic, mountainous, and culture abounds. There are a million things to do, the inhabitants appear to be literate and have many of their original teeth, the elevation is not so high that it’s hard to breathe. There’s skiing, tubing, bicycling, camping, hiking, fine restaurants and they are having a major wine show/tasting this weekend. It’s sunny most of the time, the snow is POWDER, they have an airport, access to major newspapers, lakes, the women have tans and nice butts, the hot springs that we went to today was astounding. I’m ready to move……flip, flip, flip through the real estate section……side by side city lots for $600,000. One bedroom studio for $450,000. The employment section is dismal. Okay, Port Townsend – I apologize for this quick fling. Won’t you please, please, please take me back? I promise that my eyes won’t wander ever again,I only lusted in my heart! I will appreciate you for what you are (and the fact that I got in early), your women wearing potato sacks and with unshaven legs and the shedboys. With their dreadlocks. Steamboat has nothing on you!

Our drive from Estes Park yesterday was amazing, on a number of different levels. It finally cleared up, so we were able to see and appreciate the mountains. We went over a pass that was 12,000+ feet in elevation and down into the valley on the west side of Estes Park, where it promptly began to rain……..and lightning was again most evident. If you remember the Wiki formula from a couple of pages ago, please compute the following: Mark was riding his motorcycle at 65 mph and there was a .2 (1/5th) second delay between the sight of the lightning and the sound of the thunder. The answer is brown underwear or 210 feet, take your pick. I was wearing a full face helmet that I can not usually hear any noise out of and this sounded like a rifle shot next to me ear. Good times……

The ride from Estes Park all the way to Steamboat Springs has to rank at the very top of the best rides list. Especially the canyon on Highway 40 leaving Hot Sulphur Springs all the way to Steamboat Springs, even in the pouring rain it was special!

Hard to believe that I’ll be home in a week. Mixed feelings - it will be nice to be home with friends and family (and my own bed, no not all at the same time, stop it!). It will be nice to have a break from an 11 and a 13 year old, but I’ll really miss them too. And my brother Matt has just been great the whole trip. I’ll get to deal with the day to day stuff that goes along with suburbia, but to tell you the truth – that ain’t half bad!

Tomorrow we head for Midway Utah and my last two days with Matt & Company. I’ll part ways with them, visit a dear friend in Idaho Falls, visit my last four dams for the DamTour 2009 Tour and make it home to visit all five boys (Toby, Ben, Luke, Mongo and MacDuff). Ye Haw – maybe the hot spell in WA will be over by then?

Mark and Chris entering Estes Park National Park:
Matt's action photo's of his BarBQ skills
time lapse( the before shot):

if you blow up the photo, the sigh on the side of the outhouse says 12,090 feet:

right out the backdoor of the WorldMark timeshare in Estes Park:

up in the Alpine zone:

The headwatersof the Colorado River, doesn't look like much here, does it?

The Yamba Valley, where Steamboat Springs lives:

One way goes east, one way goes west:

really, Space Station Gas, what's next Kum and Go gas?

(see tomorrow's mobile pice, who thought up the Kum and Go name, the same personthat dreamt up Ho-Made Pies?) sheesh!

also the name of two famous passes around here:

The Strawberry Hot Springs earns an A++++++ in my book!

Anyone that knew me 30 years ago, remind you of anything?
Fish Creek Falls. If there was a small speck halfway up the cliff, it would be my DUMBASS nephew Joshua!Jsst what in the hell is this on the balcony. No, it's not my balcony!