Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Day in Breckenridge and Vail

It was a gorgeous day for a return trip to Breckenridge. The Fam (6 of us) were last there in 1992 after the "Our Farmington" production, for a rest and some relaxation. Maybe some of these photos will bring back memories. This is the Blue River which runs through town.

Breckenridge is an upscale ski resort and very nicely landscaped and cared for...lots of money here.
A tiki on the Blue.
We weren't aware, but we happened to arrive on the day of their great rubber ducky races. We ended up joining in the fun by buying a racing duck (for charity) and one souvenir duck and sticking around for 4 hours to watch the 3 different races: 1st the Children's Race...400 $10 ducks that kids could keep, 2nd the Businessmen's Race...200 $100 ducks, and 3rd the Great Race (everyone else)...7,250 $5 ducks. We had a blast watching and cheering and quacking with the crowds. I also got sunburned.

We had a great lunch at "The Quandary" and got to eat outside by the river. We thought this was the best warmed turkey/bacon wrap with salad (sunflower seeds, cranberries, chucks of blue cheese, etc.) ever.

Time for the Big Race. It all started here at Maggie's Pond. They are dumping the ducks into a corral.
The announcers are starting their countdown.

Opening the corral "gates."
The 7,250 ducks are on their way, over the spillway! There are 3 videos of the race at the end of this blog. Unfortunately, the camera setting was weird and the color is less marvelous, but it will be fun to see the action!

Young volunteers with rakes helped keep the ducks in play and over the rocks.

Close-up.

Here they come! I wanted to hum the Flying Toaster song at this point!

Under the bridge and towards the fish statue.

The Finish Line...about 30 minutes later. The first duck to enter the narrow channel entrance in the center won (owner received a trip to Orlando). After all other prize winning ducks (numbers on the bottom) finished, volunteers started scooping them out of the river with the plastic laundry baskets.

Dad at the finish line.

Mom in a duck shirt!

Here I am with our $1 souvenir duck. I chose a cat duck that matched my shirt!

After the afternoon of duck races we took a 3-stage gondola ride and a chair lift up to the Alpine Slide.

Dad at the end of the slide. He got stuck behind a very tentative, i.e. slow, rider and had a lousy ride, but the operators gave us another free ride!

Mom comes whipping down the track!

Then we went goecaching and found a few. Here's our last photo of Breckenridge at a cache.

We drove on to Vail, even posher than Breckenridge, not as fun. But we had a great dinner at the Blue Restaurant on Gore creek...outside once again.
Cool skinny horse sculpture.

Interesting architecture and wind spinners.

Bear and fish.

Moose.
This was interesting...the blobs reminded us of a lava lamp and they kept changing into many vibrant colors.

Here come the Rubber Ducky videos...............................yes, I'm easily entertained!








Idaho Springs and Rocky Mountain National Park

On Sunday we spent some time nosing around Idaho Springs (where we spent 2 nights at a nice bed and breakfast.) At the Idaho Springs Visitors Center there was an interesting museum dedicated to the Colorado Gold Rush that began here in 1859.

A muller to hand crush ore...weighs 20 to 25 pounds.

Dad liked this old photograph.

The Big Horn Sheep...Colorado's State Animal. We saw 3 or 4 of these on our drive down from Mt. Evans, but didn't get a photo.
Old train.

Inside the passenger car.

Charlie Tayler (who attributed his good health to the fact that he never kissed women or took baths) built a water wheel to power a stamp mill (part of the gold mining operation.) It was moved to this location on Clear Water Creek in 1944 and restored in 1988.

Tree with fuzzy things.
We were told there was a monument to George Jackson who first discovered gold in 1859 at Idaho Springs (the first large gold deposit in the Rocky Mountains) which started the Colorado Gold Rush. We had to laugh when we found this exotic granite rock with a small plaque...guess we were expecting a statue or something...
Next we were off to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove through this amazing valley and then took a photo from the Trail Ridge Road.


A glacier-fed lake.

A herd of elk by the road.

Dad at Bear Lake...a smaller verision with more trees.

Grasses growing in one end of the lake.

Mom stopping at a scenic spot on our hike around Bear Lake.

On the aspen-lined Glacier Gorge Trail to the falls.

Rock wall.

Glacie Creek.

Pyracantha.

Another shot of Glacie Creek in Glacier Gorge.
Alberta Falls.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Flowers at Denver's Washington Park

Mom and begonias. This Denver flower garden at The Wash (Washington) Park was unbelievable...so many varieties, so well-maintained, and so artistically arranged. Enlarge, enjoy and don't skip through these photos too quickly!