the globe rover

Navajo State Park, CO

I have never been to the Southwest part of Colorado so I was excited to join the Andersons for an extended family camping and boating trip in Navajo State Park for a long weekend. And after starting work again, I was definitely excited to take a few days away.

En route to Navajo, we stopped in Monte Vista to spend the night with Darian’s Mom and meet up with the rest of the Andersons that were joining the trip. It’s always fun to stop in small towns off the beaten path and meet new people. So after a quick night, we were all packed up and back on the road to the park.

We arrived to the open area camp ground set right on the lake (two-thirds of Navajo Lake sits in New Mexico) and all went to work setting up our campground. Everything was laid out perfectly with spots for tents and campfires. Bathrooms with quarter operated showers sat a few hundred yards away. Although it was great to be camping right next to the water, I wasn’t a fan of the open, very “set” sites with no trees and neighbors right on top of you (think of that white trash family with hip-hop and country blaring from their radio as they had no idea what they were doing with a fire).

The weekend was great and mostly spent boating (and after years and years attempting to ski again) and hanging out at the campfire making traditional camping food. Jen prepared a perfect camping menu which included hobos (meat, potatoes, and veggies), s’mores (mmmmm), marinated chicken and fried potatoes, apples cooked with brown sugar and raisins, and plenty of other lunch and breakfast goodies. Most excellent job of preparation!

It was great to have all the kids around and extended Anderson family! We had a great time and it was wonderful to be on the water again and out in the outdoors!

Parker, Colorado

Anyone that knows me knows that I truly love wildlife and animals. So I have thoroughly enjoyed being back in Colorado where the wildlife is plentiful and can be seen daily. I have had fun seeing the deer roaming through the neighborhood here in Parker (including two fawns we saw last night) as well as seeing the many different animals along the trails (love the meerkats peeking out of their holes).

Occassionally there are animals that are not as “friendly” and pose a bit of a threat. There have been mountain lion spottings in the neighborhood which are not exactly welcome. It is understandable given that all this land was not that long ago full of nothing but trees and animals. As well, there are snakes seen quite often and usually around the trails (there were rattlesnakes on the bike trail when we rode yesterday).

After a great Sunday dinner (not a quite a roast unless you count the sun) with some friends in the neighborhood from England, I was heading to the house when just across the street we spotted two coyotes trotting about. We had heard they were around but I had yet to see them. A bit concerning given the number of dogs running around at any point in the adjoining houses and sidewalks. But again understandable given the recent ownership they had of this land.

Love the wildlife…just hope the non-friendly type keep to their territory!

Waterton Canyon, CO

The Stumpy fat tires are back on the trails! After a couple of years hiatus from real mountain biking, my Stumpy, a couple of buddies, and I hit the trails in the beautiful foothills of Colorado.

We rode Waterton Canyon which is an easy ride (a gradual six mile incline) but great training terrain set in the foothills of South Denver. The ride is a dirt road for the first six miles and then turns into the Colorado trail which is a single track full of climbs and switchbacks. Although a gradual incline, it’s a nice workout with beautiful surroundings and runs along a great river fed by the Strontia Springs dam. Along our route we even saw some mountain goat jump into the trail en route to the river.

I made it about halfway up the Colorado Trail Loop before turning around and cruising down (not bad for a first return to the trails and not quite-adjusted altitude lungs). We all hooked back up and rode the trail back to the trailhead. It was a beautiful hot day full of sunshine and people outside enjoying the great outdoors.

It was a great way to get in some exercise and catch up with friends in Denver (thanks Josh and Doug). This is truly one of the things that makes quality of life so great in Colorado! Happy to be back and on the trails again…

Parker, CO

Tonight was an interesting evening with the Anderson family in the very suburban little (growing) town of Parker. After a leisurely dinner, we all strolled outside and were surprised to suddenly see a police (popo) car pull up across the street where two officers jumped out and were immediately hiding in the bushes crouching with their very large riffles drawn. As our hearts started to race (and we continued to look), the officers quickly told us to “please go inside your house”.

We did (of course you do what the popo tell you). And proceeded to go upstairs where we would have a better view of what was happening. For the next five minutes or so, the two officers crouched around houses and bushes and made their way to the end of the cul du sac which is two houses down from where we were. There was some quick gun pointing and all of a sudden there was a man on the front porch with his hands in the air.

Turns out it was the neighbor from the other side of the the house they were all at. He was quickly apprehended on the ground and cuffed. Next thing we knew, there were five police cars (including sheriff cars), two undercover cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance. Quite a lot of law enforcement for one man.

The cops searched the house of the man that was hand-cuffed which took a while. The popo were clearly searching both houses and talking to someone inside the original house where the man was arrested. They shortly got him into the police car and then one by one the law enforcement vehicles started to leave (they had also barricaded the entire street with police cars so no one could come or go in any direction).

Oddly enough, when all was said and done, the door to the man’s house was still ajar. And as we noticed this, the wife came from the neighbors house (where the man was arrested) and went inside here house and turned off the lights. Not sure what her role in all/any of it was.

Weird. Downright weird. All we could assume with all the under cover cops and the riffles pulled from the get-go was that it was some type of drug raid. My brother-in-law would be proud to know the bad guys are getting busted even out here in Colorado!

Sure made for one eventful night.

Steamboat Springs, CO

One of my absolute favorite places in Colorado is Steamboat Springs (the ” ‘boat”) and I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend there with some friends. It’s amazing to be back and enjoying the gorgeous mountainside and good ole’ mountain folk.

On Saturday en route to Hayden, we experienced the typical goodness of the people that live in the mountains. I had never been to Hayden before and was promised a morning of firsts and adventures by my friend Bob. That is definitely what followed.

We were meeting someone at 9 am and thus, were watching the clock to make sure we got there on time. We were about 15 miles out when I noticed Bob checking his odometer frequently and shortly after felt a jolt in the jeep. I looked at Bob, and along with a few expletives he noted that the car was out of gas. I couldn’t help but laugh as I have never been in a car that ran out of gas in all of my years.

I asked what we did (it appears that Bob is familiar with running out of gas in cars and was told that we find someone to help us get to a gas station as we were no where near walking distance. There happened to be two cars pulled over right where we were rolling to a stop (one with a U-Haul attached). We cruised in front of the two cars and hopped out to find some help and see if they needed any in return.

It turns out that three ladies (Mary, Jen, and Jamie) were driving to Salt Lake City, Utah to move Jen and were only twenty minutes into their drive when the uhaul loosened going over the railroad track. Bob took a look at the U-Haul and it all appeared to be reattached correctly (nice work ladies). Then we shared our saga of running out of gas. The ladies immediately jumped into finding a way to get us to a gas station. It was challenging as they had very little space in their cars because of moving. So after a few minutes of discussing options, Jen handed her keys to Bob and told him to take her car to get gas. They laughed and said they would keep me as ransom.

While Bob drove to get gas in this stranger’s car that was loaded with all her personal belongings (trust was paramount as she even left her purse in the front seat which floored us both), I stayed and chatted with the ladies. They were wonderful and so sweet and we discussed a full range of topics from dogs to relationships to moving and Colorado. Truly a testament to the quality and character of people you can find in mountain towns (especially in Colorado). Within about twenty or so minutes, Bob was back with gas and we were all off to our original destinations.

I am still amazed at meeting someone on the side of the road that was a complete stranger and having them hand over their car and all their belongings to help someone out (and mind you, slowing down their eight hour drive even more). I was touched to feel such goodness. Bob wished he could have done something for them (although there were no alternatives as she had a full tank of gas and there was nothing else near the gas station). So the next best, and perhaps better, alternative is to pay it forward which we discussed along with the movie. What a great world we would live in if everyone could do that and share generosity while helping each other out.

The rest of the weekend was great and made me even more excited to be back in Colorado and enjoying the mountains. Here’s to the ‘boat and those fabulous three women we met on a small mountain road in Colorado!

Morrison, CO

There is absolutely no better place in the world to celebrate being an American on the Fourth of July than Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. And even though I had been the night before, the July 4th show was fantastic and there was no other place I could imagine being.

The show on the Fourth is Blues Traveler which is an amazing band in and of itself and is the perfect sound for the Fourth. The kicker was that the Violent Femmes opened which is a flashback band from my college days in the early ’90s. After warming up (the first couple of songs sounded horrible), they hit their mark and entertained with all their good stuff. Prior to the Femmes, there was a DJ who was crazy and had more fun than anyone watching him.

Blues Traveler started the show around sundown and entertained everyone around. They had a great set and really hit the spot for a Fourth celebration. The best part was as we sat in the most amazing amphitheatre in the world, fireworks went off across the entire Denver skyline (we saw from Invesco Field all the way down South near Castle Rock). It was such a great setting with great friends (thanks for organizing Daileys)! Truly a great place to be an American!

Morrison, CO

Every year Red Rocks Amphitheatre runs Film on the Rocks (sponsored by Denver Film Society) which is a combination of live music followed by a classic movie. While I lived in Denver I unfortunately never it made it to a movie. But this year, during the eighth season and my first week back to Denver, I finally made it to a movie.

One of my favorite all time movies is Dazed and Confused (even though I don’t fit the mold for the typical groupie). So I was ecstatic to find out it was playing and went with some friends to the show. The $10 ticket included two bands, a comedian, and the movie.

The bands that opened were Something Underground (they won their spot through winning the Coors Light New Sound Throwdown and although we missed them they are supposed to be great and sound good on their myspace site) and Ash Ganley (his band was really good). There was also a comedian that wasn’t my cup of tea but some of the audience seemed to like him.

The show started when the sun went down (about 9 pm) and the audience was fired up for the movie. Grin from ear to ear, the opening scene rolled along with Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion”. It was a fantastic movie even seeing it for the hundreth time. And no better setting than at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO!

Parker, CO

There are a lot of reasons that I was excited to get back to Colorado. One of which is the tremendous amount of outdoor activities close to anywhere in the Denver area. I’ve been back for less than a week and have already hit the outdoors.

One of my favorite summer activities here was mountain biking which I’ve been on hiatus from for the last two and a half years. So after a tune-up, some new biking shoes, new pedals (finally clipless), and a new saddle I was ready to hit the trails.

On my second ride today, I headed from the house out to the Cherry Creek Regional Trail and back for an hour and a half mostly trail ride. It was great stuff and nice to be exerting energy in the sunshine. And the best part was the nature that I encountered along the way.

The heartracer was the huge snake that was literally stretched across the entire trail (my nephew would have loved it). It took a bit before my heart quit racing and I was sure I was out of the way. I found out that it’s a bull snake and probably wouldn’t do anything but needless to say, it was a snake. A quick decision led me off the trail and into some growth to stay as far away from the snake as possible.

From there the animals got much cuter and included birds, bunnies (plenty of them along the side of the trails), and prairie dogs. I used to love seeing prairie dogs in Colorado and was so happy to see their little heads popping out of their holes. The last batch of animals I passed were horses and donkeys. There are plenty of farms just off Parker Road that I biked by. Great to see so much animal activity.

It’s great to be back and enjoying the great Colorado outdoors!