Roxborough State Park Hike

Nancy and I went for a hike this morning at Roxborough State Park, just South of our house about 10 minutes down the road. I guess we hiked close to 4 miles. It was a beautiful day, the flowers were in bloom, the sky was blue, and the air was about 70 degrees. We spent most of the morning on the South Rim Trail.

The trail is down below and winds around a large bluff. Notice the hiker just to the right of that large outcropping of rock. We stopped for lunch and shared a granola bar. How fitting.

This was taken at Lion's Overlook, just a short hike from the parking lot. We saw some deer and one of the other hikers on the trail said he saw Mountain Lion scat on the trail. Who knows? They are out here.

In Court

In case you're wondering where I've been, well I've been at a place where you can poke fun at authority. This is just fine unless, of course, it gets to you first. Okay, I've been in Federal Court. It's part of my job. Sometimes people run amok and you have to do something about it.

JUDGE: Have you anything to offer this court before I pass sentence?
DEFENDANT: Nope. My lawyer took every last penny.

You see, you have to be shaky if you're on trial. Your fate is in the hands of a dozen people who aren't smart enough to get out of jury duty! But if you're guilty it's not that bad. This is the only country in the world where they lock up the jury and send the guilty man home!

The good news is, I wasn't the defendent and we reached an amicable agreement with a very good Federal Magistrate. There is hope for the system. I for one, was educated yesterday.

20-5!! Rocks Choke

The Rockies have been in the cellar so long it's damp. I wish they'd just call the game, like last night. I just couldn't believe the score in that game, 20-5. Some of our hitters are so bad they can strike out in two pitches! Of course you can't blame the ownership of the team anymore. This is the players problem. They make a lot of money now. In fact, I heard a rumor that the coach called the bullpen and got an answering service!

Life just isn't fair. When I tried out for baseball I couldn't hit a curve. Now I play golf and I can't stop hitting them!

A different way back

Coming back from Pagosa we decided to return by going up Hwy 550 through Silverton and Ouray. We stopped here at Bear Creak Falls and I took this photo. The weather was great and there was less traffic than I expected.

We also stopped at Ouray and shopped around a little bit. I had a nice conversation with some guys in the climbing shop about Box Canyon and the new found fame in Ouray. Once a year the town is the center of national attention for the great ice climbing found here.

Pagosa Springs

Finally the snow let up at about 4:00p today. Below is the little mountain to the East of Pagosa Peak. There are a few remaining clouds blowing off the mountaintop. Tomorrow weather permitting, I'm rafting with Paul on the San Juan River. It's running really high and should be lots of fun. This morning I had breakfast with Paul, Kathy, Todd, and Norm. Afterwards we went to Jerry's and talked about some logistics of our upcoming Grand Canyon raft trip.

Snow in May

We had an interesting trip to Pagosa Springs today. On the way over Wolf Creek Pass it was snowing hard and packed on the road. We had to dive no more than 20 miles per hour. When we arrived in Pagosa it was pretty nice though. From the back of the condo we could see the lake and the lightly snow covered hill in the background. But not for long...

A few minutes later it broke loose again and I could barely see across the lake. My friends in Pagosa are accusing me of bringing it down from Denver. Not so... it was here when I arrived. Really!

Lawyers

I've been spending an enormous amount of time with lawyers lately, Corporate lawyers and hired attorneys. Next week I'll be spending time with them in the courtroom. A lawyer is a man who prevents somebody else from getting your money (or your bosses money). So, I thought about my boss. His mother is Catholic. His father is Jewish. When he goes to confession, he brings along his lawyer.

The difference between lawyer jokes and attorney jokes is about $100 per hour, with the latter on top. I'll never forget my old lawyer from Denver (when we lived here before). He dropped by my office unannounced and spent 45 minutes talking with me about the Broncos. Two weeks later I got a bill for $250.00. I don't want to sound negative, because as we all know a good lawyer is worth his weight in gold. At least he charges that much.

Walk around the lake

This morning I went for another walk around the lake. I don't believe in jogging. When I die, I want it to be from an illness! As I was walking around the other side of this lovely lake, I saw a coyote eating goose eggs in the grass. What a nice breakfast, I thought.

Red Tailed Hawks

It's 85 degrees and rising. With the nice weather and fresh batteries in my camera, I decided to go for a walk. And about a mile from my house was the reason for my camera. Below is the photo I took of a family of Red Tailed Hawks. The mother is on the left feeding one of her young. This won't go on for more than a week or so and they'll be out on their own, finding their own food.

I suspect they may even chew on one of these "puppies." These prairie dogs are just a few hundred yards from the back of our house. I would really like to see a hawk dive down and get one of these.

Spring beauty

Today we went to the nursery and bought flowers. Nancy has a knack for this, so we went to Arapahoe Nursery and picked up the usual array of floral beauty. Of course we also had to buy some hummingbird food and yellow jacket killer (attractant). Life is beautiful in the spring time.

The latest baby photos

Noelle and Seth have moved to Memphis for the summer. Here are a couple of the latest baby photos of Andy. He just has that look in his eyes doesn't he! It reminds me of the time I played hooky from school. My teacher sent home a thank-you note.

Seth and Noelle evidently took him on a picnic near the UK campus at the Arboretum. They have some video footage of him pulling the grass up and trying to eat it. Remember the immortal words of Eve, who said, "Don't forget - I wear the plants in this family."

More snow and weather comments

I got up early this morning about 5:20a and went to my morning workout at the Y in spite of the rain. In fact, it was raining cats and dogs out there. I know I stepped in a poodle. There were 18 people in my cycling class...what's wrong with these people? Can't they sleep in? At any rate, I finished my workout and on the way out it was white. Fresh snow was coming down! But, by the time I got home it was nothing but rain again. You know, rain makes the flowers grow. It also makes the cabs disappear! If you're moaning and groaning right now, too bad. It's my blog. You are welcome to post a comment anytime.

7:30a Church and then a climb

I had a great day today. I got up and made the early service at Cherry Hills Community Church. Bill Hybels was speaking (the pastor of Willow Creek Church in Chicago). He was very good. Afterwards, I rushed home, loaded my stuff in the car, and hiked up to St. Mary's Glacier, whew!! I used to do this hike in 35 or 40 minutes. Today it took nearly an hour! That's my stuff pictured below by the still frozen lake.

I saw a couple of other climbers on the mountain up on the right approaching the far ridge. They were roped up, had helmets on, etc. etc. I didn't think the conditions were especially bad, so all I brought was food (very important), my ice tools and crampons. And well, not really a need for a rope here. At least I didn't think so.

My concern was punching through the cornice, pictured below. But, it turned out okay. If there was a problem it was all the spindrift. The wind was pretty high and it blew the snow right in my face going up.

By noon, I sat on my perch with my back to the wind, on top of the glacier and enjoyed the view. I'm sure glad I packed that really good apple. It went great with the granola bar and lots of water.

In case your wondering, where is Nancy? She went to Memphis to see Noelle, Seth and little Andy on Mothers Day. No, I wouldn't go off on my own like this on Mother's Day.

An election year

This election year is certainly filled with candidates who fight and disagree. In fact, it's downright ugly out there already between two Democrats. In September and October it won't be a pretty site.

Bob Dole, in his book Great Political Wit, reminded me of one of Barry Goldwater's favorite stunts during the 1964 campaign. He would poke his fingers through a pair of lenseless black-rimmed glasses and proclaim, "These glasses are just like Lyndon Johnson's programs. They look good, but they don't work."

And of course, House Speaker Tip O'Neill once observed, "As we all know, the truth is a frequent casualty in the heat of an election campaign." The thing to remember here is that candidates aren't dumb. They stand on their records so the voters won't examine them.

A coyote

As many of you know I am working out of my house now, when I'm not travelling. That means I'm here during the day. This morning about 10:00a I was on a conference call and looking out the window during the call. Crossing the street and then going into the neighbors yard was a coyote. We often hear them at night, but rarely see them I thought this one was pretty bold to be out like this.

Approaching Mothers Day

It's almost Mother's Day and the kids aren't here. Nancy will be with Noelle, but Tyler is still in Kuwait. I'm just very glad they have lives of their own and have made it in the real world. My advice for kids is, give your mother something she'll always be grateful for - move out!

The diet

I've been in Oregon most of the week at meetings and visiting franchise owners. It's always tough dieting on the road though. I'm always eating out at nice restaurants having rich food and deserts. Yesterday I ate at Fenouil, a nice French place. So, I've started on another diet. This one is called "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet!" In my case the second day is always easier than the first. By the second day you're off it. I don't know dieting just seems to take the starch out of me. We sat right by that fire place.

Zoo tour

I took some franchise owners I work with on a tour of the Denver Zoo today (one of our local franchise owners cleans the carpet at the facility). Yes, they have lots of carpet at the Zoo. Many of the indoor exhibits are carpeted.


The weather was really nice today and obviously the lions were basking in the sunshine. Just two days ago it was snowing. We get an awful lot of cold waves from Canada. Can't they weatherstrip the border?

Here was our group. They came in for meetings on Friday and then we went to the Rockies game last night.

Snowing in Denver

Some things never change, like a snowstorm in Denver in May. The sun is not coming out today. Would you come out on a day like this? I took this photo this morning looking North from my house. It's not sticking on the street yet, but all the green grass is now white. What happened to the global warming? Just a while ago I saw a squirrel burying Sterno! Well, it's okay I guess. The snow fills all the potholes.