Sunny the Lizard
This lizard has been hanging out on tour front porch this summer, he's actually pretty darn huge in relation to the other lizards that hang out here.

Marble, CO
The white area in the picture is mined Marble. I don't know what is causing the smoke. We took Dad and Cathy up to the mine and found out that there was a 58 ton block mined and is being shipped off to South Dakota to be shaped. It will replace the existing Unknown Soldier's Tomb in DC. The exisiting Marble Tomb has a huge crack.

Indy's 1st Swim
It took little Indy Pants a couple trips to the pond before she followed sister Gema into the deep end. It's actually thrilling to see a lab swim for the first time, almost brings a tear to your eye.

Jolley Mesa Fire 2006

This helicopter made water drop after water drop on the blaze, bucket by bucket, dipped the Colorado river.

Jolley Mesa Fire 2006
Air assault - Crop Duster flies thorugh smoky skies dropping fire-retardent over the fire.

Fire retardants use ammonium sulfate or ammonium polyphosphate with attapulgite clay thickener or diammonium phosphate with a guar gum derivative thickener. These are not only less toxic but act as fertilizers to help the regrowth of plants after the fire (however, the retardants can be toxic to fish if accidentally dropped in water and exposed to sunlight). Fire retardants contain wetting agents, preservatives and rust inhibitors and are colored red with ferric oxide to mark where they have been dropped. Brand names of fire retardants for aerial application are Fire-Trol and Phos-Chek.

Jolley Mesa Fire 2006

Air Assualt - This Lockheed P3A "Orion" can carry 3,000 gallons of fire retardant.

Jolley Mesa Fire 2006

NEW CASTLE - A fast-moving wildfire burned probably 100 acres or more on Jolley Mesa west of New Castle Wednesday and prompted a multi-agency counterattack by land and air.

"This is so bad, it's not funny. I think I've lost about 500 acres so far," said Brett Jolley, who owns the mesa top land with his brother, Kent.

To This
Berthod Motors had their 4th Annual 4x4 Show with a fun obsacle course. The big dogs, one right aafter another, walked right through the course. To me, beating the hell out of a stock jeep is fun, it will go places you never would dream of going. Putting 44's on a jeep or any vehicle is just plain overkill for this part of the Rockies. I do reserve judgement on going big purely for flotation in muskeg. Even then it's a different scene. So a stock jeep would not have made it over these rocks, well maybe with the right driver and plenty of body damage - never say never... Anyway, since I was the smallest vehicle (3" on 33's) to attempt the rocks, plenty of people gathered and were actually cheering. I felt like a rockstar. The spotter said I would never make it, well, kiss my ass, dillweed!

Rock Garden Daisies
I think mom transplanted these from the pond. I'll post some more flower pics later.

Pokies
I'm still surprised the girls don't come back with paws riddled with cactus spines. It's fun to hike around the mountainsides and spy the blooming cactus.