Gema and Indy in the Colorado

Pumpkins Flower
My two plants are finally in the ground. I'm not holding my breath to see if they'll make it. The pH is too high and I don't know if they can take the heat.

Thank You to the Firefighters on the New Castle Fire

Thomas Michael May
Newest addition to the family, born on June 21, 2007, in Santa Cruz, CA. Mom and baby Thomas Michael are doing fine.

Ranger the Baby Minature Donkey
He is just 1 month old and 30 lbs. What a cutie. Annette and Chuck Shupe have a full barn yard of horses, minature donkeys, dogs, and cats.

Summer Solstice
7:23pm. Looking SSE to the Colorado, Alkali, and Divide water sheds.

Billy West
This is Billy's summer ride. Check the mirror for a shot up Hidden Valley Rd.

Giant Pumpkin Garden Update
I finally got my two seedlings transplanted. I don't have high expectations for this year, I just hope they make it through the season. I know I have to lower the soil pH from 8.0 to the low 7's with some sulphur. I'll get a couple of backhoe buckets of cow manure next spring from Brett Jolley. My irrigation is automatic and I'm using buried soaker hose with both plants.

Summer Time Flowers

Delle's Poppie

New Castle Fire - June 19, 2007

As of today, it's a 1,080 acre wildfire. There are 200 firefighters on the ground and air support of 3 helicopters, 4 slurry bombers and and a pilot plane. An impressive Sikorsky S-61 dumped water on hotspots, it was amazing how much steam would blanket the ground.

New Castle Fire - June 18, 2007
Mom and I were driving into Glenwood Springs when we saw smoke to the east. We stopped at the Melby's house where mom grabbed a hose to start soaking the area behind their house and I ran up the mountain to snap a few shots. The closer pics are in an area that is now charred. I was so close that I got splashed with water from the chopper. Carrie Melby said that the fire started from a lightning strike the night before and her husband was able to put the fire out with some firefighters. She and her son, Thor, went up this morning and pushed dirt onto the smouldering embers. Unfortunately the winds kicked up this afternoon and got the fire going. I helped Bud Gardner rescue his horses to safety. Only 2mp phone quality, better than nothing.

My Nanaimo Bars
I tripled recipe for the top layer of chocolate. You should try this recipe, it's very delicious and easy to make. I think I'll try a variation in the top layer next time. I'll divide the top layer into 3 batches and I'll mix in kirsch to the middle layer.

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

Click to enlarge and print

Strawberry Days Queen Corrina L. Gibson - CONGRATULATIONS!
Corrina is an accomplished soccer player and a 2007 GSHS grad, she plans to study engineering at the University of Colorado. In the front seat are 3 Elk Run nieghbors and proud parents, Bill Gibson and Christina Manuel. Nice ride Bill, can I borrow your car?

Strawberry Days - 2007

Delle, Lindsey, Ryan

Strawberry Days - 2007
Lots of activities this weekend with Strawberry Days, the parade, the artist booths, the consession, stage, and beer garden, the amusement park, the rodeo, and the Annual Strawberry Shortcut Race.

Strawberry Days - 1969 Mustang
I met the owners of this Mustang and found out a fact that makes me sick. My first car was a 1969 Mustang convertible with a 351w and tilt steering, same as the car pictured above. What is unique about this package was that there were only 3900 made with the 351w, and with the tilt steering package, the car rolling today is worth over $70,000. I wish I still had mine.

Strawberry Days Grand Marshall - Levy Burris
Levy is a great guy, long time valley resident that loves cool classic cars and he is a buffalo rancher. He and his wife sell buffalo meat though their company Rising Sun Buffalo. He just recently took on the post of Chief of Police in Silt (Silt Happens) after 13 years with the Glenwood Springs Police Department. He also was a Garfield County deputy, investigator, and undersheriff. Prior to that he worked for Rifle PD and also served in the Marine Corps.

BBQ Belly Shot

Camy and Lindsey at it again.

BBQ for Ryan and Lindsey
We had a going away party for Ryan and Lindsey, they are moving to Loveland, CO this month and will be dearly missed. We look forward to meeting up with the in Grand Lake, CO where both there familys live.

Class 7: Imminent Death - Pensacola Dam Spillway
From Tom and Cathy. This is what 100,000 cubic feet of water per second looks like.

West Side Pensacola Dam Spillway

From Tom and Cathy. Look at the right aireal pic below to grasp the level of water rushing out of the gates.

Pensacola Dam, Grand Lake Oklahoma

First of all, this is the lake where I grew up, we spent our time up on the Honey Creek arm by Melody Pt. and Ranch Resort. The dam was the first hydroelectric facility in the state and was built between 1938, and 1940. It spans over a mile (6,565 feet) across the Grand River Valley and holding back 43,500 acres of water that form Grand Lake O' the Cherokees. Current Pool elevation is 749.82 feet on Friday, 15Jun07, at this elevation the total amount of water stored in the lake is 1,907,820 acre-feet. The Minimum level of the lake is 741.97 feet where 1,535,709 acre-feet of water is retained. BTW, there are legendary giant catfish that live at the base of the dam.

Grand Lake Flooding at Monkey Island, OK
Tom and Cathy sent us this pic. Lots of debris in the water, hazardous for boaters and what we called "snakey" growing up. Click on the pic for a better view. The flood pool at the Pensacola Dam is expected to peak at 47 percent of capacity - putting the lake level about 5 feet above the conservation pool at 750 feet mean sea level. Currently, all of the dam's 21 15-foot (small) gates are open and approximately 100,000 cubic feet of water per second is passing through.

Kiki's Strawberry Days Visit
Mom flew into Denver and takes the shuttle to the Hotel Colorado.

Cassie's #7

Nathan, Jackson, and Jake.

Water Balloon Filling Station
Before the adults got to play with the waterballoon slingshot, the kids got to fill teir boots. Here's Cassi, Jackson, Kyle, and Thad.

Cassie's #7

Lake Powell Slingshot
This is what neighbors do at kids birthday parties. Kyle and I are bracing as Thad draws back to the limit.

Abby - Indy - Gema

Abby came over for a sleep over and had a great time. She and Gema are the same age and have know each other since they were pupppies.

Perdo for President
This is funny even though it's from 2005. I just happened to find it today

My Neighbor and Only Friend, Quentin Gonzales.
Believe it or not, this guy is funnier than Jim Carrey. He's a professional painter and hotshots in the gas fields of Colorado. He and his wife Tiffany just had a baby girl, Ezrianna. She's a cutie. I caught Q-Ball sitting down on the job at Richie's House with my new MotoRizr 2mp.

Delle's Rock Garden
It's an uphill battle trying to keep the squirrels from digging in their condos and chewing on the drip lines. The rock garden is getting better every year. Delle added a few more plants and she is growing some pilfered daisy's from the neighbors pond. The daisy's are actually noxious weeds in Colorado, such a let down.

Pumpkin Garden Soil Analysis

I haven't a clue what all this means. I hope someone replies to my inquiry on BigPumpkins.com. The nights have been too cold to transplant so I'm holding off for another weekend.