We're on the way to the 'Old Mill at Crystal', which is 8 miles east of Marble (via a 4 x 4 only road) is reputed to be the most photographed site in Colorado, and is practically an icon for Colorado. There are hundreds of abandoned mines, standing as reminders of the mining heritage.

Fly Fishing on the Roaring Fork. I was on the downstream side of the train tressel and getting all excited over the browns going after the terrestrials right in front of me. I faintly heard Ted (Donahue) yelling something, I just thought he had a fish on and if he was in trouble I'd snag him on the way by. I stepped further out into the river and looked up stream to see Ted's rod almost bent in half. I quickly ran back through the overgrown vegitation under the tressel to help him land this 18" monster.

Jolley Ranch Fire: On the way back home I saw my neighbors, Richard and Jana Sorensen, on their porch so I stopped in to chat about the fire. It turns out that he is arranging to get a buddy's huge semi water truck and head up to the fire. I went home and quickly changed and tagged along for the ride. We filled the truck up with water, 4000 gal (technically stolen), and made our way up to Jolley Mesa. It was my first time as a firefighter. The cool part was that I rode shotgun on the gas tank of the water truck up the mountain in a cloud of dust made by the semi's hauling big dozers. We got to put out a sting of fires along a cutline, very exciting.

Jolley Ranch Fire: The evening started out by driving to Grand Junction to drop off our Baldwin Park closing packet at FedEx, eating dinner, and sharing a turtle sundae at Coldstone, then we made our way back home - no biggie. Just as the Rifle Airport mesa came into view, I noticed what looked like a huge dust devil on the (Brett) Jolley mesa, east of the Airport. As we got closer we saw that it was a fire and it was getting big, and growing quickly. This was around 7:30p. At 10:30 I saw the glow of the fire over the Hogback and drove west with gema on 6&24 to get a better view and snapped this shot. The picture doesn't do the event justice.

Moon Stuff. Apogee is when the moon is furthest from the earth and Perigee is when the moon is the closest. If you print this pic and overlay the printouts, you will see that the Perigee moon is a bit bigger. I think the actual number is 6%.

Baldwin Park - Panorama from across the school yard.

Baldwin Park - back door man

Baldwin Park - 2nd level Kitchen view to the livingroom. I checked the stove on the walk through and it didn't work because it needed to be wired up. One thing is for sure, I prefer custom building over 'slam and jam' production construction.

Baldwin Park - Hal and I are neighbors once again, kinda.
Just a couple miles from downtown, the narrow streets with front porches set close to wide sidewalks make it a friendly, walk-about sort of place. We have two lakes, Lake Baldwin and Lake Susannah, are perfect for recreation or to be eaten by a 1200lb alligator. There are plenty of parks, playgrounds, ball fields and open spaces for everyone to enjoy. This is part of the top-rated WinterPark school district.
Floor Plan

Fun day on the Elbow River at Stanley Park.

The three sisters. No, I'm the pointy one...

Evening at Ron and Mimi's. Delle, Mike, Will, Tammy, Jim, Liz, Laura, Tony, Kiki, Mimi, Ron, Bryson, Hal, Ben.

Tour of Mike and Tammy's house, it should be ready by Oct.1, Hal, Delle, Laura, Mike.

To be a kid again, nothing but wind in your face and who cares if it's 55 degrees and overcast.
'You wake up late for school - man you don't wanna go
You ask you mom, "Please?" - but she still says, "No!"
You missed two classes - and no homework
But your teacher preaches class like you're some kind of jerk
You gotta fight for your right to party' - Beastie Boys

8 Seconds and a high score earns you $50k. Delle and I met a couple cowboys at the SLC airport and they were flying up to compete in the Steer Wrestling event. These guys were huge. They tour all summer to different rodeos in pursuit of the that all mighty purse, they could walk away with cash or a new pickup. They made it sound easy until we watched them both get their asses kicked and walk away with a fist full of dirt.

Whoa! West Jet was a major sponsor of this years Stampede and were treated to a private bull riding event. It reminded me of the the good old Nortel days when the money flowed freely through the gap fingered hands. This cowboy is an old timer at the rare age of 38.

Missing in action this trip was Tim and Julianne. They were expecting Harrison and he was born on July 22. Harry will have many years of Stampede to look forward to visiting. You may have noticed the long sleaves, well, it was fairly chilly in the mornings - Canada eh!

This may be Bryson's last Stampede for a while, he'll start playing extended baseball seasons with all-star play and tourneys. He really enjoyed his visit to see Nana Kiki.

This is the actual West Jet sponsored chuck wagon raced during the Stampede. At the starting line 4 teams of thoroughbreds per heat (9) are hitched to their light wagons, hearts racing, eyes wide open, breathing fire. The drivers know that they can run a horse to it's death, the drivers also remember that they have cheated death many times before and just maybe this will be their last race.

Calgary Alberta as seen from the Stampede grounds.

This is taken from a rock outcropping where my neighbor, Q-Ball (Quinten Gonzales) and I installed a solar light. I packed my hammer drill and 2 batteries to the top and drilled down as far as the batteries would last, then epoxyed the solar light into the hole.

Stairway to the lower level. 2 bedrooms, a full bath, mechanical room, family room, sun room, theater, and storage room. I made the aluminum gate in my welding class

This is looking south. We love the Amish table and chairs - and bar stools, it took 12 weeks from order to delivery. We rub the wood (maple) down with lemon oil/wax stuff every 3 months.

Welcome to the kitchen. The countertops are a blue denim laminate, gas stove on the island. We also have installed an icemaker in the island. The next project in here will be to install a valance above the window that looks like a small shelf made of crown moulding.

The Grass Diva. We have a lock, Gema loves the grass. I can even get her to rollover with ease when she is on the grass. Her favortite things are: going for a ride, going swimming, getting a kong full of treats, playing with her dog buddies, playing frisbee, duck hunting, and grass.

Mr. Brett Jolley, host of the 4th of July party on the Jolley Ranch.

My ride and Brett Jolleys ride.

Looks like I'l have to trim up some of the cedars around the yard. This was the first time cutting the new sod. I had the mower set to cut at 4", the highest setting. 12 bags later the lawn was done.

New toy. I'm not so happy about all the sunflower seeds that drop from our crummy feeders. You can see the light green patch of the thousands of sprouts. I may have to replace the sod and start over on that patch. I'll see if mowing will kill them off. I've also got rid of that feeder.

Gema sure enjoys her new front porch.

Just Add Water. It all started with the Irrigation or Irratation blog and $4500 later we can now be free to go on vacation!

That's our unwanted pond. I have since had Copeland Concrete make a drain with a cast iron grate. Next thing to do is rent a hoe (not a hooker) and dig a hole and set the drain, then trench out the drain pipe and make it look pretty. The trick will be to get the drain at the right level for asphalt.

Hal, Marie and the gang.

There's a big league cut. Bryson was selected to be on an All Star Team for a 9/10 year old division. Not too bad considering he's not even 9 yet.

Julianne, Tim, and Bryson. She is due 7/11. Can't wait to see if I have a nephew or a neice.

Hal and Trinity.

Fun times in Orlando with Hal and Bryson. That's Hal's retired neighbor in the back. I had just switched off from the batters box where I had smoked a wiffleball into his garage door. He wasn't happy about that. Hal said to do it again.

I was happily working in my office and I heard a loud noise outside the window and looked to see this bear knocking over Delle's flower pots. I grabbed my camera and took his picture. I then grabbed my Glock and went outside for a little talk. I squeezed off 6 rounds in his general direction to let him know that he's not welcome.

The Dirt Diva. She's going to love the grass! She followed me around while I trammed the dirt, staying clear but just close enough to make sure I was ok. She appeared with her frisbee, I guess she figured I need a break or probably she just wanted to play. Good Girl.

It may look like I'm a skilled 'skid steer' operator but that's only in the my dreams. I admit to hitting the house twice, nothing that a little stucco patch can't fix. The next step is to rake and level the entire yard this weekend. I'm so looking forward to busting my ass. We'll be laying sod - pics to follow.

We have been dreaming of a yard since the the day we could peer off the finished sub-floor 3 years ago. The planets have aligned to recieve some Castle Valley topsoil so I couldn't pass it up.

Here's Doug spraying the top concrete off to expose the 3/8" rock, looks great! This turned out to be a mess, so we had to wash the house and windows down. It's all covered with plastic to allow it to cure at a slower rate to make it stronger.

It's finally a reality, a front porch! we are so glad to get this long awaited project on the ground.

It must be spring so says our Black-Chinned Hummingbird friend. This would be the male Archilochus alexandri. He has green above with a black chin and a violet-purple throat. The female has a white throat.

Finally getting rid of the hillbilly plywood porch. The finish on the concrete will be and exposed 3/8 aggrigate. It's going to look sharp!

The forms are up and the steel is tied in. i have some plastic down to keep the rain from soaking the clay base under the screened rock. We have had a good shot of rain this week!

Watch out!

I wonder what's buried under there???

I'll keep my day job!

Time for a new front porch