Hello Follower(s), it's been a long time since my last post and that's because I've been having just too darn much fun! So here's a catch up as we head into Southwestern Sojourn Season again.
May: Still cold, windy, and damp most of the time. Many days spent curled up in bed under the covers accessing media. One standout exception though was a trip to Evanston to visit clan Pechter, rendezvous briefly with Reid, who was in Chicago for a reunion, and catch some of the GOT fever on Leonard Place (Brad's street).
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| Brad, Reid, and myself |
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| Helene, myself (modeling my new experimental anti-frizz headgear) and Brad in their back yard. |
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| Brad, the morning of my departure, just settling in for a nice long brunch chat. |
June: This is where things picked up. In the first part of the month I had a fabulous camping/kayaking trip down the Au Sable River (in northern-ish LP, Flows east from Grayling to L. Huron) which had a bonus (originally the primary purpose of the trip, which seemed so far to me then and feels like a mere jaunt now - stay tuned!) visit to Hartwick Pines State Park, one of few remaining 'old growth' sites for the primordial pine forest, so served as part of my research for my historical novel.
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| At the Hartwick Pines museum. Maybe some day I'll write this trip off as a business expense. |
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| I was chillaxin! |
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| A typically lovely bend of the river |
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| This time in panovision. "Au Sable" means "of sand". In fact, I saw an old map recently where it was labeled the Sand River. |
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| A lovely tributary to stop at for a snack and a sip and a swim. |
This trip ended with a paddle out through Oscoda and out through the channel onto L. Huron.
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| Back at the ranch, pulling out a dent in my bumper where a campfire ring ran into me. |
Next it was time to return to the Denver area for a month while our annual renters occupied the cottage. I enjoyed exploring the Platte R. in Nebraska on my drive back, then immediately went camping (by which it should be understood I mean "van camping" at this point, unless otherwise stated, in which case I would probably describe it as backpacking) near our St. Mary's lots after a nice three generation Father's Day bbq at my dad's house.
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| Return to Evanston on the outbound leg. |
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| And ditto Davenport where Reid and I went out on the town ... |
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| ... including to this fun local venue, whose name escapes me at the moment. Something like "Monkey's Bedroom"? Reid, help me out. Can't find it on Google maps. |
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| Two views of one of my favorite discoveries on the Platte. |
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| A dandy place for skinny dipping! |
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| Happy Father's Day! Unfortunately Max couldn't make it due to work. |
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| Waking up the next morning in the Rockies. |
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| The road ahead (which is why I stopped where I did). My two lots are up ahead on the left. |
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| Cookin' breakfast. |
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| This is a deck Owen and I built about six years ago or so. It's holding up quite well. Too bad it turns out to be on the neighbor's property. Lucky, however, that they (the neighbors) turn out to be nice. |
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| View out the back window. |
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| A visit with Alan and Gretchen in Ken Caryl. Look at Charlie (center) looking at me. I wish he had a nut allergy, if you know what I mean. |
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| Time to do a little pruning in the back yard at High St. The Russian Olive always requires attention but this year was worse than usual due to a large broken branch from heavy wet snow (in addition to the usual squirrel-kill). Thank goodness for chainsaws! |
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| Nell hostessed a nice dinner that evening |
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Still June! Greg B. comes to Denver, "The Queen City of the Plains", for a highly anticipated visit. He and Alan and I met up at my friend Randy's place for a little prelude jammin', then went and picked up my mom at the airport. She was returning from a week plus on a cruise in The Netherlands. The next day Greg and I got together with Max for a fun day of REI, Da Vinci and Dioramas at the Natural Science Museum, and finally Jazz in City Park. And the day after that Greg and I hiked toward James Peak from the Moffat Pass trailhead and met up with Alan again that evening for a drink.
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| Got disparate music buds together in one place at one time. I'm pretty stoked! |
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| On the way to surprise my mom at the airport. Gotta be properly lubricated! |
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| Sunset from The Blue Moon Brewing Co. parking lot. |
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| The next day Max met Greg and myself in the camping section of REI. I wanted to get Max kitted out with filter and stove for our upcoming backpacking trip (see July!) so I could borrow them. |
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| A benefit was introducing Greg (from Seattle, home of REI, a big deal, I guess) to the Denver store. |
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| Greg was nonplussed. |
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| Later at the museum we were able to view Da Vinci's chastity belt. |
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| Is it real, or is it Memorex? It's been a long time since I've been to the Museum of Natural History (old name) in Denver. |
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| "I like sniffing big(horn) butts!" Greg said this was always his favorite diorama growing up. I hope I haven't ruined it for him. |
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| Max really wanted me to wear his hat. I guess I could have refused. |
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| Turns out the hat is reversible! Turns out so is my brain! |
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| Wait, who's taking this picture? |
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| Sneaky! |
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| Later, somehow, after tripping on the Oculus Rift at Max's apartment, we decided it would be a good idea to go over to the Metro Auraria campus and play Frisbee. Turns out we were right! |
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| Okay, a new day. Time to get serious and become one with nature. |
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| Although it looks like we're both still feeling less than serious and greater than one from the night before. |
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| Greg wanted me to pose a certain way for my book jacket photo. Credit: G. Bumpus |
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| Phew, lived to toast another day! |
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Okay folks, I am pooped (and hungry) so I'll have to leave it here for now and finish up the remainder in My Wild and Wonderful Summer part II. It will begin in July, when things really get crazy!
So stay tuned,
