Maroon Bells Pictures

When we first went to the Maroon Bells on Friday they looked like this - grey sky and with a snowstorm across the mountains.  It was pleasant out and we took a walk to the far side of the lake, but definitely not very pretty.

Every now and then the snowstorm would clear and we could see the entire mountain.  But much of the time they were covered by a snowstorm.

When we went back on Sunday, we had a clear, blue sky and the mountains were much, much prettier!  Much nicer, altho it was also quite a bit colder.

Here's a closeup of the mountain.  You can clearly see the distinctive diagonal lines.  There was a sign stating how dangerous it was to climb these mountains.  It mentioned how the rock was "rotten"!  I never heard of rotten rock, but apparently it is quite unstable.  The sign went on to state that several experienced climbers had died on the Maroon Bells.  

Sure is pretty!  Enjoy!

Heading Home from Aspen

Yes I missed a day, but not much internet time yesterday...

SAturday was two John Denver events - the Cookhouse at lunchtime and a second Wheeler concert in the evening.

The Cookhouse event was at a ranch and featured the Friends With You band, the same group we heard Thursday night. Judy Therion saved us two seats at a close table which was a good thing since the hall was rather long and the speakers were not carrying well to the back. We had a rather international table. Next to me was a lady from Germany and next to her, one from Japan! After the very enjoyable concert we had a nice buffet lunch, then they introduced a new John Denver DVD. The guy who own this ranch was a producer for ABC Sports in the 70's and 80's and since John was featured at the 1984 Sarievo winter olympics, he had all the footage (on 3/4" tape!) of John doing human interest stories about the people. Some of this had been aired and some not. He showed a few scenes from the DVD.

That evening was the second Wheeler concert. It was mostly a repeat of the Friday event. I enjoyed the music, but the jokes by the comic were not nearly as funny when you already know the punch line. Mack Bailey sang at this concert which was very cool. He's Mary's favorite current singer.

Sunday we had 4 things planned. The day started off rough since we missed the first event. The lack of road signs caused us to miss the road we were supposed to take and things went downhill from there. But since it as a clear and beautiful day we did head back to the Maroon Bells and got some great pictures of this range with a bright blue sky background.

Next was a Windstar event. Windstar is an organization John founded dedicated to the proper stewardship of the planet. As with any cause, differenced exist and some JD fans have started a new organization, Blue Planet, which was the beneficiary of a few of our events. We saw the Peace Cloth there along with a great sculpture of a eagle landing on John's arm, then hiked up over 100 feet to a Medication platform. At this altitude that took a few breaks...

After that we headed back to town for a quick lunch and a great concert by Mack Bailey, Pete Huttlinger, and Chris Nole. WOW! What great musicians! They played a lot of their own material with a few JD songs mixed in. They had a great mix of jazz, blues, and folk songs surrounded by fabulous musical talent.

Next we had to hustle to the campfire. Since the forecast was for rather cold weather we put on a few layers and headed out. We got there in plenty of time for the moment of silence at 6:27, then enjoyed the bonfire. The entire Friends with You band showed up and the 3 guitar players played JD songs and lead the sing along. I helped roast marshmallows (in part as an excuse to get close to the fire) and tried to make some Jiffy Pop (utter failure). We stayed until about 9:00 then helped load the bales of hay back on a wagon and headed back to Aspen.

Today we're planning to stop at Red Rocks amphitheater on our way back to Denver and our flight back to Detroit.

It's been a great trip and I'd be glad to be Mary's driver at any future events. LOL

Aspen, Day 2

Sorry, no pictures.  At our motel, we have a very intermittent wireless signal so uploading picture is problematic.  

This morning we headed out to the Maroon Bells.  Unfortunately there was a snow storm in progress on the mountains when we got there.  After a while it cleared and we got some pictures and we took a walk around the lake, which at this altitude caused slight shortness of breath.  And we did experience our first snow of the winter as we walked around.

After hanging out there for a while, waiting for the sun to come out we headed our for lunch at the Woody Creek Tavern, a place where John Denver liked to hang out.  Since it was JD weekend, they were playing his music, much to the chagrin of the staff and regulars.  We had a nice lunch, then headed back to Aspen.  As we got close to Aspen I thought I spotted some sun on the Maroon Bells so we headed back out there again, but it didn't last.  We hope to try again on Monday as we head out for Denver.

The afternoon concert could best be described as "interesting".  Little/no JD music and lots of folk music.  One guys claim to fame was a song he wrote in 1965.  

Tonight's concert was fabulous!  It started at 7:30 and ended at 11:15 with only one short intermission.  Lots of different artists and many, many songs --  a very enjoyable event even for a casual JD fan like me.

So we're at the Mountain Chalet sing-along now.  This even happens every night -- people gather, musicians play, and people sing along.  Last night we stayed until 11:30 and we heard it didn't break up until 1:30 am!  So who knows how long it will last tonight.  I brought a cup with Diet Dr Pepper to held tide me over....

So that's Day 2 - two more concerts tomorrow.

Arriving at Aspen

We made it and are in Aspen.  Our flight was uneventful, taking off on time and arriving on time.  Our goal was to arrive at Aspen by 4:00 which we almost made, arriving at the park for the opening service at 4:02, due to many delays.  

We sure noticed was in increase in carry on luggage now that Northwest charges for all bags. As expected, we had a full plane - no empty seats.  

Once we got to the airport, it took forever to get our bags.   Mary eventually got her suitcase, but then the conveyor belt got jammed so they had to wait for a maintenance guy to un-jam it.  Having landed at 10:15, we finally headed to the car rental bus at 11:15 just to see one pull away.  We got on the next bus which was packed and we ended up at the end of the line.  After waiting a while I notice a Blue Key members line and went over there.  Sure enough since I joined their club, our car was ready and waiting for us!  That only cost of 15 minutes...

We were expecting the drive to Aspen to take about 3 1/2 hours since it was 11:45, I figured we had a little time to spare.  So instead of fast food, we had a nice burger at a local place - probably cost us another 10 minutes.  As I get on the road I see the mileage to Glenwood Springs are start computing - Looks like a 3:35 ETA at Aspen.  Then we hit lane closures.  I lost count, but the big one was about 30 miles long and we ended up doing 30 - 35 mph behind a long line of cars lead by a large heavy truck.  So now I'm getting worried and counting up all the  minutes I'd wasted.

We made it to Glenwood Spring at 3:25 and had 40 miles to go to Aspen.  The road to Aspen has lot so traffic signals and speed limits in the 45 - 55 mph range - not looking good.  But I found a couple of other cars zipping along and followed them and we made it to the park at 3:59!  But by the time we parked and walked over, they had just started the service.

So all's well, that ends well.  Mary saw several of her JD friends and we got some good pictures (which we have not uploaded yet) including one of her with Jim Connors who wrote "Grandmother's Feather Bed" (She was thrilled!)

That's it for now!

Weekend Conference

This weekend finds Mary and me in Lansing, Michigan at the annual Michigan Church Extension conference.  We're at a very nice Sheraton hotel - same one as last year - and the conference is going well.  Today we had an excellent keynote speaker talking about Discipleship followed by some breakout sessions.

Tonight is a banquet, followed by awards.  The morning brings some additional reports and a worship service capped by a very nice brunch.

Then it's back to Dearborn for a short week since we head for Aspen on Thursday!