Snowmass to Denver via Aspen

Monday was a great travel day.  We got some great pictures of the JD Sanctuary in Aspen before heading to Independence Pass, lunch at Leadville, crossing the continental divide at Loveland pass, then on to Denver for our flight back to Detroit.  Two 12,000 ft passes in one day!

I took a 1 minute video tour of the new part of the JD Sanctuary. Click the Play button to see it. (Please ignore the shakiness and the sounds from the workmen for the first 10 seconds)

We had blue skies and bright sun today as you can see from these pictures. The place is just amazing in the summer as you can see.   I found out the water for the new section comes from Aspen storm drain which means that the water entering the river will be much cleaner having passed through this wetlands.

We took a walk long this path at Independence Pass.  It was chilly - just 49 degrees (10 Celsius) so we were decked out in long pants and coats.


Later we enjoyed a nice brunch at the Golden Burro in Leadville.  It was brunch because they only serve breakfast until 11:30, but omelettes work well for lunch.  They even played the John Denver song "Some Days are Diamonds" while we waited! Since weather in Denver and Detroit was forecast to be pretty warm we changed into shorts before leaving.

Once on I-70 east we saw construction warnings before the Eisenhower Tunnel and we had not driven Loveland Pass for quite some time so we opted for that route and were very glad we did as we saw very long backups as the tunnel was down to 1 lane. It was neat seeing the A-Basin ski area which Mary and I skied in our younger years.  Looking at it today we could not believe we actually skied that steep hill!
So now we are back home.  It was a great trip, with super music and fabulous scenery.

Rainy Aspen, then a Great Concert!

Today was our Aspen sight seeing day, but we woke up to a rainy morning so we considered other plans.  In the end we delayed our trip to Aspen which worked out well since the rain did eventually stop. Once in Aspen, we walked around the John Denver Sanctuary.  It is amazing to see how colorful it looks in the summer.  As you can see it was a cloudy day and we hope to get better pictures tomorrow morning as we head to Independence Pass.

We spent most of our time walking around the new area of the Sanctuary which is between the bridge and Mill Street.  This is Mary at the new entrance off Mill Street.  Among other features it has a special area called Child's Play with a sandy beach.  The Sanctuary is now many times the size of the original.  There is still some construction in progress near Mill Street but it looks very close to being finished.  Maybe by October...
After that we had lunch at the Hickory House.  I tied their half slab of ribs and boy were they delicious!

The evening entertainment was a Mack/Chris/Rachel concert and what a concert it was!!  The format was wide open with each artist taking turns playing a song or two and a few they played together.   It was mostly their own music with two John Denver songs and a few oldies.  It was a very personal concert with Chris, Mack and Rachel frequently interacting with the crowd.  Rachel did her debut performance on guitar and Mack sang one brand new song, while Chris played a new song he's preparing.  All in all, it was a splendid evening, and a great way to end to our time in Colorado.

Aspen Camp Concert

We had quite a day today, starting off with driving from Louisville, CO to Snowmass, via Glenwood Canyon. Even without the sunshine, the canyon was magnificent!  We arrived at 1:00 and were able to check into our room at the Pokolodi early.  We then watched  (with some trepidation) the rain start as the concert time approached. The concert was scheduled to start at 3:00. Fortunately by that time the rain had slowed a drizzle.

The band played a great concert with many of our favorite John Denver songs.  From right to left are Chris Nole, Mollie Weaver, Mack Bailey and Rachel Levy with Tom Paxton behind Mollie.  We enjoyed singing along as the band played several less familiar songs like The Flower That Shatter the Stone and Bet on the Blues.  They wrapped up with Eagles and Horses and Rocky Mountain High.

After the concert we talked to Mack, Rachel, and Chris, as well as other friends, Maria Woytko-Morris and Vickie DeVilbiss.  Of course Mary got her picture taken with Mack as you can see.
After the concert we ate supper then headed back to see if I won on either of my silent auction bids.  I was the high bidder on gift cards to my favorite brewpub in Glenwood Springs which I will use on October.
It was a very enjoyable birthday for Mary!

First day in Colorado

We flew in late last night, picked up our car and finally got to the hotel about 1am Michigan time. Today is a fairly relaxing day, visiting the Red Rocks arena and the new home of the John Denver Spirit statue. Also there is the Colorado Music Hall of Fame which has an entire room dedicated to its inaugural inductee, John Denver. We spent some time there, walking around the amphitheater, but pictures were hard to come by since there was a group setting up on the stage and lots of high schoolers doing various exercises on the arena seats and stairs.

The highlight of the evening is attending a Pete Huttlinger concert at Guitars, Etc in Longmont. We had a great time and he was definitely surprised to see us! We saw several other JD and Pete friends there.  Pete was in great form tonight and played many favorites.

Tomorrow we head west to Snowmass for the Deaf Camp picnic with several hours of music by Mack Bailey, Chris Nole, Mollie Weaver and Tom Paxton along with a couple of other bands.
It's a looking to be a great music weekend!