Silverton - 2

Silverton is a scenic and fascinating place. Its mining heyday was in the early 1900s. Nowadays tourists and high-mountain enthusiasts provide its livelihood. The narrow-gage RR from Durango brings a lot of people to town in summer months. One shop-keeper (jewelry, I believe) said if it wasn't for foreign visitors, the town would dry up. As an example, another shop proprietor said he recently sold 150 postcards to a lady from France (we bought four).

I've been here several times over the years -- a few times after bicycle-riding from Durango (about 50 miles over a couple of high passes) in the days I did that sort of thing and a few times after backpacking expeditions in similar such days -- and always enjoyed the amenities and atmosphere (what there is: you can buy t-shirts saying "Got Oxygen?") here.

Here are some retired tour vehicles:

Saturday afternoon Jason and I hiked up a road on a mountain across from our RV park to this waterfall splashing down the mountain. The above Silverton pictures were taken from here.

Jason clings to a perilous perch beside the waterfall. Not really risky, though, Mom and Dad.

One more Silverton post to come -- the Brass Band concerts: the reason we were in Silverton. Great music and entertainment! But first, I'm flying Jason home today, returning tomorrow if flights are available.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

Silverton -1

Friday morning. Jason and I took a 4wd tour. Driver, Joe, and his faithful black-lab sidekick, Charlie, took us and a married couple from Memphis on a two-hour round trip to Clear Lake, situated in a high-mountain bowl just above timberline. The tour vehicle was an 85 Suburban, with its top removed, so we could stand up and get the best views.




When we got to the tour office, Joe was trying to alleviate Memphis-Paula's fears that she would die on the mountain, either from lack of oxygen or by rolling down it. He and Memphis-John played good cop (Joe) bad cop (John) successfully and off we went. For the most part she enjoyed the trip. Here are a few pictures:

All bodies of water surrounded by rocks call for rock-skipping and -throwing:

This waterfall flows out of Clear Lake.



One thing we learned: gold and silver mines in the Rockies are generally near the peaks. In contrast, in the California mountains, gold, especially, was found in streams. The difference is due to the age of the mountains. The Rockies are relatively young -- the gold hasn't yet been washed down into the canyons and streams below, while it has in the older CA mountains.

A Silverton slogan is "Experience life as it should be." Our driver fit that mode. He said he moved here a few years ago hoping to buy a tour concession. In the meantime, he started doing contract tour-driving and by doing that found out how much paperwork was required for running a tour business and decided no way. He and Charlie are living the good life just the way it is.

And, so, come to think of it, are we.

Cheers,

Rob, Susie, and Jason

Idaho Springs to Silverton

Going west from Idaho Springs, I-70 climbs to the Eisenhower (and Johnson, a former CO governor and senator) tunnels. The two tunnels are about 1.7 miles long at an average elevation of 11,112 ft. and take you under Loveland Pass, which tops out at 11,992 ft. The tunnels make a good resonator for Tuzi's airhorns, too. As you travel through the Rockies on major highways you can't help but be amazed at the abilities of the explorers, fur-trappers, and miners who first penetrated these mountains, squeezed through the canyons, scaled the passes, survived and thrived. The road-builders are pretty impressive, too.

We stopped for lunch in Frisco, then continued west, over Vail Pass, then through Vail. The lodges, homes, and condos run for miles. Then, just past Vail, no more trees. Kind of a jolt after our previous few days. (Incidentally, bark beetles are really thinning out the CO forests, as they did not long ago in NM. The Winter Park area is particularly hard hit.)

This is new country for me. From Vail Pass it's 150 miles of gentle downhill all the way to Grand Junction. You could put it in neutral and coast. I-70 parallels the CO River, which last we saw at Grand Lake, for much of this distance, most spectacularly in the Glenwood Canyon. Much of I-70 is elevated here, as you see in cities. Here's a website pic.

We spent the night at the GJ KOA, then headed south Thursday morning toward Silverton, 120 miles away. At Montrose we took a side trip to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. That gave us some practice in driving Tuzi up a narrow, steep road, which we would soon put to use. We disconnected the PT and took the scenic drive along the canyon's south rim.

This is an impressive canyon, narrow, steep and deep, as the following pictures show. Maximum depth is nearly 2800 ft.

Here's a website picture:

These aren't

We had lunch in Montrose, then headed south, over the Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton, via the Million Dollar Highway. This road is carved into the side of steep mountain slopes, as seen in the following internet picture.

This picture doesn't do the road justice. There are no guard rails because there are no shoulders in which to plant them. And there are probably no good pictures because there's no place to stop and take them. You hug the yellow center-line and try not to glance at the waiting chasm just beyond the outside white line. There was also repaving going on that required us to squeeze up against the side of the mountain for a sizable distance. Anyhow, Tuzi did well, going up the mountain at an acceptable (slow) speed and engine-braking safely down the other side. I did clip a couple of cones that had been set up a bit too far into my lane, but no harm, no foul.

Here's a website picture of Red Mountain.

Got to Silverton in mid-afternoon, got parked and fed, found Dick Reinert who has been here all week, with his son, Scott, who will be playing in the Brass Band concerts. We'll be here three nights.

Gentlemen, start your horns.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

Winter Park - 2

Tuesday continued fair and fine and we made this our Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park day. Grand Lake, on the west side of the park, is about 45 miles north and east of WP.

First on our schedule of activities was a short hike up a stream that empties into Grand Lake (the largest natural lake in CO). Here's Archer Falls and a group picture at the falls overlook.

And here's Grand Lake itself. Water from here gives rise to the Colorado River.


After lunch in the village of Grand Lake, very scenic, we drove into the National Park and up to the top and Trail Ridge Drive. From the Visitors Center some of us walked on up to a knob that is at 12,000 ft. elevation. Been there. Got the pictures. (Mike and Karen were there, too. Unfortunately, didn't get their pictures.)

On the return we stopped by Lake Irene, lovely, then took an ice cream break in Grand Lake.

Here's a family picture of Valerie, Malia, and Jeff. Focus??

Then it was back to the cabin to cook up our remaining hamburgers and start preparing for departure the next day.
Cheers,

Rob and Susie

Winter Park, CO - 1

Winter Park is an Aspen/Vail sort of ski resort, full of swanky condos and beautiful mountain homes. And more being built -- a very large set of hotels and apartments at the base of the ski runs. Jeff's boss, Tim, has a three-level house in the town of Winter Park, all nicely furnished and set up to easily accommodate our group of eight -- one family unit per level.

Sunday morning we took in a arts and craft fair, then got back to the house in time to welcome Kevin, Kellie, Andrew, Daniel, Christine, and Jan, still in CO. They had spent Saturday in the mountains and we had invited them to stop by for a cookout. Here are a few scenes. I apologize for not getting any pictures of Jan -- maybe Mike or Jeff can supply some of their photos for a future update. Anyhow, had a fine meal then took a walk along a stream that runs through WP.

Here are a few pix:

Christine, Kevin, Karen, Mike, Jeff

Jeff, Kellie, Mike

The next generation: Malia, Jason, Andrew, Daniel, Christine

Jason and Malia find rock with hole -- You'll see more of that hat!

After the McCubbins family departed in late afternoon to return to Castle Rock, some of us took a short hike near the ski area. A couple of scenes:

It had been cloudy and a little rainy on Sunday. Monday dawned fair and mild, so we decided to spend most of the day at the ski resort, with their alpine slide as the main attraction. They have a pair of nice long tracks, you can go really fast, and only once or twice did any of us get stuck behind a slow rider. Lines were not long, either, most of the time. The summer season is nearing an end and school has started in many areas.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

Colorado, August 2008

Dear Family and Friends



I'm late starting this blog -- having too much fun.



Early in the year we started planning a Easterling family get-together in CO. I had the convention of the American Statistical Association to attend in Denver the first week of August, which meant a chance to see Jeff, Valerie, and Malia. Jeff came up with the idea of renting his boss's cabin/house in Winter Park (a couple of hours from Denver) for a few days after the convention and having Mike, Karen, and Jason come to CO for the occasion. Susie and I would be in Tuzigoot and after Winter Park grandson Jason would continue touring CO with us, travel back to Cedar Crest, then I would fly him home to Cary, NC. About two-thirds through, all is going according to schedule.



We drove to Denver on Friday, 8/1. About 430 miles, which is longer than we like to do in a day, but nearly all interstate, so not too bad. We parked at Lake Chatfield State Park, only about 10 minutes away from Jeff's home in Highlands Ranch, on the SW side of Denver. Malia spent some time with us at the lake on Saturday.







Sunday the ASA meeting started and Jeff and I took the light-rail train downtown to register and attend. You can read hundreds of presentation abstracts at this site. Mine is here. If you'd like a copy of my powerpoint slides, just let me know.



Jeff and I continued the daily commute mostly through Thursday. Susie spent Tuesday with Malia and they made chocolate chip cookies that we enjoyed for a week thereafter.



About a year ago, my nephew, Kevin McCubbins, who is the son of Judy's sister, Jan, moved to Castle Rock, CO, a few miles south of Highlands Ranch. Wednesday night we went there for a picnic and country music concert in the park. Kevin and Kellie have three children and the bonus was that Jan was in town for a visit (she lives in MO). The concert was cut short by rain, but we had a great time back at K&K's house visiting and being entertained by the kids. It's really special to watch our kids having and raising kids.



Now, it gets a little complicated. We wanted to stay with Mike, Jeff, and families in the Winter Park cabin, so we needed to park Tuzigoot someplace. The driveway at the cabin wasn't big enough. There were no RV parks in Winter Park (go figure). Following Winter Park, our plan was to drive to Silverton, in SW CO, for the weekend. Silverton has an annual brass band festival and friend, Scott Reinert, always participates (he plays horn) and various members of the Reinert clan attend. I went about nine years ago and have wanted to go back ever since, so this was finally the time. To get from Winter Park to Silverton, we needed to go west on I-70, so it didn't make sense to leave Tuzigoot at Chatfield. Jeff found an RV park in Idaho Springs, which is on I-70, near where you turn off I-70 on US 40 north to go over Berthoud Pass to get to Winter Park.



I told you that to tell you this: We drove to Idaho Springs Friday morning (only about an hour's drive from Chatfield) and parked there for the day and night. Saturday morning we closed up Tuzi, packed up the PT, and drove to Winter Park. Found the cabin and unloaded.


Meanwhile, Jeff and Valerie, in two cars, picked up Mike and family at the airport and headed to Winter Park, arriving about an hour after we did. Winter Park report and pictures in the next posting.

Cheers,


Rob and Susie

Post Script

Some additional scenes from the trip home:

Our route took us past the intersection where James Dean died. There's a Steinbeck connection to this fact: Dean's first major movie role was in Steinbeck's East of Eden, set in the Salinas Valley. Furthermore, he was driving to a sports car race in Salinas when his fatal collision happened. Here's a tribute near that intersection, outside a store selling produce, mostly nuts, from the area.

In our drive to get home I withstood the lure of "historic route 66" at various I-40 exits in CA and AZ, but we did get off at Seligman in search of ice cream. Found it at the Snow Cap Drive-in, at east end of town, in case you drop by.

The Snow Cap sense of humor is indicated by the sign for "dead chicken." On the menu the sundaes are listed as either "male or female." I bit and naively asked, "What's the difference?" "With or without nuts," was the answer. Seligman has several Route 66 themed shops that we've visited before, but this was our first visit to the Snow Cap.

Here's the scene west of Gallup, just before you cross from AZ to NM. The Gallup I-40 corridor through red sandstone cliffs is really a great welcome-back-to-NM sight. Gives me a thrill as does the I-40 entry to NM on the east side when the flat TX cropland gives way to a vast array of mesas and arroyos.

A couple of hours later, here's the ancient Laguna Pueblo. Much better pictures at the link, but I like the ancient-modern contrast of this shot.

I mentioned last time that Cedar Crest welcomed us back with an afternoon mountain shower. Well, yesterday morning, sitting on the patio enjoying a cool morning, breakfast, and newspaper, I glanced up and saw rainbows. Grabbed my camera and ran around to the front of the house and got this shot. Cedar Crest: Not the end of the rainbow, but you can see it from here.

Th-th-that's all, Folks.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie

We're Home

Dear Family and Friends:

We got home Thursday noon. But first, a report on the visit last weekend of Malia, Jeff, and Valerie to Monterey.

On Saturday we headed for the Monterey Aquarium. Time after time when we told people we were going to Monterey for three months, they said, Go see the aquarium. We put off going until we had company to take. Malia had gotten excited at the Denver Aquarium, so the acclaimed Monterey Bay version was one of Jeff and Valerie's priorities.


And it was spectacular. We took it in morning and afternoon sessions, sandwiched around lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Factory. Malia was a little jet-lagged in the morning, but by afternoon was pretty active. You'll have to rely on web-site pictures -- too dark for my camera.


I was really impressed by the jellyfish. They're regarded as a simple animal, but they've got all these shapes and appendages and are transparent to boot. Fascinating.


We were lucky: Forest Gump was sitting outside the restaurant with his suitcase and box of chocolates. Jeff, a Forest fan, was thrilled; Malia's still thinking about it.



We ended the active part of the day at the Dennis the Menace Park -- Cartoonist Hank Ketcham was a Monterey Peninsula resident -- I've seen references to Carmel and Pebble Beach as the site of his residence (he died in 2001).


Sunday morning we took the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach. The plan was to go on down the coast to the Rocky Point restaurant where we had gone for Mother's Day lunch with Heidi, Mandi, and Paul. But when we got to the Pebble Beach Lodge, overlooking the 18th hole of the golf course, I had an inspiration: Let's go to Father's Day brunch here! In contrast to Mother's Day they had space available. Check out this view:

Great brunch spread, too. Pebble Beach is the site of the 2010 U.S. Open and it's not too early to buy souvenirs. Proably can't reserve this table now for the final day of the tournament.

We continued on down the coast until Valerie and Susie had seen enough cliffs and high bridges, then turned around and looped inland via the Carmel Valley to return home.

Monday, in search of sun and a warmer beach, we drove up to Santa Cruz, by way of the lettuce and strawberry fields in the Salinas Valley. (We'd been told that we'd know it was summer in Monterey when the fog set in -- that seemed to be what was happening this weekend, as you can see from the pix.) On Saturday, Jeff, Malia, and I had gone down to the Marina Beach. Showing Malia the ocean was another item on Jeff's checklist of things to do. We were standing near the wave line when an above-average wave came ashore that got our feet wet and that was a bit of a shock for Malia. This perch at Santa Cruz was close enough for her.

We also enjoyed a stroll down the Santa Cruz Boardwalk -- pretty good crowd for a Monday it seemed to us.

After that we hiked through the big redwoods near Santa Cruz, then headed over the coastal range for a late lunch, a stop at a Los Gatos park for running, swinging, and sliding by youknowwho, and then to the San Jose airport where the kids had a late flight back to Denver. We had a great time and were really glad they came to see us.


My last class had been on Thursday and I had prepared my final exam, scheduled for Tuesday, early in anticipation of spending most of the weekend hosting and touring. On Thursday morning, right before class I got the inspiration to make the test a take-home exam. I had a problem in the exam that needed some reflection and thinking, and that can be hard to do in a two-hour exam. So, idealist that I am, I decided I wanted to give my students a chance to show me their best work and that meant giving them the weekend to work on it.

And it paid off. A couple of potential Bs moved up to A and some borderline Cs moved up to solid Bs. I'm a real softie. I want them to realize this stuff I'm peddling can help them in their career, so I don't want to feed the negative impression so many people have of statistics.

Incidentally, my Bahrain-Navy, Annapolis-graduate, student won a prestigious award for his thesis -- he developed a computer-based, easy to use method for determining how to deploy Coast Guard vessels around a port to defend against small-boat attacks such as hit the U. S. Cole. It's interesting, in class and office visits, he, Abdul, is very quiet and deferential. In making his thesis presentation, competing against four others, he was really dynamic: "This works, it's been successfully used, you can use it now, so I'm really glad to have the opportunity to tell you about it." He made the sale.

Got some other good feedback. My civilian student, who works for a Fort Ord organization, said this was the first stat test that made her think, instead of being just "chug and plug." One of the professors in the department sent a note saying that the thesis of one of her students was improved by being in my class and by my consulting with him. He also had a class project that was very difficult to analyze and we spent a lot of time working through that. My Korean AF officer was very appreciative. He wrote: "Thanks you sir! I could learn a lot of insights from you. And I had enjoyed your class." I got a lot of insights from him, too. He sat front row, center, and usually had questions before class started that told me where I needed to hit some topics again.

One of the things I like about being on campus is the opportunity to attend a variety of seminars. An Academic Center in the same building as my office is aimed at studying and improving the military-civilian interface ; they had some interesting speakers -- one from Save the Children and one from the FBI forensic lab were two of the people I heard. I also heard a lot of Operations Research seminars about various R&D efforts aimed at improving military operations, such as the above harbor protection example. Another example had to do with a portable camera tower that could be used to scan an area looking for activity that suggested bad guys planting IEDs (improvised explosive devices, I believe) while being able to distinguish such activity from a local gardener hoeing weeds. Tactics for deploying UAVs (unmanned airborne vehicles; so many acronyms, so little time: I learned that SME was a subject-matter expert. I've used that term repeatedly in my class and didn't know there was a time-saving acronym) was another seminar topic. I doubt that the general public has much idea about how much research is done to improve military things -- we hear mostly about the problems, failures, and cost overruns.

I had thought I'd spend Tuesday grading and we'd leave for home on Wednesday or Thursday, but since I had a couple of weeks before grades were due, and because Matt and family were in Albq on business, staying in what they called Hotel Easterling, I collected the exams on Tuesday morning and we left at noon. As we left, Susie said: I know it'll be hot along the way and at home, but (after three months of Pacific-chilled weather) I promise not to complain about hot weather.

Got to Bakersfield for the night. Next day was a long one -- 13 hours, 570 miles -- to Holbrook, AZ. I kept a close eye on Tuzi's temperature gage and any time it strayed above 200 degrees, I'd gear down, let the engine rev a bit and cool itself off. (Until last summer, when we got an overheating warning light on the way to Taos, I'd just let the automatic transmission shift when it wanted. After reading the manual, decided I needed to do some peremptory shifting.) We went through Needles, CA about noon, so avoided the worst of the triple-digit heat. A/C worked well enough that we kept cool -- that wasn't the case in the original Tuzigoot.

Oh, one good thing: We had gassed up not too far from Monterey on the way out in March and when we left Tuesday we had about 3/4 of a tank. That enabled us to get into AZ before having to fill up. CA diesel prices are about a dollar per gallon higher than they are in AZ.

We stopped briefly in Winslow to visit the La Posada Hotel. They've added a large Mary Coulter room gift shop and are landscaping the front entrance. They've got videos playing in the lobby describing the restoration process and also Tina Mion's art. She's the wife of the owner. The owner, Allen Affeldt, who we got to know a few years ago, wasn't around, so we didn't have a chance to visit with him. We'd thought about having dinner there, even went so far as to freshen up a bit, but we just weren't in an elegant-meal mood, versus a let's get parked for the night mood, so we continued on to Holbrook for the night. Same KOA we'd stayed at in March on the way out.

Got home Thursday noon and had a nice day with Matt and family, all except Kaci who is in the Cleveland area for the summer.

One last shot of the Marina Dunes and Pacific Ocean:

Bottom Line: Great experience. Glad to be home. Cedar Crest even staged an afternoon thunderstorm today just to welcome us back. Priceless.

Cheers,

Rob and Susie