Cold again

After a nice break with temperatures hovering near 50 and sunny, last night we had this horrendous windstorm although not nearly so bad as other areas and today it was sunny and cold , I'm not sure it ever got over 35. I did get out in it , it wasn't too bad, and it wasn't as cold as this place in the photo. These are the Never Summer mountains (or ex volanoes) as viewed from the Trail Ridge road in the Rocky Mt National Park. Although it wasn't this cold, this picture is kind of my mood for the day. I may be heading out on my NM adventure tomorrow so won't be able to post for a couple of weeks since I don't have a handy dandy wi fi laptop. My staples come out tomorrow, I hope my skin doesn't split open and peel like a grape

Blech

Hunting Antelope

Well with acamera which isn't powered by a nuclear reactor so I have to get pretty close (50-100 feet for decent closeups) which brings to mind for me that hunting antelope in WY with a scoped rifle is really a great sport for a beginner. This photo was taken with a HP digital camera with 5.5 megapixel resolution. The buck just stood and watched me walk slow up to him. I found if I didn't look directly at the antelope I could get a lot of good shots by walking up on them. This is just North of Medicine Bow, the ridge in the background is Como Ridge Oct 2007.

Elvis Lives!!! well on Sirius Radio Ch 6013

Yesterday I got up feeling like absolute SCRATCH ( which means HE double L in case you aren't from the South. This morning I got up feeling pretty darn good, even did 15 minutes on my ex bike before 8 am. The difference? ELVIS in the morning. I went to bed and left the TV on Sirius Ch 6013 which is all Elvis all the time, I didn't leave the sound on but first thing this morning I hit it and they are broadcasting from Graceland. It's hard to drag around Elvis' version of "Runaway" or "I'm A Steamroller". Long live the King of Rock and Roll.

Things they will NOT tell you

If you are considering gastric bypass surgery they will talk until your ears bleed about grams of protein, ounces of fluid, BMI, cardiac suitability etc etc etc. What you won't hear is that 4 days after it, you are quite convinced that your midsection is no longer your own, it is a strange, bruised and foreign place that seems to move of its own accord as you shift around. I imagine that wouldn't make very good press for the surgeons who perform this.

I did feel better today, walked a mile in 35 degree weather, got my 70 grams of protein and over 8 cups of water, discovered new ways to burp, triple grack on that, and convinced my housedogs to please not jump up on me when I let them out since I might explode I feel so swollen from all the hospital IV fluids. If they really want to torture someone and make them tell all, hook them up to an IV and pump fluids in them a bit faster than they can hope to get rid of them. Once they reach the hound dog tick stage I guarantee they will be singing like the proverbial bird.

Where is the truck that hit me?

Gack, been away from home and computer for 3 days. I had some laparoscopic surgery on the 21st. Apparently laparascopic is the name of the truck that hits you during the surgery. It is the only explanation I can find for waking up in recovery feeling like someone had run over my left side. Oh yeah and my surgeons left ink markings all over me like a freaking road map. Having scrubbed on my tender belly trying to remove them I'm now convinced they tattooed them on me while I was rendered helpless by anesthesia.

My Obsession

Since 1985 I have invested (dumped) a lot of money on this venture. The venture being the dog hobby. It is a money pit, but as I tell anyone bored enough to ask it keeps me out of bars. I have been really lucky to have some pretty nice dogs from others and also bred here. The boys here are Neechee and his two #1 ASFA sons Keelo and Vger who are black and white like him and his son Tarzan who is the spotted tri. Vger also known as Viagra and sometimes called "Sandra buy a vowel", has been a very entertaining little guy. Thanks to Dan Gauss and Lee Gearheart for these photos.

One last manic post

Well, I'm trying to keep my mind off of having surgery tomorrow, and knowing that I probably won't feel like posting for a few days at the least. In my leisure time, one of the things that I do is attend (and judge) lure coursing trials. December 2007 I caught this beautiful sunrise over a Northern Florida lake near Tallahassee.

Arkansas already

There are some really cool vistas from Hot Springs National Park observation tower. One of them is the "old town of Hot Springs" replete with the elegant hotels and spas that made the town famous originally. It's a far cry from the modern part of the city. Driving through the park is free but riding the elevator to the top of the 180 foot tower on the highest spot in town will set you back about 6 bucks. Well worth it if you want to take some great photos and if you are a history buff ( lots of historical information on level two) or a Bill Clinton fan as on level three there's memorabilia from his high school days in Hot Springs including yearbook photos , commencement program and other local items relating to him.

Almost Forgot

I did mention the view from Old Falls Branch Road in the RMSP being spectacular. I don't want to be called a tease so here is one of the overlooks probably around 10,000 feet. The smoke in the valley is from a controlled burn that was being done the day I whizzed through the park.

Medicine Bow, WY

Medicine Bow, quaint name for a town of less than 250 situated at 6700 feet altitude on the great Overland trail. Once a cattle and mining boom town situated on the railroad, now classified as a ghost town in many books and internet sites. It has a rich history, and hotel (The Virginian) with real old West "flavor". Hope you aren't that attached to having a telephone, TV or bathroom in your hotel room.

Birdwatching

Another little pleasure of life. Since I don't have a really fancy camera with ultra zooming, Captain Crunch decoder, subnuclear air to ground lenses, I really only get photos of the cheeky ones like this Gray Jay that was harassing tourists in Rocky Mt National Park.

Rocky was great

Rocky was GREAT!! Yes, the movie too but I was in 9th grade when I saw it. Rocky Mountain National Park is referred to as Rocky (well according to one of some dozens of brochures I paged through later after I got to WY. This photo is of the Never Summer Mountain Range as viewed from the Trail Ridge Road which is the highest through road in the US. I also took that Mustang up the Old Fall River Road which is incredibly steep grades of 11 and 12%, and a combo of gravel and dirt with switchbacks that almost made me want to back down the way I came. The view from OFRR was spectacular and well worth the heart palpitations.

The Shining?

I navigate the switchbacks and steep grade and so here's this quaint little town in a really high mountain valley with a beautiful lake. What could be scary about it.

Now what is that up on the right? That building looks strangely familiar but why

rack the brain rack the brain

DAMN, that's the hotel from "The Shining" not the Jack Nicholson movie version of it but the television version. So isn't the movie better? Not when you know that the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park CO is the hotel that Stephen King stayed in when he wrote the book. I believe they have ghost tours there in addition to really expensive creepy rooms.

Estes Park

So if you live here in Estes Park? Where would you go for pretty scenery?

Middle Age Crazy Moment

So last October I get over my insane fear of flying (or at least beat it into temporary submission) and order a ticket to Denver via Frontier. I'm going to fly out, rent a car and then drive up to WY to walk the high desert in search of the elusive white tailed jackrabbit. The car I had reserved of course had flown the coop when I arrived, they offered me a minivan as a free upgrade. Gee, HOW EXCITING since I drive one of those most every weekend to dog events. What else ya got ask I? So for a minimal upgrade charge , I left in a SWEET ride! 2008

V8 Mustang GT convertible. One of the few cars pretty enough to take photos of. This was early Thursday morning and since my friends wouldn't be arriving in WY until Friday afternoon I had some time to kill and money to burn. So......off to the Rocky Mt National Park for me to see some of those real mountains as opposed to the ones called mountains where I live in middle TN. Well heck I'm in a convertible I must drive with the top down right? So of course I did, now it wasn't quite as crazy as it sounds it was in the mid 70s and sunny although I think I did have the heat on too.