October in Southern Colorado

October 3, 2015September 30, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

This morning we woke up to heavy fog and 44 degrees outside.

But, per usual, the fog burned off to reveal a great view of the Spanish Peaks and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

Up high the leaves are changing quickly and falling down, but at 7,000 feet it is still cool and beautiful.

In the small town of La Veta, the first Saturday in October is reserved for Octoberfest! The whole town shuts down with Main Street closed to cars, so vendors from everywhere can sell their wares…

….to the tune of a German band, the smell of freshly roasted bratwurst…

….and a darn good antique car show!

What’s not to like about that?

Looking forward to another amazing light show tonight, like the sunset we had here a few nights ago.

To learn more about how we ended up here, living in a solar home in the Colorado outback, check out: A Memoir of Retirement: From Suburbia to Solar in Southern Colorado… Also, please follow me on Twitter!

The Aspens are Golden This Time of Year!

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

I had just been up to Cripple Creek on Friday, so I knew the aspens would be perfect up at Cordova Pass yesterday. It’s south of here, off the Highway of Legends.

At 11,248 feet (3,428 m)), Cordova Pass lies on the western shoulder of the West Spanish Peak. The drive up there was gorgeous and made so much better with the fact that so few people are ever on that road.

And when we got there… WOW!

I didn’t know this is also a wonderful place to view wildflowers in mid-June. We also stopped off in the tiny town of Cucharas (altitude 8,468 feet), and made a reservation at the Timbers for Mike’s upcoming birthday.

Then we came home to see the Broncos win again, observe another gorgeous sunset over the Spanish Peaks, and then a beauty of a lunar eclipse!

“I just want to live happily ever after every now and then…” — Jimmy Buffet

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Autumn in the High Country 2015

September 26, 2015October 1, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 9 Comments

“Up on Cripple Creek she sends me, if I spring a leak she mends me, I don’t have to speak she defends me, a lover’s dream if I ever did see one!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDnlU6rPfwY

Yesterday was wonderful! A new friend invited me to drive out to Cripple Creek west of Colorado Springs (elevation 9,494 feet), to enjoy the changing Aspen leaves. You never know what you’ll get, but this time we hit pure gold!

This was also a nice trip down memory lane for me. As a youngster, my family used to drive up to the Imperial Hotel to see the melodramas. Those are fond memories for me.

For many years Cripple Creek was just a high valley, perfect for raising cattle. But in October 1890, a ranch hand named Bob Womack discovered gold there, changing Cripple Creek forever. By 1900 more than 50,000 people called the gold camp home.

When the golden era ended in 1918, more than $300 million in gold had been mined in what would be the last great gold rush in North America. By the 1920s, only about 40 mines remained, but two decades later, in the 1940s, the town began to promote itself as a tourist destination, offering visitors a glimpse into the past.

In 1991, laws were passed opening the town to limited-stakes gaming. That’s what my friend enjoys. It was fun for me to see what Blackjack is all about. Great way to observe human behavior!

Today Cripple Creek has reinvented itself as a full-service tourist destination, with a number of great museums beautifully showcasing the rich history of the West.

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A Few Great Boomer Blogs for Your Consideration

September 14, 2015December 12, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

This is my favorite fantasy image of a blog carnival!

Ever since I started keeping a blog in 2007, I have belonged to what was then called a “Blog Carnival.” The idea is to share with my readers a few posts by other boomer bloggers I enjoy reading. This post is #417 in that series. Yes, I am a member of the longest-running boomer blog carnival ever!

This week I wish to share a post from “The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide” by Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist. Rita generously keeps us up-to-date on consumer issues like the fact that American credit card debt is up substantially. She says, outstanding credit card debt is expected to be more than $900 billion by the end of this year, bringing the average household’s debt balance to $7,813 – the highest amount since the Great Recession.

Meryl Baer reports that she enjoyed, sort of, the movie A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. Read her review here. She also headed West for a wedding. Her adventure began in the airport. Check out what happened in Jetsetters R Us.

Tom Sightings was inspired by the movie, The End of the Tour, a biopic of David Foster Wallace starring Jason Segel, to pick up a book of essays by this celebrated writer. For Tom’s reaction, and a small window into the mind of the genius of David Foster Wallace, head on over to The Ultimate Question.

I began my week with an unfortunate backward tumble off a short ladder, which landed me in the ER for a few scalp staples and a week of aches and pains. I have to quit falling like this…NOW!

At least this stumble afforded me some nice nature watching right outside my door! Oh that’s bad, no that’s good, so the Chinese fable goes…

Life among the birds, the bees and the bunnies!

September 12, 2015October 11, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

Can you spy the camouflaged bunny in the photo above?

Oh! There he is!

Since my last (AND FINAL!) concussion this past Tuesday, I have had the time and proper disposition to sit and look out of our south-facing doors and windows quite a bit. In this process I have observed many small bunnies crawl up through our sunflower bushes and peek in. Then they run back down the hill as fast as they can!

For unknown reasons, the disturbed ground around our new home has harvested hundreds of sunflower bushes, some over six feet tall! This ground cover attracts an assortment of insects and birds, especially some tiny yellow birds. The sunflowers are the perfect cover for small bugs, birds, etc.

Then this morning we had a new visitor, a Road Runner…up-close-and-personal! They are bigger than I thought, and quite blue when seen up close. Mike says this one seems to be following him around. I guess that explains why they are in the cuckoo family…

I am filled with gratitude that I can now live like this forever. Please go learn more about our move from Fort Collins to here in my new memoir and follow us on TWITTER!

Photo credits to Mike for these great close-ups!