Saturday - Gondola & Beer Fest

Saturday morning was time for another free ride - this time on the gondola. We traveled up to Level 3 where all the attractions are - not that we were interested in them - we just wanted to have a look and go for a walk.

The gondolas up to this level were all enclosed and Jo was fine with that:

At Level 3 there were chairlifts up to the higher slopes, but these were open, bench-style, and there was no way Jo was going up in them, so we settled for coffee:

We then headed down the Four o'Clock Trail back to the village. Most of it was a ski slope but it was a pleasant stroll downhill:

It didn't take long - it was only a mile or so downhill - so we thought we had plenty of time to travel back to Dillon, where there was a beer festival on in the afternoon. We jumped on the (free) bus to Frisco and stayed on it as it moved on to Silverdale and then Dillon.

It was a beautiful afternoon and the setting at the marina at Lake Dillon was splendid. We worked our way through the products of 16 different Colorado breweries (32 different beers) - but fear not, dear people - the glasses were only one-thirds of a pint, and they were mostly only half filled, so we didn't really drink all that much - honest. Here's Jo just after we left the festival to catch the bus home:

Is she happy? You bet!

Thursday/Friday in Breckenridge

Well, we've learned a bit about how Sat Nav operates in North America. Our recently acquired handheld unit has the latest software, so there could be no confusion over new roads etc.

My plan was to do a loop of Lake Dillon with a stop on the way there - or back - to do one of the half hourly tours round Breckenridge Distillery. Of course, I thought I knew better and ignored Sat Nav's instructions coming out from our resort, thinking that it'll soon re-calculate anyway and re-direct us no matter which way we went. Certainly, the European software is not slow to tell you to turn around at the earliest opportunity if you're heading in the wrong direction.

We climbed out of Breckenridge on Highway 9 (S) and I did notice that the forecast time for reaching our programmed destination (Dillon) seemed to be getting later and later. Sat Nav didn't speak to us and the map showed that we should carry on the road we were on. We were in no hurry anyway and the drive was interesting.

Eventually we got to the top of the Hoosier Pass - 11,500 feet, marking the Continental Divide (https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Continental_Divide_of_the_Americas):

The scenery around us was spectacular and we thought we might go for a short stroll up one of the trails. We didn't get far before the heavy breathing started - the trail wasn't that steep but we were another 2,000 feet up from Breckenridge and it was hard work - especially after yesterday's relatively strenuous walk in the sun. I looked round at Jo and took pity on her - privately I was quite happy to quit too. Time for a few photos first:

Carrying on H9(S), we drove through Alma -  the highest incorporated municipality in US - and to Fairplay. We had now driven over 20 miles in the wrong direction and Sat Nav hadn't said a word - until now. We were asked to take a left, then a right, then another right. Yes, back on the same road! Did Sat Nav think there was no safe place to turn until now?

Back we went - straight through Breckenridge, this time in the right direction - north. We drove through Frisco and crossed the dam at Dillon. What a quiet town - but we found a brewpub - Pug Ryan's:

We had lunch there and then walked down to the lakeside:

On the way back, we finally found the Distillery and did the tour there:

Back in our resort, I went back to the pool. Jo hasn't been in yet, but she's getting closer - twice she's come down in her costume, but she still hasn't taken the plunge. It's a large pool enclosed by glass surrounds, giving a great view of the snow-capped mountains. This shot doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea:

We are surrounded by wonderful walking and cycling trails, beautiful mountains and loads of bike rental stores. I was champing at the bit, but I knew I couldn't head off on my own, and my attempts to persuade Jo to try cycling met with resistance - until I came up with a creative compromise. It's all downhill from Breckenridge to Frisco - a distance just short of 10 miles - and I found a store willing to do one way hire, dropping the bike off in Frisco and then getting the (free) bus back. What's more we could do it on a tandem!

So this morning (Friday) we got up and picked up our helmets and the tandem, after a brief lesson from the shop. It's not as simple as it looks - co-ordination of both riders is essential and communication is key. The bike itself is big, long and heavy and takes a bit of manoeuvring. Our first few rotations were a bit wobbly - I could feel this weight behind me, swinging from side to side - it was all I could do to keep us upright, but soon we were off and running and all was well.

Further down the trail we posed for a photo:

We had been warned that there was a small uphill section as we approached Frisco, but we weren't quite ready when we hit it and we struggled up the slope. Jo was "peching" hard and so we stopped for a rest:

We made it safely in the end, although I don't have eyes in the back of my head, so I'm not quite sure how even the distribution of work was. The iced coffees at Abbey's were very welcome and we then wandered over to the marina and then up Main St, where it was a bit of a party day, with BBQ competitions going on:

The museum had some old school desks in it, just like we had back in the day:

You'll not be surprised that we found yet another brewpub - Back Country Brewery - where we had a lovely lunch on their upstairs decking, after which we jumped on the bus back to Breckenridge. I went back to the pool, but Jo decided on a bath instead.

Tonight we had pizza delivered as we slouched in our jammies.

Tuesday/Wednesday in Breckenridge

The morning of our first full day in Breckenridge was spent shoe shopping for Jo. Her feet were still sore after Sunday's mammoth hike round Denver.

Breckenridge is a lovely little town/village, with lots of beautiful shops. Many of them are outdoor themed of course, but there's plenty to admire. Comparisons with our own Aviemore are definitely odious.

It took some time but we got there in the end - Jo got a nice pair of trainers/running shoes and she gave them a really good work out this morning (Wednesday).

There's a creek runs right through the centre of the town and there's a nice little walkway parallels it. Along the way there are chalkboards and you are encouraged to add your comments to "I Love Breckenridge Because". The first one we saw displayed:

As if to emphasise the point, there's even an establishment that goes by the name of:

The distinct smell of cannabis is certainly prevalent throughout the town.

The whole area is geared up as a year round resort. When the main ski-ing season stops, mountain biking and hill-walking etc are soon in full swing. There are trails everywhere:

The sun was blazing down by mid-morning and we found a lovely little coffee shop that had tables out on its back lawn so we could sit there and admire the snow-topped mountains that surround the village:

After coffee and a short walk, it was nearly lunchtime and, after trudging round the shops, the least I deserved was a beer or two so we headed to the Breckenridge Brewery - just across the road from our resort. Initially seated on the outdoor patio, we had to scurry for cover when a big storm suddenly broke. Thunder, lightning, torrential rain and hailstones, but by the time we had finished lunch, the sun was out again and I spent some time at the pool in the afternoon.

Today (Wednesday) we decided to take advantage of at least one of the many trails. Our resort had organised a trip to the Sallie Barber Mine yesterday but we weren't in a position to join them, as Jo didn't have any decent walking shoes, so we decided to do it ourselves today.

It wasn't a long walk - just 2.7 miles up and back, with an elevation change of only 400 feet or so. It was a beautiful day and the walk was very pleasant:

We got to the defunct mine at the top in good time:

Beyond the old mine works there was a steep drop and we were both amazed to see a whole family clambering up what seemed like a vertical slope. They were collecting stuff and I asked them what it was? "Can't you see?" Sure enough, just looking round at the ground all around us, it was sparkling in the sun. Yes, there is still gold in them thar hills!

Of course, it's mostly in tiny little specks:

but the family found large chunks, rather, we imagine, as the miners would have found them originally in the late 1800's:

You'll have to take my word for it that there were loads of little specks of gold in this rock.

We decided that the walk was fairly short and it was an up and down one, rather than a loop. On the way up we had met a lady mountain biker who joined our trail at an intersection labelled Turk's Trail. We asked her if this led back to the main French Gulf Road and she confirmed yes - about 2 miles from this point. It seemed like a good idea at the time to take this loop back - and it was an interesting trail, but it wasn't long before we realised it was heading back in the general direction of Breckenridge - a long way from where our car was parked on the other side of the creek.

Eventually, we met another trail - the B & B one - and this seemed to be heading more downhill towards the creek - and we needed to find a way to get across this and back on the main road, so we diverted again here.

Soon we came to a lookout point over an old dredging station:

We met a family coming the other way and asked them to reassure us that the trail we were now on would eventually lead us back to the main road - and this they did confirm as they marched on towards the dredging station we had just passed.

We had travelled downhill for miles but got back safely to the main road after a couple of hours. Now the problem was that we had to walk back up the road to where our car was - at least a couple of miles uphill.

I charged ahead of Jo and got back to the car in about 40 minutes - dry as a bone (orally) and sweating from the backpack I was carrying. On the way I met the family we had passed earlier and they had crossed the creek over a bridge we never saw. If only we had known, we could have saved ourselves a couple of miles.

When I got back to the car park, I immediately jumped in the car and hurried back down the hill to pick up Jo to head back to our resort. It had been an interesting adventure - a bit longer than initially planned at 3 hours and over 11 kms, but good exercise and some interesting walking scenery.

This afternoon was lazing by the pool then back to the apartment for a jacuzzi bath before dinner. G & T's first of course!

Breckenridge

We picked up our hire car at Denver airport - I should say that Hertz service for their Gold Club members is superb - you just turn up and find out where they have left your car and drive off - the keys are in the ignition. No paperwork - that's the way it should be.

So we drove back WSW towards the mountains along the I-70 and climbed up Lookout Mountain and noticed a sign for "Buffalo Bill's Graveyard and Museum", so we turned off and drove a few miles before reaching it. For those of us of a certain vintage, there is a magic that mostly came through the cinema of the 50's and early 60's when "Cowboys and Indians" Western films were all the rage. Magical names like Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers etc all conjured up a world we in Britain could only imagine - and here it was brought to life!

Another tourist kindly offered to take this photo of us at the top of Lookout Mountain:

The museum was very good and we learned a lot about Buffalo Bill's very progressive attitude for the time towards "Indians" and Women. Sitting Bull's magnificent feathered headdress was there as were lots of images of the great showman himself:

Of course, there were the silly touristy things too, like these, which were meant for kids - well, we were re-living our childhood, weren't we?:

We knew that Buffalo Bill had taken his Wild West Show, which could command crowds exceeding 80,000, over to Europe at the start of the 20th Century, but what we hadn't appreciated was that he took it round the small towns, including, of all places, Fraserburgh!:

We had lunch there too - Jo had the Buffalo Burger and I had the Buffalo Dog.

Re-joining the I-70, we came across 12 miles of virtually static traffic, due to roadworks, but we eventually made it to our apartment in Breckenridge about 3 pm. The first thing to do was to stock up with groceries - and booze of course. We have to be a little careful up here because of the effects of altitude. There's lots of warnings about altitude sickness and what to do - lots of water being the main one. It can cause breathlessness too - and the air is very dry, so we have two humidifiers running in the apartment just now.

The snow-capped mountains around us are spectacular - must get some photos later - but the priority today will be to try and get a decent pair of walking shoes for Jo.

To close, here's our car - a Toyota Camry:

Denver

The journey was fine - all went to plan. The holiday always starts with G & T's on the big flight - Jo had Tanqueray but I stuck to Gordon's - although I did have a can of my favourite London Pride as well.

For a change, there were a number of films that I would be happy to watch - American Sniper, which I started but then fell asleep; Eddie Remayne's interpretation of Stephen Hawkins' early life; Foxcatcher; Birdman; Kingsman; Selma; Still Alice and Unbroken. Hightly unusual to have such a decent selection - some of them films we had wanted to go and see in Australia, but never quite got round to. In the end, all I saw was the first episode of Better Call Saul - the Breaking Bad spin-off.

We were upstairs in Business Class and were amongst the first to get off the plane. They have a new Cusotms procedure at Denver - as well as scanning your passport, you have to do your fingerprints and retina photographs yourself on a machine, as well as answer a few questions. You eventually get a confirmation slip which you take down to the Customs Officers and they simply wave you through. Our luggage was amongst the first off too and before we knew it we were in the arrivals hall and ready to head to our hotel.

There was a storm brewing and it transpired that we were the last plane allowed to land - the rest were all diverted to other airports. The roads were a bit wet - we got a big SUV private limo to take us in - but most of the electrical activity seemed to be in the surrounding mountains.

We have a mini suite at Marriott Town Place Suites and after checking in, we walked to the local brewpub - Lowdown - and had a bite to eat and a few beers before heading to bed at what must have been 5 am in the morning body clock time.

Slept soundly and awoke after what I thought was a good night's sleep only to discover that it was only 2 am local time. Rolled over and eventually went down for breakfast.

We had decided we needed to shake the jetlag out of our systems and walk a fair bit today. A target was City Park where there is a Mile High walk round the park. On the way we were passing the Botanic Gardens and decided to pop in. What a good decision - it's absolutely beautiful, with lots of little nooks and crannies and interesting little walkways and ponds. There's a horse sculpture thing going on as well:

We walked on to City Park and eventually found the Mile High trail:

 No - I'm not giving birth. The trail wasn't very well signposted and there was a myriad of other trails and we lost the one we were trying to walk and ended up at the Science Museum. After refreshments there, we mapped the way to downtown - and one of the many brewpubs. Should add that there's plenty of good, free wi-fi everywhere here.

It was a fair walk to the Great Divide and we were ready for beer by the time we got there. It was now 7 hours or so since we left our hotel and the walking mileage was increasing. Jo was still wearing her compression stockings which apparently meant she could only wear a small pair of flatties and her feet were now suffering. Eventually she took her stockings off, and further on, the shoes too and she was now barefoot walking the sidewalks.

We took a short ride down to Larimer Square to have some dinner, and from there we walked back to our hotel along the nice Cherry Creek walkway as dusk began:

It had been a 24kms walk in the heat of the day - surely enough for us to sleep through the day? No such luck - we awoke at 2 am again.

It's now Monday morning and we've just had breakfast and are about to pack. Our SUV limo is picking us up at 9:30 am to take us back to the airport to pick up our hire car and we will then drive to Breckenridge.

Good to go

It's Saturday morning and we're all packed now and just tidying up before we leave for the airport. We're leaving the car at Gary's work.

One of the jobs that had to be done was moving all the plants through to the back and within a small enough circle to allow automatic watering. Trish next door will come in and switch on the sprinkler as and when required. Here's what it looks like:

Post and pre-holiday Post

Well, we're back from France now - it was lovely - and hot too - up to 34 C. All the details are in my squash blog - http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.co.uk/.

Before we went off, I was back at the physiotherapist and she's given me two specific new exercises to do for my knee, which I need to work on whilst I'm away and hopefully I'll get the all-clear when I see her when I return.

I also had a day's golf at Blairgowrie the day before we departed - we managed to dodge quite a few weather bullets that day, although we did get one very brief hail shower:

Thinking back to France last week, this was our first time in that country for about 30 years - and our first ever visit to the Dordogne area. We remembered the lovely bread and croissants - and our dreams were not shattered - they were great. The one outstanding place we visited was the medieval village of St Jean de Cole - it really was picture postcard, almost as if Disney had designed it as a set:

On the eve of our trip, I got home from my golf at Blairgowrie to meet this sight:

Jo had suddenly decided to bring back the curls!

We had a lovely week, but Jo picked up a bug and couldn't eat or drink for the last couple of days. Our accommodation was beautiful - an old farmhouse and barn that had been converted in to a 7 bedroom property. Timber beams every where - this was the view above our heads that we awoke to every morning:

So yesterday (Sunday) was a slow day, but I was back playing golf today for the Seniors. Tomorrow, we're off to Inverurie as usual and I've got golf again on Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon, with hopefully some cycling on Thursday morning - and perhaps tomorrow morning too.

I've got some CAMRA admin to do and I also have to try to book our trip to the Fringe in August. We don't yet have any accommodation booked for our drives from Oregon to Southern California and back again either, so there's a fair bit to be done before we leave on Saturday.

Kelly FaceTimed this morning - that was nice. Little Miller is getting a bit more talkative and responsive.

Didn't get much exercise last week, but May generally was pretty active, golfing, walking and cycling. It will be harder keeping it up when we're over in USA, but I'm going to try. We'll be city walking in Denver ("the mile high city") on Sunday (forecast temperature a very pleasant 24 C). On Monday we go even higher - to the ski resort of Breckenridge (20 C daytime, but almost freezing at night).

The following week, we're heading for the Oregon heat (40 C there today) then we go south to Newport Coast, California (mid-20's just now).

Pre-holiday post

This coming Saturday, Jo and I are off to the Dordogne for a week with 4 other couples. Yesterday we were in Inverurie as usual, but it was the day of Carole's shoulder op so we weren't sure when she would get back home. Gary and Carole had checked in at 7 am but she must have been really unlucky as she didn't get to theatre until mid-late afternoon. By the time she had gone through the anaesthetic, the op and the recovery room, it was well in to the evening and Carole was going to have to stay in overnight, so we agreed to take Luca back to Banchory and I would run him back to school in the morning.

Carole is home now and Jo is going out to Inverurie tomorrow to see - and feed - her. It's now just a waiting game for Carole - take it easy and do the exercises and she'll be fine - although she has to go back for another procedure in 3 months' time.

On the way to school this morning, I was telling Luca about us going to France next week and he then started quizzing me what various parts of the body were in French? Of course, I knew a few, but didn't know some - although I confess to bluffing on a couple of them. Well, he wasn't going to know any better was he?

We then moved on to the American holiday and spoke about some of the different words used and their pronunciation. Trousers/pants was one that tickled him, as did the pronunciation of water (without the t).

Sunday was quiet and on Monday I was playing for the Seniors at Deeside. Today (Wednesday) was swimming for Jo and golf for me, but, in the morning, we had another "Energy Adviser" in - trying to sell us a new condensing boiler. It seems like the right thing to do, but I just baulked a little at spending almost £4K without at least checking with others.

Our little friendly red squirrel put in another appearance this morning and the deer that appeared at the back last week made a return visit yesterday.

I've been taking photos from our bed out the front window every morning for the last month or so, to provide a kind of time lapse sequence of the growth in the trees as we advance from spring towards summer. Here's the first one, taken on 24th April:

and here's this morning's one:

Pepys it ain't

There was a time when I was diarising daily, but it seems that in retirement I've been too busy to maintain this regularity. I didn't expect that the gaps between blog posts would regularly exceed a week, but I think I'm finding out now that what all my friends said about how they ever found the time to work is true after all.

Of course, I was away last weekend for a few days hill-walking and that doesn't help. Our trip to the West Coast began last Thursday and we got back Monday tea-time. (Check http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.co.uk/). You'll be pleased to know also that the walls are now finished - and they haven't fallen down yet. The front driveway still needs some work - I've flushed out some of the moss from the worst part nearest to our porch, but it now needs sand brushed in. I've got the sand and will try and do this before we head off to France for a week on Saturday.

We had a visitor on the embankment at the back of our house on Monday:

This little deer stayed there for almost an hour, munching away at the greenery.

My BMW needed some work done on it - brake fluid, stop/start mechanism and rear wiper - and I initially thought that I would try and get this done locally, rather than take it in to John Clark's in Aberdeen and be charged an arm and a leg for it, but I relented and eventually booked it in for last Tuesday. I suspected that the work may take more than an hour or two - more than I would be prepared to wait for - so I decided to put my bike in the back of the car and I arranged a meeting in the city to go over the plans for the Sponsored Golf Tournament at Banchory (yesterday) and thought I would cycle over from Tullos to Albyn and await a call from the mechanics. If the car was ready, I would go back to Tullos, but, if not, I would just cycle out along the Deeside Way from Aberdeen to Banchory and pick up the car the following day.

The inevitable happened, but it was a nice day and I quite enjoyed the cycle home on Tuesday morning - even although the 38 kms uphill ride in to the wind wasn't perhaps the best thing to do after a weekend of walking. I've cycled and walked quite a lot of the Deeside Way now, but I hadn't done the stretch from Aberdeen to Drumoak before. It's a good track, now tarmac'd and some of the old stations are still signed there - Duthie Park, Ruthrieston, Cults, Culter etc. I did make just one rest stop en route:

I got back home in time for a quick bite of lunch and then Jo and I headed to Inverurie for our usual Tuesday pick-up of Luca from school. Gary was actually off work that day - ill. He was in bed sleeping when we got back to his house and he was still sleeping when we left over 4 hours later. Carole said he was just exhausted.

The good news is that both Gary and Luca now have their passports, so it's now just a question of them completing their airline API and their ESTA applications. What do you make of Luca's expression on this (pixellated) photo?:

He'd obviously been told not to smile.

Wednesday afternoon was golf and Thursday morning was cycling, whilst on Friday, when Jo went swimming, I jumped in the car and headed up Deeside to distribute CAMRA's quarterly newsletter to the pubs in Torphins, Tarland, Braemar, Ballater, Aboyne and Feughside. It's the last one before the annual beer festival at Pittodrie, which unfortunately coincides with our trip to France.

Today (Saturday), I took part in, and helped organise, the Sponsored Golf Tournament at Banchory. It was a lovely day - and nice to play in shorts again. There was a meal afterwards, but Jo wan't up to coming along and joining me. She's not been feeling great recently - still coughing, tiredness and tightness in her chest - so much so that she's arranged an appointment with the Doctor on Tuesday.

I'm still here

Hello again - it's been over a week since my last post - probably one of the longest gaps in this long-running blog. I've been pretty busy and now I've got to try and remember what I've done since last Tuesday. Well, here goes.

I recall golfing last Wednesday afternoon at Banchory and again in the Seniors Open at Montrose on Friday, where I did rather well, coming in second in my class and winning a £60 voucher plus a sleeve of golf balls when I had an eagle two at the par 4 ninth hole. I had driven Jo in to Aberdeen for her to catch the Gold Bus down to Glasgow where she was spending the weekend with Mary and her family - it was Leo's First Communion on Sunday.

Last Thursday morning, I was cycling with our Freewheelers group but I managed to get some prep work done on the right hand wall in our back garden. I had a free day on Saturday when Jo was away and so I got the coping stones put on the left hand wall and cemented the bricks back in the right hand side. I ran out of mortar mix before I could finish the job off with the top coping stones, but here's how both sides now look:

Jo thinks the wobbly wall gives a rustic effect.

Not once have I managed to get a perfect mortar mix yet - the last one was too wet again, so I'm just waiting for the day when The Walls of Jericho come tumbling down. Not my forte - and not something I've attempted for a lifetime.

Sunday/Monday was our first trip over the Lecht this year to Grantown and Boat of Garten. It was our 59th trip in our 30th year, so next time (September) is our Diamond Anniversary! Unlike Friday at Montrose, my golf was shocking - I really struggled with my knees. I half expected my recently repaired left knee might get a bit tender but I was really disappointed that my new(ish) right knee was equally painful. I guess I'll just need to curtail the golf a bit - the lateral movement must be causing this. My physio, who I saw again yesterday, is still encouraging me to keep cycling and walking. She's asked me to up the exercise regime a bit, so we'll see how that goes. I was pretty disciplined when recuperating from my knee replacement last year, but I guess I've been a little complacent about the cartilage repair this year.

On the way over on Sunday, I made a slight detour in to Bellwade Farm, just short of Aboyne where the Kelpie "marquettes" are currently on display:

That reminds me that we must go and see the real thing near Falkirk - and also the Falkirk Wheel - next time we're heading that way.

Of course, yesterday we were over at Inverurie to look after Luca, but today I'm preparing for my hill-walking on the West Coast this weekend. We leave early tomorrow morning and head for Mull initially:

Gary sent us this nice, albeit slightly fuzzy, photo of Luca when he was at the trials for the school football team:

I'm having a rest from golf today, but I may try and finish the wall this afternoon if the weather permits and I get myself properly organised for tomorrow.