I thought I would be all over these blogs, but work takes the majority of the day and the internet is slow behind this hill.
So I'll go back to our trip up the hill from AZ. Everything went great, though I trashed all three tarps, whippin in the wind. The dogs did well and slept most of the way; they have a tough life.
Carlie thought perhaps we went the wrong way when we passed the sign for Las Vegas.... New Mexico.
We arrived at the house on a windy but clear afternoon after a stay in the local, and pet friendly, Holiday Inn. The house overlooks 8 acres of riverfront, backed by the Marianna Butte Golf Course. In the distance are some "14'ers," which in Coloradoan speak, is a peak at 14k or more elevation. There are 54 peaks in the state at such an elevation. Long's Peak is seen from the back porch (terrible blockage of the view, I know!)
Carlie and I took a trip up the hill to Estes Park, which is about 20 miles west of the house in Loveland. Up a beautiful, rocky canyon, round the bend, and you are greeted by...
Saturday night brought us a bit of snow. Us Areezona boys dont have much more than a rake sometimes, so we made do.
After seeing around town, Carlie left on Sunday (boo) and she was missed by all three males that she left in Colorado. Turk just couldn't figure out where she'd gone.
On Friday, the 28th, I had my first "snow day." Some aspects of landscaping and irrigation just cant be done in the cold/wet.
I took the dogs on our first 4wheelin adventure, up to Storm Mountain. Storm Mountain, also just west of Loveland, into the rockies, is a very small area of cabins and homes, mostly undeveloped, and largely unpopulated at this time of year. The snow there however, was marvelous. I'm not sure what it is about the snow, but the dogs love to run, play, and roll around in it. I let them out of the truck and they led the way for about 5 miles around the neighborhoods. We didnt see one person or vehicle the entire time, it was great. Turk tried to chase a group of deer down a hill, though he was obviously unsuccessful. Then he saw some elk near some homes and would have loved to go play. Tripp was along the whole time, as you can see, he just isnt as photogenic, nor does he create so many photo opportunities as Turk.
Finally, my first major task at work. MOW, on a really nice tractor, for a week. As part of our maintenance contracts, we must mow "native" areas which grow wild with the seed that someone put down, so I suppose its really not too native, but whatever. Still a bit too cold to turn on the irrigation, so I get to do everything else. So, since Saturday morning, I have been chewing away at 150 acres of ROUGH terrain. If you make the calculations, I will have traveled about 247.5 miles on that tractor by the time it is all said and done. Todays trivia question... How wide is the mower deck, assuming I pass over every inch of terrain only once. Leave your answer in the comments section, dont cheat off of other answers.
