The Boys of Summer__Thank you Don Henley

 As the summer comes to an end, I sit here on Labor Day reflecting on the last 3months.  I put my car on a truck in May, packed 1 suitcase and left home for 3-4 months...I've been in this Summit valley with its beautiful lake and mountains, all within reach of my summer apartment.

I've hiked, climbed, been on the water, driven to the casinos for poker tournaments. Been on electric bikes, sat out at the Dillon Amphitheater under the stars listening to fantastic and some not so good music.

I been entrained by friends, eg. Cindy and Brian Atlas, Sherri Atlas, Susan Meyer, Cathy and Will Wiener,

Alan Zieben, Stephen Friedman, Eddie Gertner and sons, Gina and Bruce Taffet, Sandra and John Lopez, Mike Stein.  Wow, I'm not this active in Houston!  But then that's why one comes to the mountains of Colorado in the summer.

I still have another 4 weeks to go.  Who knows what that will bring?

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Hiking Lower Cataract Lake

 

About 45 min. N of Silverthorne on the way to Kremmling and Steamboat are several mountain lakes and reservoirs.  One such lake is called Lower Cataract.  This is fed by the Upper Cataract Lake which is several thousand feet higher up Mt. Powel.  One can drive along a hard packed somewhat rocky road (shouldn't have taken the Tesla) to a trail head which is about 1/2 mile from the lake.  There is a beautiful trail around the circumference of the lake which is less than 4 miles and end up back at the trail head with picnic tables to enjoy a lunch.  That's exactly what I did yesterday with several of my friends here in Summit County.  Cindy and Brian Atlas, Susan Meyer,  Brent and Eileen Ladd , Susan's friend Laurie from Austin as well and the Atlas kids and grandkids....

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4th of July in the mountains

 The favorite holiday wherever you may be in the US is the 4th of  July. Picnics, parades, concerts, bands, and fireworks...This is how they do it in 2 different Colorado mountain towns:  Vail/Avon gathered on their park and Melissa Etheridge entertained for and hour and a half.  The following night in the Dillon Amphitheatre we were treated to Air Force Band and a beautiful sunset over  Lake Dillon.

Hope you enjoyed your 4th.

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The Lake Dillon Bowl

 If you are not familiar with the area around Lake Dillon, this large reservoir was created by damning an area where 3 rivers joined in the 1950's and 1960's to create a water supply for the city of Denver.  The water is tunneled through the continental divide into a reservoir next t  o Denver. There are 4 residential areas clockwise around the lake;  Breckinridge, Frisco, Silverthorne and Dillon.

I'm in a condo about 100 yards from the Lake.  There are plenty of mixed use trails in the area.  I have walked in many directions.  I've walked across the damn and I can walk from my area to the Blue River area in Silverthorne.  There are several parks and restaurants along the river.  On Friday mornings there is a "market" about a 5 min walk from me where about 50 vendors were selling their products.  I bought a "half plank" of  smoked salmon which I ate for the weekend. Friday evening was jam of about 300 people drinking and listening to a local band.  This is the "Frist Friday" social which will be held monthly for the summer.  Saturday am I took a boat ride on the Lake with a member of the Historical Society who gave  me a 1 1/2 hour tour of the lake and the history of area around.  Our boat driver showed me several good fishing areas for my friends that will be visiting this summer.

I'm 30 minutes from Vail and an hour from the Blackhawk Reservation which is loaded with casinos.  I plan to visit them both.  When I start hiking the mountains, I'll have more reports.

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Summer 2024 or Out of the Houston Heat

 
So this summer I'm going to avoid the airports and crowds and cool off in the mountains of Colorado(Texas-North).  I decided on the Dillon / Silverthorne area from my previous visits to the area. I started looking for suitable rental early in the year and with the help of Zillow I found this 2 1/2 Br condo overlooking Lake Dillon. Having  done the 16 hour drive before, I'm a big fan of putting the car on the truck and meeting it in Denver on the plane.  After several days of of no response from the truckers, I got a call on  Memorial Day from a heavy accented driver who said he would pick up my car in 2 hours.   Lucky for me, I had been briefed that this interaction was not only possible but probable.  The car was packed and off the Tesla went late Monday afternoon.  I spent Tuesday closing my Condo and early Wednesday caught a flight to Denver where I was met my cousin Bruce and his significant other Gina.   We spent 3 days around Parker, Co including a drive to the the Castle Pines golf course where the BMW invitational will be held in August. This is also the course that for years was a televised gold tournament called the International which had a unusual scoring mechanism but was a very popular spectator tournament.

After drooping Bruce and Gina at the airport for their trip back East, it was an easy 90 min. drive.  Essentially no traffic, but I'm sure as the summer progresses this will change.

The first morning I took a small walk in the neighborhood to check out the Dillon Amphitheater home of many summer concerts and the Lake.  My complex is directly across the street from the amphitheater 

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