Karl Marx quote

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive crudity, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism."

Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

summer campfire

After our family hiking event we came back to our house for a grill out. fired up the grill, put on the hotdogs, chicken and corn on the cob. My grill is very full. lol! sent the girls out in the woods to collect sticks for marshmallows...- The neighbors dog starts barking - they came back rather quick. They spotted yet another mountain lion! This one smaller than the one P saw a couple of months ago. Closer too, apparently. P said it's eyes are green. That's close. So, we build a fire. That should keep the wildlife at bay. We finish grilling, eat... Mmmm! 'twas good. The girls go inside for a bit.. they want to play with P's guitars. So the adults are left to ourselves. A new neighbor notices our fire... So I'm neighborly and invite her over. She and her son ( early 20's) come over. She brings her own dixie cup full of beer. She's already had a few we think. We all chat a bit. we tell her to keep an eye on her dog. we have a big kitty or two in the area. She sits on one of the benches, her son continues to stand. I think he's embarrassed of her. I offer then food..they refuse - they just finished dinner. then she spills my tiki lantern that was on the bench next to her on the ground. I got up and stomp out the flames. Put the tiki farther from her... They leave shortly after this. Guess they realize the big blue cooler doesn't have beer. and there are a lot of pepsi cans around! As it's getting dark the girls come back outside. we are all talking about the hike, the cat, future plans... one of the neighbors dogs start barking again... We all start looking up the hill and around in the darkness. Suddenly something is crashing through the underbrush towards us coming from the side yard! This is no cat.. not graceful at all! Everyone stands up, the guys grab large sticks.. and we all stand closer to the fire. We think it's a bear. It notices the fire and us in it's path because it veers off and up the hillside. We can hear it skirting around us and up the hill. The dog is still going crazy. The guys throw a few rocks up the hill into the dark to keep it going away. After a few minutes everything settles down. All is quiet again. I realize I am hold my small survival knife.. I was using it on the hiking trip earlier today. Put it back in my pocket. We all stand around talking for a bit longer. D & D decide they'd better get home by now any way. it's an hour drive back to their house. The girls will be tired and cranky tomorrow if they don't sleep. They will all have a lot to talk about in school on Monday. lol!

summer days

cruisin' along on back country highways....

Hiking with ALL the family

My sister in law and her family came over on Saturday. We went hiking and had a picnic then came back to our place for a dinner grill out. Mmmm! Originally, they wanted to go up to the lake, but it's the weekend... and it was packed! So, we took them up to another area that should be less known. It was. This trail is short with a couple of steep spots. Quite a few old mine relics left. The girls liked to explore. went into an old shaft that was dug into the rock about ten feet. There was an old wooden door left ajar and then you squeeze past it and into the dark with in. The cave was about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Apparently, they didn't find any gold or silver - because it was a dead end about 10 feet in. It was a good trail and even D & D's girls enjoyed it. the oldest one even stated at the end of the hike that she liked it and wanted to do it again sometime. Impressive considering at the beginning she was dragging behind and making it obvious she didn't want to be there, lol! Ha - Converted another one.

10 years

Wow, I've been such a slacker this month. here it is, almost the end of the month and I haven't blogged anything. And now I see... it is official... we have lived in Colorado for 10 years now! Has it been that long... since I told Lake County good bye... without a tear and smiling! lol!

This month has been somewhat quiet. been on a few short bike rides. We go up to the lake during the week while it's quiet and all the city crowd isn't there yet. bike 'n' hike! its fun! Oh, I read a book this month too! Stephen King's Duma Key. Good Book

bike ride

We've been going out on the motorcycle as much as the rain will let us. T took Paige up to the lake last night. the sun finally came out at our house. Apparently it was still rain mixed with hail on the top though. T said there is a dusting of snow on the peaks. In spite of the cold temperatures, they had a good ride. P likes the fast straight aways and the curves too, lol!

Airport

Picked up P on Tuesday. her flight was good. Said she met an older couple that are from both Buffalo, NY and Denver, CO. They were telling her about the area histories of both Cities. They had some interesting tid-bits and facts. it's still raining off and on most every day here. So, P isn't going to get a break from the rain by coming home either. Went and got some sweet corn yesterday, it was soo sweet and good. put it on the grill. in between rain showers I'd go out and check it. one of the resident squirrels came out of his tree long enough to chatter at me from his podium.

july

wow, the month of July went by in a flash! we have so far survived the crazyness going on at T's job. After we came back from Jackson, WY - we sat around for a few days while the company decided if they wanted to send his truck back to the dealership now or later. They finally decided on now. He got the brand truck he wanted originally when he started working here. So, things are working out. After this toss up, we headed out east on a trip to Maryland and then circled down through Tennessee... which I really loved! T was right. I do like Tennessee. But alas, we couldn't stop. had to get on down to Texas. East Texas is very humid. After that on over to the L.A. California area. Another area I'm not thrilled with. Finally, we come back to Colorado. What a whirl wind. The pay check better be worth it if I can't stop and lolly-gag anymore. That's one of the new "rules" less sitting around being tourists. Hmm, I don't think the office people remember what it's like out here. I don't know about you, but I don't consider spending my day at a warehouse area the highlight of my trip. too much concrete and steel. no where near enough sand and beaches.

what a week...

all kinds of crap hit the fan at T's job this week. I think we've sailed through most of it clear enough. But we've got to get lots of miles to make up for taking most of this week off unvoluntarily. We started out great by going up to Jackson WY. Beautiful up there. love the teton mtns. so jagged and rugged looking. heard the foxes singing at night. no wolves or bear sighted. after The delivery Tuesday morning his dispatcher confirmed a rumor we heard Monday. His boss is apparently in dire straights business wise. he just voluntarily repossessed some of the trucks... and T's was one of them! They made some other rule changes about having to have 10k miles a month.. or you can quit or "slip seat" that's sharing a truck with other drivers. basically part time. well a lot of people quit. That opened up some trucks and miles for those that want lots of miles. So T and I are on our way to Maryland. That should help his quota! The new truck is a differnt brand. getting used to it. it's a bit smaller in the sleeper area. But has more cabinets back there. win some lose some. Currently in Missouri - it's very humid and looks like rain. it just won't rain. I hate that.

fourth of july weekend

T and I had a good weekend. Decided to go to a hot springs resort a couple of hours from us. What a wonderful idea. we spent about six hours there. all the aches and pains are gone. the brochure said that a three hour soak should last you for a week. we are set. want to go again and get a room or cabin there. we stayed there until just after dark and then on down the road. at the next town we caught the fireworks display. it was a good show. lol, there was this one poor sap with a new suv... he kept setting off the car alarm.
Sunday we took it easy. went to Sam's stocked up on everything. we should be done food shopping for the summer. Stopped into Ross. our favorite discounted brand name store. went in to look for deals on shorts. neither one of us could find anything. we bought shirts instead. lol!
Grilled steaks and corn on the cob. Mmmm. love summer fresh corn. turned out really well on the grill. I've never grilled corn.

Central California

We drove this week from San Fransisco to Los Angeles, and had an eye opening experience. Down much of the length of the I-5 freeway, we saw not the green fields of produce or green orchards laden with fruit, but dusty dead and dying orchards. Rows after row, acre after acre, miles after mile of them, perfectly helpless….lifeless.
By way of explanation, these signs dotted the dusty dry roadside: “Congress Created Dust Bowl.

Thought to ponder — it takes 30 years to build an orchard like this up to full production! Almonds, fruit, citrus… Why do suburbs have green lawns while these food sources are left to die?

Farmers through out this region echo the sentiment that politics, not the drought, is the problem. Most of this area of California gets its water from a huge Delta, where two big rivers join in the center of the central valley area. But so much water was being pumped out of the Delta that a tiny smelt there, an endangered species of fish about 2 inches long, is disappearing. So late last year, a federal judge ruled that the amount of water being delivered to the south had to be sharply cut back. Guess who got shafted. Why are we still watering grass lawns? Why are there vast green golf courses everywhere you look?

If this is what the Californian politicians think is best for their state... then maybe it would be best for the budget there to fail, let the government fall... and the California people can take their state back. Of course once the government falls, the illegals will have no reason to stay and the lazy white teenagers will have to get off the couch and put down the game-boy .. and get a real job!

We did see some plots of corn. Some farmers have planted baby tree orchards in the hope that 30 years from now... the politics will let them have a good crop again. They water them with hope and the little amount of water they had saved up.

Ashcroft Colorado

Ashcroft started in 1880. it was a silver town. there is a long an varied history. Silver town, WWII training camdp, potentional ski area, Olympic traidning area, and finally in the 1970's it was preserved. The Aspen Historical Society takes care of it now. They have done a good job. The building at the far end is a two story hotel. it still has some the fancy wood work at the roof line and around the windows. inside, the stairway up was rickety, and we probably shouldn't have went upstairs, but we did. It wasn't gated off like some other buildings. what a view. This is one of my favorite areas of Colorado. Although, one sign said that Ashcroft gets about 18 feet of snow in winter. Brrr! There are a lot of ground squirrls here. you see them and their holes everywhere. looks like the hawks and ermine have a lot of work to do.

Rest in Peace

What a bad week for celeb's. first Farrah Fawcett. then Michael Jackson. and today, Billy Mays.

out and about

Yesterday we decide to go find some ghost towns. so we decided on one near Aspen. From our house we went up and over Guanella pass. It's under construction until 2010 on the Georgetown side. lol, that side has lots of pot holes and narrow lanes so it's like a four wheel road. it was raining on top of the pass. But inspite of that, there were still a lot of cars parked up there and people hiking the different trails. decide it was too cool and wet to have lunch here so we went down farther. Had lunch at a lower picnic area. My Dorito salad, Mmmm! Continued on and over Independence Pass, where it is again raining on the summits. had some hail mixed in here. walked out to the over look anyway. On down past the restored ghost town of Independence. didn't stop today. then on into Aspen. didn't stop here either. public parking here is pay parking. it was getting late so we didn't stay. found our road and headed up to Ashcroft. Many tall thick stands of aspen trees. I understand why the town is so named. Many beautiful blue lupine flowers growing among the aspens. And this little guy. We pulled over on the side of the road and he just stood there flicking his ear and let me take a couple of pictures.

Saxon Mountain road

We started out on CR 130 on the Idaho Springs side. followed that up to the old townsite and mine of Lamartine. then took FR 712.2 all the way to Georgetown. Many pretty overlooks of the Mt Evans range and then of Berthoud Pass, once we get closer to georgetown. this last half of the trail... bone jarring. The book I have listed it as an "easy" road. I guess the atv's have ruined it. loose rocks all over these switch backs. no to mention fallen boulders. some places are one lane only. and with boulders in the way.. just enough room for the Wrangler to squeeze by. had I known it was this bad of shape I would have gone to the top of Saxon Mtn too. I here it has great views and informational signs. Oh, well. may be some time we will hike it or mtn bike it. in my opinion, that's all the trail is good for now. On a positive note. the views were great. the sky was mostly clear and it was a very warm 80 degrees up here! found a few cabin ruins. The jeep did very well with the higher clearence of our new tires. only scraped once.

Argo Gold Mine & Mill

on Thursday T & I took a tour of a local tourist trap. The Argo Gold Mine, Mill & Tunnel.

some history... In 1859, George A. Jackson made the first major discovery of gold in Colorado at the confluence of what is today's Chicago Creek and Clear Creek here in Idaho Springs. The great Rocky Mountain goldrush had begun and almost overnight 50,000 men poured into Clear Creek Canyon, stretching from today's city of Golden, West to Silver Plume and North over Seaton Mountain to Central City. After the gold was taken from the creeks, hard rock mining began. As these mine tunnels all over the mountains got deeper, they found it was harder to get the ore out and equipment in, plus the deeper it went, the more water was flooding the tunnels. Well, an idea was proposed and investors found. The digging of the tunnel would begin in 1893 in Idaho Springs. Tunnel was completed in 1910 in Central City. The total distance of the tunnel was 4.16 miles and the entire length of the tunnel has a .3 downhill grade to the portal to drain the water, which also provided an easy exit for the loaded ore cars.It was on January 19, 1943 .. too many of the mine shafts were flooded. They all let loose into the Argo. the water filled the tunnel to the top and the flow out lasted several hours. In February 1976 the property was purchased by James N. Maxwell to preserve the quickly disappearing history of mining in Colorado and Clear Creek County. The five-story mill was renovated and opened to the public as a historic and educational tour. Most of the equipment used for processing the gold ore remains in place.The Argo Mill was placed on the National Historic Register by the Department of the Interior in 1977.

Epcot Center Fungus

This must be the Epcot Center for fairies. found it on the rock wall behind our house. wonder if they have a fun time there

jet plane

My baby girl left on a jet plane this afternoon. she'll have a fun time this summer. visiting friends and family. good food ( I hope ) and good fun.

new flower bed

planting a new flower bed for

the humming birds. since our one neighbor moved she took the feeders with her. and the birds are buzzing around everywhere. I just don't ever seem to make a mix they like. so, they can have natural flowers next summer. note the pitch fork. lol.

Sunday stroll in the yard

we stayed home this weekend. I planted a new flower bed for humming birds. It's a mixed seed packet. I may still buy a few plants just to look at something sooner. My other seeded flower beds are coming up just fine. T decided to mow the yard. with all the rain the grass grows quickly up here. The landlords grandkids haven't been up to do it this weekend. P was wandering around the yard and asked to go up to the corner were we have a path up the hill. I said ok, and kept an eye on her from my flower bed. she came walking back rather quickly a minute later and told me she saw the mountain lion up on the rocks about 2 cabins over! She saw it's legs and realized also by how gracful it moved, it wasn't a dog. she wanted to go peek again. so I took my camera and pitch fork and we went back over. The squirrels were going crazy so I told her it's still around and we shouldn't be here. we went back over to the house. We even have excitement staying home!