MistyCastle

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

With Winter seems to come an itch that I need to scratch… a project car to tinker on. Two years ago it was the white Jaguar XJ-S. Last year I was in California and then in the midst of moving so no joy. But this year…well, I’ve been on the hunt for a new project car. Mostly I’ve been looking locally on CL for a Triumph, Lotus, Jag, MGB or something British. I missed a really good deal down in the Springs on a TR6 which bummed me out. There hasn’t been much available, which is not surprising given the time of year, but this is the best season to find one priced under the market. I finally expanded my search to eBay which I knew was dangerous because the bulk of the “nice” cars available tend to come from CA or FL. Of course, the selection expands dramatically as well and I was finding all kinds of interesting stuff. I even started looking at some Italian, German, and Japanese classics from the 60′s and early 70′s. Ultimately, I bought a 1971 Datsun 240Z which doesn’t need much work really, mostly cosmetic and interior improvements. It was of course, in CA. “sigh”

So, it is being shipped today. I think this is the first time I’ve ever bought a car sight-unseen. Pictures help a lot but there is only so much you can tell from pictures. I developed a pretty good rapport with the seller during our email/phone exchanges so that helped. I think it will be a fun little project. I’ll get it spiffed up, drive it to a few events this summer, and then probably sell it. Might have a hard time parting with it though! Could always keep it as an “investment”.

We will definitely be having a “White Christmas” this year! This has been one of the snowiest years that I remember since moving to Colorado. A storm came over the Rockies the other night and dumped anywhere from 1-2 feet of snow in the Denver area.  I think we ended up with around 10 inches as we are quite a ways east of the foothills.  I certainly have been grateful for my foresight last summer in buying a snow blower. It was the middle of the summer and we were having a scorcher when the thought occurred to me. You see, we live on a corner lot with one side being adjacent to a main street that runs through the neighborhood and by an elementary school just a few blocks down.  I was killing the weeds along the fence which separates us from the main street when it dawned on me that, when it snowed, I was going to have to clear that sidewalk along with the one in front of the house. That would be a lot of shoveling.

So, I figured what better time to get a good deal on a snow blower than when it’s 90+ degrees outside. I started watching Craigslist and soon found a fellow that was selling one that had belonged to his father who had passed away this year. Barely used, it still had the little whiskers on the tires and it was a Craftsman, self-propelled, electric start, and I got it for $120. WhooHoooo! Let it snow….I’m ready.  And, snow it has…this was the third storm so far this year that has dropped over 4 inches.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to ALL!

November is sneaking up on us and you would never know it. We still have a lot of trees that are just now beginning to turn color here in the city. We were up in the Puma Hills last weekend on a camping trip with my Mom and while there were still some beautiful patches of golden aspens, the bulk of them had pretty bare limbs.  It’s a touch late in the season for most people to camp in the mountains. However, my Mom was here for her first visit with  Great Grandson, Caleb, and Josh’s birthday in Pueblo. To make travel simpler to Pueblo, we rented a RV from a local place here in Denver and an opportunity for a scenic return trip home presented itself.  It would be Mom’s first Colorado camping experience! We loaded the RV and headed south on the beginning of this adventure. We took a short rest break at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and then on to Josh, Selenda, and Caleb’s home in Pueblo.

We had a good time chatting over dinner that evening and breakfast the next morning catching up on events in everyone’s life. After that it was out to see and feed the horses. Josh and Selenda own three horses at the moment and Mom really enjoys their beauty.

I also got an opportunity to drive Josh’s race simulator, whoo hoo! That was great! Thanks for taking the time away from your studies to share it with me.

Getting back on the road again, we headed west towards the mountains and got to Canon City right about lunchtime. We stopped at the Holy Cross Abbey and fixed lunch in their parking lot. The Abbey is beautiful and someday I would like to get inside for a look-see. After lunch, we headed up into the mountains and wound our way up Hwy 9 to Hartsel. Doubling back a short distance east on Hwy 24, up and over Wilkerson Pass; then north into the Pike National Forest to our campsite. The last mile was the killer for Mom with a nasty washboard road but she toughed it out and we arrived safely.

The campsite was one that Rhonda and I had used a year or so ago. It sits up on top of a small hill and affords wonderful views in all directions. I wasn’t sure if I could get the RV up the windy forest road and into the campsite as the RV was pretty long (30-footer) but I took it REAL easy. With Rhonda guiding me, it went fine and we soon were making “camp”. Making camp has a different connotation with a 30 ft RV than it does with our Jeep and tent! We knew we had missed the full moon by a few days but were still anticipating watching it rise over the mountains in the east. It got completely dark before moonrise and we were treated to an amazing display of the Milky Way which can only be appreciated away from the light pollution of the cities. Mom laid down on the ground so she could look up and see it in all its glory. Quite a sight to behold! Shortly thereafter, the moon rose over the horizon and bathed the landscape with moonshine and the darkness was transformed. To take the chill off, we spent the rest of the evening chatting around the campfire and finally went into the RV for a restful nights sleep without the noises of the city.

The sky was magnificent at dawn. I could see it just fine out the window but Rhonda and Mom got dressed and went outside to get the full effect and watch the sun rise. We spent the rest of the morning just sitting around soaking up the sunshine, admiring the scenery, and watching the wildlife. We actually had a pair Bluebirds stop by the campsite for awhile on their late migration south! A real delight for us all. By noon, the winds had started blowing a bit too much for our comfort. We packed up and headed the RV back towards civilization. Along the way we made a small detour alongside the South Platte River where it first comes down out of the mountains at Eleven Mile Canyon. Mom got the opportunity to take her shoes off and walk out into the cold stream. It was a milestone moment! A quick tea/coffee/snack break at the charming tea house in Florissant and we were back in Denver for dinner! Whew! Lots of milestones in this weekend!

Wow…I got my first photo published!

I had submitted a short article and some photos of the Glenwood Springs Rallye to Classic Motorsports magazine back in July. The editor made a few comments like they might use it but I never saw anything in the next issue so I more or less forgot about it. Today I got the November issue in the mailbox AND an email from the editor asking for my mailing address so they could send me a check. I quickly flipped through the magazine and sure enough they used my story and one photo. WhoooHooo!

It will be interesting to see how much the check is for. I hadn’t really thought about getting paid for it but I suppose that’s how it works. [Follow up - I got the check but decided I had better keep my day job]

The timing finally worked out to attend the premier British Car event in Colorado. The Colorado English Motoring Conclave is the largest and best-known British motoring event in the Rocky Mountains. This year was the 28th annual event and it started out with the Ride Through the Rockies on Saturday. A regular event, the tour takes you on an enjoyable drive along some of the less traveled and twisty roads in the foothills. The tour route is kept secret until the directions are handed out Saturday morning. We met up with our friends Randy and Mimi that morning and joined a very long line of cars departing for the mountains.

The route did not disappoint as we found ourselves on some very interesting roads in parts of the foothills I didn’t even know existed. The tour ended at a nice restaurant back in the Western Suburbs where we enjoyed a nice lunch as the rain clouds began moving in from the west. The drive home was through a pounding rainstorm and the Jag got all filthy. It never totally stop raining that day and consequently, we did not get the car cleaned up for the show on Sunday.

Sunday dawned clear, sunny, and warm. We went on over to the car show anyway which is held at Oak Park in Arvada, CO. The number of cars and marques represented at the show is simply amazing. I don’t know the exact numbers for this year but was told that typically there are over 500 cars. We wandered about looking at the Triumphs, which I have a special fondness for, and ended up having a nice chat with Lavonne Peterson about her 1962 TR4. Lavonne told us that she and her husband Dale had purchased the car new while they were living in Minnesota and have kept it all these years. The car is in immaculate condition and I couldn’t leave without dropping the hint that I sure would like to purchase it if they ever decided to sell it

We saw many fine examples of Lotus, MG, Austin Healey, Sunbeam, Morgan, Rolls Royce, and of course Jaguars. I was particularly fascinated by a Jaguar MkII Saloon that looked like it would be a lot of fun. The Lotus Caterham Seven has always looked like it would be blast to drive as well.

We made a Sunday outing a couple of weeks ago to attend the 48th Annual Scottish Festival and Games over in Highlands Ranch.This was our first time at this festival and we got to see quite a variety of activities. There were Massed Pipes and Drums, Pipe Band Competitions, British Dogs Exhibition, Four Stages of non-stop Celtic Music, Scottish Athletic Competitions, Scotch Tasting, and of course…a British Car Show. We drove the Jag and joined up with the other British Cars for a little parade through the festival grounds and then we parked them all on the field for display. Aside from a number of beautiful Jaguar XK-120′s there a couple of quite nice older Rolls-Royces.

We wandered about and visited the Genealogy Tent to see if we had any Scottish ancestry lurking in our background but it looked doubtful. Our friend Cynthia had much more luck and discovered that she had some direct lineage to the Cumming Clan. They adopted her and she was quickly pressed into duty carrying the clan standard (flag) for the big parade of Clans. The Clan thing is really a big deal and they all had tents set up telling about their history and lineage. There were 55 clans represented as I recall.

There were lots of folk dressed in authentic costume, including a lot of men wearing kilts. We only got to see a little bit of the log-tossing event and a wee bit of sword fighting. The Celtic music was playing away in the background and we stopped by the Macallan tent to got an education on what it requires to be classified as “Scotch Wisky” and do a little “tasting”. By the way, there is no “e” in whisky in case you didn’t know that. Everyone seemed to leave the tent in a better mood than when they went in.

I then sampled a traditional Scottish snack called a “bridie”. A bridie is a savory pie similar to a pasty, but the pastry is not as hard and no potato is used, making it much lighter in texture. The filling is made of minced steak, butter, and beef suet seasoned with salt and pepper, and sometimes with an addition of minced onions. It was quite tasty although a bit greasy.

The clouds rolled in along with some thunder and impending rain so we headed back to the display area and put the top up just before the rains drifted in. All in all it was an enjoyable event and I would recommend it.

This past weekend was a rather full and “eventful” three days. Friday was a “taking care of business” day in Colorado Springs. Both of us needed to see several medical providers and there was a cargo trailer to be purchased. Despite our best efforts we seemed to be constantly running behind as we kept having to wait for this, that, or the other. But, eventually we were able to head south for our weekend getaway in La Veta, CO. We arrived just in time to get checked in at the La Veta Inn and get downstairs for our dinner reservation at Alys Restaurant.

We dined out on the patio and enjoyed the live music as Tom Munch kept a steady string of tunes going. Alys came out and personally assisted Rhonda with her gluten-free selections while I sipped on a local brew. The dinner was exceptional, kudos to Alys and crew, and we liked Tom’s music enough to buy a couple of his CDs.

Saturday had a plan. We had purchased tickets on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and were headed to the top of La Veta Pass where, in a natural mountain amphitheater run by solar and wind power you’ll find Fir, Colorado, the site of the Mountain Rails Live Summer Concert Series; The only Rocky Mountain concert venue that is accessible solely by train. The weather was shaping up beautifully, clear blue skies with a few clouds and nice warm temperatures. We walked over to the train depot and soon were boarded and chugging up the mountain. The track winds in and out of the canyons, along the sides of the hills, and it goes pretty slow so there is plenty of opportunity to take in the sights. At the present time the sights include black bears who are frequenting a grain spill up between two tunnels. We saw five of them chowing down on the spilled grain when we went past.

It took about an hour to get to the top where we de-trained, had a bit of BBQ for lunch, and then went down and enjoyed the music. Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen from Vermont opened with traditional folk music and some original songs. Playing the guitar, concertina and banjo, they had a rich harmony, compelling songs and a good dose of humor. The main attraction was Weavermania, a folk group dedicated to recreating the songs and music of The Weavers, whose musical influence can still be heard in the Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul and Mary; and in every coffee house and folk club in the country. All of the music was great and we really enjoyed the afternoon. Late in the afternoon, the train took us back down to La Veta and we relaxed a bit before having another great dinner at Alys’ and heading for an early bed.

Sunday we hung around for awhile and then headed up Hwy 12 to Cucharas Pass and then took the dirt road on up the mountain to Cordova Pass, a high pass (11248 ft/3428 m) to the west of the peak. There we went on a short hike and enjoyed the views of the Spanish Peaks and surrounding areas. The drive down the east side of the twin peaks took considerably longer than we thought and we ended up being late to Caleb’s 1st Birthday party by the time we got back to Pueblo.

The party was a big success and everyone had fun, especially Caleb, who demonstrated that cake is not meant to be eaten but rather smeared around on your forehead! Looked like fun to me but I got “that look” from Rhonda when I thought about trying it Presents were opened and Caleb will definitely be entertained for awhile with all the new stuff.

On the way back through the Springs we picked up our cargo trailer which I found on Craigslist. I call it my “mobile shed” because our current house does not have a shed and this provides not only space to store the lawn mower, bicycles, etc. but also all the stuff we had in temporary storage during the move. Our backyard has a place all rocked-in for parking a trailer so this works out perfect.