Old Hotels! Stanley and Baldpate

I like old buildings, I really do.  I think they are nifty and I am always on the look out for some ghosties.  And they are just cool.  I am a nerd for them.  I can't help it I love all the tiny little details.  I think that is what made them so much fun.  In case you forgot I spent a lot of time in old Yellowstone buildings (Lake Hotel, The Inn), and I grew up in one.  Maybe there a connection, or I just like old things.

Petals: Mt. Evans- Goliath Nature Area

 The wild flowers were in full bloom while at Mt. Evans.  This was amazing.  It made the drive absolutely gorgeous.  Part way up the mountain is a little stop called the Mount Goliath Nature Area.  It is just fabulous stop!  It is a whole bunch of wildflower gardens.  And a bristlecone forest.  To the best of my knowledge I'd never been in one before.  They are awesome, they are like the oldest living trees or something strange like that... expect a post.

Wild Thing: Mountain Goats

So you might have noticed that I saw mountain goats when I was at Mt. Evans...  And you probably figured that I took more than enough pictures of them.  I did.  And you are lucky enough that you get to see them.  I don't know a lot about mountain goats, except that I think they are awesome little buggars and they blend into the mountain pretty darn well.  Oh and they don't like dogs.  A forest ranger told us that.  We had the dog with us and totally didn't see the goat, but he told that they don't like each other much and who knows what would happen if they got too close.

Mt. Evans

My parents came to visit me in Estes and like anyone who works in the tourist buisness, I just wanted to get away for my weekend.  We did.  We traveled about an hour and a half south to one of Colorado's many 14ers.  Mount Evans, which is just out side of the town of Idaho Springs (which is about 10 minutes from Blackhawk, a place with many casinos that I lost money in.)  We left Estes early on Thursday and we had hoped to see Mount Evans that day.  But it was later in the afternoon when we got there and since it is the monsoon season here, it was raining.  And there is no point of being above treeline if you can't see very far.

Boats

Still in San Francisco!  We went to the Maritime National Historic Site (or what ever it is called).  It was totes cool, I like boats.  And they had all kinds.  There were old timey boats, a submarine and other fun and exciting things!

Across the Bay

Wow! I just realized that I haven't written about my time in San Francisco at all!  Fear not this will be remedied.  The only time that I went to San Francisco it was in March or April of 2008.  I had just finished my first winter at Snow Lodge and I went traveling with my parents to the southwest.  I haven't really blogged about this trip at all which is a shame cause it was great!  My younger bro was living in the San Francisco area at the time.  So we stopped by.

Fare the Well Winer!

Procrastination time!  I am having a hell of a time with my comprehensive accounting problem and I need to distract myself from it. So I figured I'd get a blog post done.  It is no longer winter, yet it has been lingering on here in Minnesota.  I love the snow, but let me tell you, I am not a fan of it this far into the spring.  I am a rain girl.  Weird I know!

But I figured I'd give it a bit of a homage or a goodbye if you will.  Snow!!!  I love the stuff, honestly I do.  I've been skiing literally my whole life.  My cross country skiing not as good as my downhill.  But I try.  I am sure I mentioned it previously.  The skiing is a lifelong love.  It will never go away, I hope.  I learned the sport in Michigan and have been lucky enough to get to ski in the western mountains, including a great spring skiing trip to New Mexico.  Exciting I know. 

The skiing is different in the Midwest.  For one thing the hills are a heck of a lot smaller! And it is a bit icier, not a lot of powder.  That's ok by me though, I grew up with it.  Honestly it was much harder for me to adjust to powder than I expected.  Kinda like moguls.  I know how to ski moguls, I just don't like it.  I feel like I don't have enough control.






So New Mexico, I went in the spring, I won the New Mexico fight! I didn't get sick!!!! Yay, I am not a New Mexico fan (for reasons I've previously mentioned).  But I put it aside for the joys of the snow!  We (my parents and I) had been up in the Colorado Mountains.  It was great fun!  Gorgeous weather! Gorgeous Mountains! Amazing skiing!  New Mexico was a different horse all together.  The weather was great, although much warmer.  This led to slicker skiing.  A bit more work and a lot more speed.  I have a need for speed, always have- always will.




Don't get me wrong as spoiled as I've gotten I still love Minnesota and Michigan skiing!  The problem is that the hills are so short in comparison and while you get a ton more runs in.  But they are short and quick!  Not always the most fun.  Oh and if you fall, the ice is a bit more painful!
 



I am not actually sure what this blog is about today.  It is kinda a rambling of my winter/skiing thoughts! Golly!

Play Ball!

So I went to a baseball game... I know what your thinking, but Kate, you don't seem to really like baseball, it kinda bores you.  Well yes, that is true, baseball is far from my favorite sports, but I enjoy it sometimes.  But needless to say I went with my sister home opening weekend for the Twins against the Oakland A's.  Not a huge twins fan, but I have a soft spot for them (Kirby and all).

It was fun, but cold.  Not as first but as the evening wore on.  (April is a little too soon for outdoor baseball in Minnesota in my opinion)  It was a 1-0 game.  It seemed like all they ever did was catch pop flys in the out field or throw 'em out at first.  And there was that one Oakland A who kept stealing 2nd.  That didn't seem nice to me.





I had no idea who the players were, except Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau (I know this because he is the bestest friend of one of my absolute favorite hockey players Willie Mitchell)  So I just kinda went along with the crowd.  It was fun.

Golden and Bald! The National Eagle Center

  Last Friday (the 18th) my cousin Susie and I, along with my mom's cousin Sylvia, went to the National Eagle Center.  The National Eagle Center is in Wabasha Minnesota.  Wabasha is a small town along the Mississippi River.  And Wabasha like many of the little river towns has a large eagle population.  La Crosse, Winona, Prairie Du Chien, Red Wing, you name one they all have loads of 'em. 

And Wabasha much like La Crosse has a large wintering population of eagles.  By the dams there is a large spot of open water.  They like this.  Literally hundreds at any given moment, trust me it is awesome to see.  Now while we were in Wabasha, there wasn't bunches of eagles flying around.  The warm weather had opened up much of the river and they were on the move.  But during the 60ish mile drive to Wabasha there were tons flying around, hanging out on the river and just being amazing! (I love Minnesota)

But at the Eagle Center I got closer to eagles than I ever thought possible.  They are so beautiful up close.  Hell, they are pretty darned awesome from a distance too.  There were 3 Bald Eagles and one Golden Eagle at the eagle center.  They aren't as big as I expected, I mean they are big and have a huge wingspans, but I figured they weighed lots more than the 8-12 pounds they do.  Got to watch one eat, and of course it decided to take a dump too (lovely I know).  But hey, I am not gonna share what I learned about that function...

None the less, I loved it, probably because I love eagles.

In a Cavern

Still in New Mexico... this time to one place I want to drag my best friend too.  She is the subterranean type.  Not sure where it ranks in the largest known cave category, but I am certain that it is towards the top of the list.  It is beautiful!  And I totally fell in love with caves.  Funny story, but it was warmer inside the cave than outside.  And here I was looking for warmth...

Carlsbad is pretty cool.  Like most caves you go down an elevator and exit into a strange new world... Well at Carlsbad you enter an underground lunchroom (gift shop).  You'll never guess what they call it... yeah, the underground lunch room.  We ate and gift shopped, my mom bought a bat visor.  And then we headed out on the tour of the Big Room (creative, I know).  That was the only room I toured.  In a previous trip my parents saw one of the other large rooms.  But I figure that you can't see everything or you'll have no reason to come back.  Always leave something for next time.  Words I live by.

So, the big room, it was huge, every time you though you were near the end, you went a round a corner and it was bigger.  Sometimes smaller, and you'd look in one direction and you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you face.  You'd see a little opening and behind it there would be a bigger room.  Or a pit that seemed to go on forever.

So they got bats.  Lots of bats, I really wanted to see them, but it was too cold.  Seems that at that time of year they send a few scout bats out and if it is cold the few that stay year round, won't venture into the cold.  Lame in my opinion.  But hey, next time!

In a Canyon

New Mexico.  I have mixed feelings about New Mexico.  I had a great trip there once, I went to Chaco Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell and a bunch of places.  It was great.  But the 1st visit, I had let myself get pretty dehydrated, and was sick as a dog. (BTW where does that phrase come from anyways?)  So I didn't get anywhere.  Spent the day at a hotel being miserable and the vacation was over at that point.  Wasn't interested to seeing anything at that point.

So I went to the desert with my parents after my 1st Snow Lodge.  I was looking for warmth, and didn't find it.  Well, there was that day in Roswell.  But that was about it.  The wind.... the wind in New Mexico is crazy and cold.  Even though it was windy, Chaco Canyon was pretty hot.  But because of the wind, it wasn't unbearable.  I am not a hot weather climate kinda of girl, but I can deal in the short term.

A Great Kiva

Chaco Canyon is a mystery.  At least that is what they told me.  It is chalk full of Ancestral Puebloan Great Houses.  And they are all aligned with each other, even though they are miles apart.  Not only that, they are aligned with the solstices, the solar and lunar cycles.  It is crazy!  No one is quite certain as to what purpose Chaco was created for, was it a ceremonial area, was it something else?  Much like the amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know.

 

I love this part of the south west, the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, Chimney Rock, Hovenweep, they are all so amazing and beautiful.  You can feel the history at these sites.  The emotional imprint (if you believe in that sort of thing) is intense.  The place really speaks for itself. 

Oh and I don't have a picture, but the stars were amazing.  And I have been in many of the few remaining dark spots, but I don't know if I've ever seen a more amazing display.