Wordless Wednesday: Starii tovarischi

Goin' down to South Park....

Yes, we do go down to—or, rather, more accurately, down through—Park County when we fly into Denver to get to "our mountains" some 150 miles away. It is where the witty but massively irreverent cartoon is supposedly set, and where its talented creators are from.

And it's a really interesting landscape, if a little bit on the bleak side, especially in the bleak midwinter.

On our drive back to Denver after our week in the mountains, we took a slightly different route through the huge valley, for a short stop in Colorado Springs instead of heading directly back to the airport.

The photo above was taken as we approached the summit of Wilkerson Pass, where you start to climb out of the giant faulted syncline* that makes up most of the county's area.

We found a very nice, new visitors center at the top of the pass and we stopped to take in the lovely views of the territory we'd just traversed.

It was really cold, though, and I didn't get out to take more pictures. The one on the right was taken through the car window.

Here are a couple more shots of Park County scenery, also taken out of the warm car, before we got to the pass.

looks a little cold, doesn't it? when this was taken our thermometer said -15° F.

the winter clouds were really beautiful as the sun added perhaps a degree or two to the ambient temp

Mountains, plains, neat little towns (especially Fairplay)...Park County has a bit of everything that makes Colorado special.

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*According to my Roadside Geology of Colorado, South Park is one of the state's "large intermontane valleys...a faulted syncline between the Front Range and the Sawatch Uplift." I believe in the past I have mistakenly told people that it was a caldera, but it is not. Although the ground in the valley is made up of several layers of lava flow, from distant eruptions, over the older Paleozoic rocks on the ancestral valley floor.

No volcanoes here, kids, sorry to have misled you.

Making do...

...with Monarch Mountain's less-than-ideal snow, that is. It still, apparently, has some of the best snow in Colorado. But either global warming has struck with a vengeance, or—hopefully—we're just in the midst of a batch of sub-par winters. (Last winter was bad, too.)

The area's opening date had to be pushed back almost a month, and the snow is definitely not up to the place's usual very high standards. But we still had a good time, especially since we got to ski with friends and family, and visit with more, during our early-January trip north.

It's actually rather ironic that I've been talking about "warming" when this was one of the coldest ski trips I've had in years. Most of Colorado was in the grips of a really cold snap (even the natives were complaining) and it cut my ski days, at least, down a bit.

The picture above was taken on my half-day, when wind chills were well into the negative double digits. But there was new snow!! So you can't pass that up completely. Plus, the newly remodeled and expanded lodge at the area makes really good hot cider and hot chocolate!

But doesn't this look chilly?! The winter sun is trying—really hard—to give us some warmth. The cable running across the picture is part of one of the ski lifts.

No matter the weather, though, you have to stop at the top of Panorama lift for a picture looking west from the Continental Divide. Three guesses which trail I took from here (and the first two don't count)—Mirage or Skywalker.

We did get some sunny weather later, although a few of the sunny days were even colder! But Monday, our last full day in Colorado, was sunny and un-windy, and we had a great time skiing all day on the nicely groomed slopes. The ski area crews do a marvelous job of making the most of the snow that they have.

We knew it was going to be a good day when we got up Monday morning and saw the sunrise just kissing the top of the ridge across the valley from our cabin...

And we were right!

Here's Henry half-way down the beautifully groomed Romp:

And here's a panoramic shot of one of the most recognizable mountains in the neighborhood, Mt. Aetna. Looks like it might be getting some more snow, but the sun's winning the battle on this day.

I can't write about the trip without mentioning how cheap it was for us. Not only were our Southwest airline tickets to Denver a bargain, but we got a great deal on this all-wheel-drive car. Big enough for skis and friends, and able to get up our steep, slick, driveway with no problems.

Henry at potty and hot chocolate stop in Fairplay on the way to Monarch

In the next post, I'll give you some shots of gorgeous and interesting scenery during our drive through one of the most interesting counties in Colorado.

Wordless Wednesday: vintage

Fun wedding, bad aunt

Well, I have some catch-up blogging to do. But first some excuses as to why I've been so remiss.

We didn't have a particularly hectic Christmas, but the weeks following have been a blur!

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First of all, there was a great family event, another wedding (see previous wedding posts from 2008, 2009, and 2011...unfortunately equally fun weddings in 2005 and 2007 pre-dated my blogging career). Right at the end of old 2012, my eldest niece tied the knot. There was so much going on related to the nuptials, and so much great food and drink and visiting to partake of, that I took shamefully few pictures—the reason for the "bad aunt" appellation. Fortunately Henry took more and has graciously allowed me to use some of his, which you'll see below.

The wedding happened in a lovely downtown church here in San Antonio, St. Mary's on St. Mary's. I did get one shot of the beautiful altar before the ceremony began:

Aren't the flowers gorgeous?! And the music—before and during the ceremony—was probably the best I've ever heard at a wedding. Wonderful instrumentals, soloist, and even the hymns were great music.

The day before the wedding itself we were treated to a fun luncheon (hosted by friends of the bride's family) at the Alamo Hall on the Alamo grounds. (Where I got the photo of Davy Crockett.) Yes, THE Alamo. One of the top tourist attractions in all of Texas, that we visit all too rarely.

It was a great party, with a terrific band that welcomed some of our family's musicians to the stage for command performances. Below, in the middle, are one of my nephews (brother of the bride and talented amateur) and my professional musician sister-in-law rocking out with the band:

After the party (where there were so many of the lovely flower arrangements—see above—in addition to great food and the aforementioned good music) we walked across the grounds to our car. Along the way, I snapped these pix: the Alamo museum facade, dated in the centennial year of 1936, and the strikingly handsome Emily Morgan Hotel across the street.

After a really scrumptious rehearsal dinner that evening (at which no pictures were taken, unfortunately; we really should have snapped the food and flowers that were there, too!), we had our family Christmas, much delayed, the next morning.

Then, the big event, the wedding in the afternoon.

San Antonio was in the midst of a pretty cold (for us) snap and unfortunately the church was inadequately heated. I'm really not sure how the bridesmaids survived in their lovely strapless gowns—I had to keep my grandmother's fur coat on during the whole ceremony (I'm usually only able to wear it once every few years and of course I don't approve of the wearing of fur generally at all. But since this coat was purchased probably before I was even born, and since it always reminds me of my fashion-plate grandmother, I wear it when I can.)

The lovely lady pictured with me on the left is one of my nieces-in-law and mother of the ringbearer and flower girl. The mass of flowers I'm holding for her is both her bouquet and her daughter's.

My great-niece wasn't the only youngest generation participant, and the ceremony was made all the more memorable by their contributions, although some of them enjoyed the activity more than others.

My oldest great-nephew succumbed to the pressures of being the ring-bearer, but was comforted by the groom when he got to the front of the church, after his brave walk down the aisle, as you can see below. On the right in the picture is the best man, and at the lower left are two more great-nephews, who seem to be having a pretty good time in the spotlight.

Here's the whole wedding party. Aren't they all gorgeous?! Especially the happy couple in the center. Congratulations, Zelime and Azat! And thanks to the families for showing us all such a great time.

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So, that was just the first excuse I promised for lack of postings lately.

As you might imagine, such a full schedule of fun requires a few days of recovery. And not long after that was accomplished I was hit with a vicious stomach bug, which fortunately didn't last long but also required some recovery time.

Then, it was time to head to Colorado!

So although I have been remiss about blogging, I have lots more content in the pipeline, and will be putting up some Colorado photos and telling some skiing stories soon. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday: you can never have too much beer

Wordless Wednesday: flowers for Davy

Wordless Wednesday: even in the bleak mid-winter