You need to spend some time away from Boulder when...

May regret putting this out there on the web, but here goes...

• You feel a bit affronted when a stranger doesn't greet you with a big smile and a friendly word.
• You say 'om' and 'namaste' without a little inward giggle.
• You assume there will be a well-maintained bike path to any local destination.
• The moms you are out for supper with assume you know what an "ACL" is.

Will never tire of these ponderosa pine trails.

• You double-take when you see an overweight person in the street.
• You think it is normal for middle aged men to go round clad in lycra emblazoned with cycling logos.
• The only non-white person you have any real contact with is your son's football coach.
• You assume that all American families have 2 cars, go ski-ing in Vail and Aspen and take an annual vacation to Hawaii.
• You always know which way is west (towards the mountains right?)

12,000 feet

Hello after a break - and actually we are on our way home TODAY.  Sad and excited all rolled into one. We have had a wonderful final fling in Canyon country and the Rockies, including a huge hike near Telluride - 12 miles, topping out at over 12,000 feet.  Needed to say "Yo bear!" a lot to encourage bears to keep their distance (saw a big footprint), and had a close encounter with a porcupine.  

Sorry - not time to turn around - an early view on our hike.

Across the high Boulder field of Lizard Head trail

Album cover at 12,000 feet

Snow bank across our path - exciting.

Weary and triumphant at our campsite

Spring Break in New Mexico

Pedernal, beloved of Georgia O'Keeffe.

We spent Spring break in New Mexico: Albuquerque and Santa Fe.  Lots of history: New Mexico has been the home of Puebloan people for ten thousand years, then was a dusty outpost of the Spanish empire from the late 16th to early 19th century, at which point it became part of independent Mexico. The Santa Fe trail saw great trains of wagons passing through Santa Fe on their journey across the plains to California.  Mexico ceded the territory to the US in 1848 following the Mexican-American war and the state of New Mexico wasn't formed until 1912. In many ways, New Mexico still feels like a different country with lots of Mexican food and Spanish place names.

Mud pies in the Rio Grande

'that river twisting through a dusty land'.

We enjoyed staying with friends in Albuquerque, the adobe houses of Santa Fe and a tough canyon walk down to the Rio Grande near Los Alamos, home of the bomb, as well as witnessing an extraordinary Good Friday procession in Spanish, complete with flint lock pistols and gunpowder.  Our favourite day was a hike around Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch, surrounded by the iconic skylines and canyons of her pictures.

On top of Chimney Rock, Ghost Ranch.

16th century Adobe church at Abuquiu

Fort Garland, Southern Colorado

Chimney Rock

Learning to use chopsticks

Cowgirl at the museum in Santa Fe

Album covers are still on our minds

I AM now a soccer mom!

Half time team talk with coach Eric.

Yes! Morwenna has got over her fears and has joined her friends in the Mesa 2nd grade girls' soccer team. I was even on orange-quarters-at-half-time duty today so I'm totally legit.  I was heard to shout "go girls" and "great job" as Morwenna the sweeper booted the ball upfield out of the path of the Amazonian 3rd graders who were today's opponents. Don't enquire after the score, just know that Morwenna is loving it, and, I must say, so am I.

Meanwhile Dan is trying his hand at flag football: toned down American football minus the pushing and shoving and shoulder pads - again very happily, as his best friends are involved.  To me it is a strange game, lots of standing around, the sparsest spurts of running with the ball (compared to rugby), and lots of 'plays' to learn, with coded numbers.  But the ball is the right shape for Dan, at least.

Morwenna with orange hair tie.

Snowy Boulder

Our view, looking west

I'm not sure we've had much more snow than Scotland so far, so Colorado may be heading for another difficult summer of forest fires unless a good few more feet fall in the next few weeks.  Unlikely.  But it is beautiful when it comes, as the sun is sure to come out, the paths cleared and the snow remains for several days, white and glistening.

Local sledging

Rockies walk

Our street - even the side walk is cleared, as are bike paths

Meanwhile, making coasters at the Denver art museum

Dan and Morwenna run some errands

Unless you have an unexplained (and inexplicable) love for bland shopping centres, you may pass on this one.  But Table Mesa shopping center is a big part of our life here.  Dan and Morwenna were let loose there with my camera last week.

First, the cafe - serious business.  Dan has discovered cinnamon rolls.

Then King Soopers, our grocery store. "Have a sooper day!"

Fruit and veg look good, quality not always great

Outside my yoga temple. Yoga is Boulder's religion.

You bump into friends - here, Mat's colleague Quinn., with his cart.  Yeah!

Remember this Granny and Danna? Favourite treat spot.

Local currency - hard earned by me locally!

Rodeo!

Well, I knew it would be hilarious, but I hadn't dared hope that it would be so much fun and so impressive.  Hilarities included endless ten gallon hats, chaps and big buckles, piped country and western music ("textin' till ma fingers bleed"), burgers, bad beer, and an announcer from Texas who said things like, "he comes from a family of ropers".  Mat was the only man not wearing jeans, and certainly the only wearing a brown corduroy jacket.

Blurry bucking bronco + attendant

The site is a horrendous dust bowl which straddles Interstate 70 in South Denver and the Rodeo took place in, yes, The Coliseum.  We discovered that Cody is a proper cowboy name.

And the cowboys showed some serious skill, strength, horsemanship and courage.  We discovered that bucking broncos used to be wild horses but now are bred to buck and (according to the totally unbiased announcer) love it and suffer no cruelty.  We had a question about a strap that is put around the horse's tummy and removed when bucking is no longer required ...  Any insider knowledge on that anyone?  Hope you can watch the video.

Blurry calf lassoeing

We saw bareback broncos and saddled broncos, lassoeing, racing round barrels, olde worlde 6-horse mailcoach, and, bull riding - BIG bull riding.  Also cowboys leaping off their horses and wrestling down young bulls, and trussing up their legs. And of course mutton bustin - small boys and girls riding sheep until they drop off and are scopped up by their moms in pink sparkley cowgirl hats. Everything!  It was a very slick, professional show, but if you looked at the cowboys just before their 8 seconds of fame, they couldn't hide a pretty tense, concentrated expression.

prize winning golden Highland cow.

We went to a stock auction, and the stock that day was ... Highland cows.  Big thing in the US apparently, and some highland blood in your stock makes for leaner meat, better conversion of poor pasture and easier calfbearing, apparently.  A young bull sold for $6,000.

Family climbing

Thanks to birthday offerings from Mary and Jamie, Mat has taken 3 climbing evening classes at the Boulder Rock Club, and we have all got the climbing bug.  Indoors so far, but there are lots of promising outdoor opportunities around here once things warm up.

Morwenna getting into harness.

I'm holding on

Yee ha cowboy!

Forgot to keep his chin tucked

Yes - we're going to the rodeo!!  Thanks to Mat's chat with his barber today, we have discovered that the National Western Stock Show is on in Denver at the moment.  We have tickets to the rodeo on Saturday.  For the best seats, you have to wear a buckle.  This event has been running for over a century and we are hoping for the full array of cowboys, lassoeing and bucking broncos.  Yee ha.

Mutton bustin': looking forward to seeing some on Saturday. Is it too late for Dan to start? (see little boys lined up behind...)

Christmas holidays

Christmas morning looking over frozen Viele Lake to NCAR, taken 2 mins from our house.

Downtown Denver in the background outside the Pompeii exhibition

Click on photos to see them bigger! It snowed overnight on Christmas Eve and stayed below freezing day and night until after the new year: a veritable white Christmas.   No good for snowballs, but do come and use our spare room if ski-ing on powder snow is your thing.  

We went to Denver a couple of times over the holidays, including a very good Pompeii exhibition which I think is coming to the British Museum later this year, and a "van Go" exhibition.  Other than that, some lovely snowy walks and socialising with the friendly folk here.  We introduced them to crackers; amazingly, crackers are practically unheard of here.

Pepito, our neigbour's enormous rabbit

Morwenna was busy with Pepito, our neighbour's rabbit, who we managed to keep alive in arctic temperatures while they holidayed in Hawaii.

Morwenna is a sturdy walker these days

Bear Canyon trail: up through the pine woods

Lunch by the rocks

Christmas chicken dinner

Christmas day in the snow

Morwenna and her Christmas dinner