Rocky Mountain High

Let me just say this Kansas Sucks!!!! That was the worst driving experience I have ever had. First off the winds cutting across the road made it feel like I was driving a sailboat in a wind tunnel on an ice skating rink. Then it was all up hill so the gas mileage was atrocious and to top it all off, it started snowing halfway across the state (Kansas does not plow it roads in that part of the state). Crossing the state line into to Colorado was like going to another world. The roads were plowed, the snow stopped, and the road leveled off. Shortly after crossing the state line I crested a hill and understood the meaning of “ Purple Mountain Majesty”. Off in the distance the Rockies glowed like snow-capped jewels.
After a couple of hours driving I arrived in Boulder at Kathy and Todd’s house. Kathy is and old high school friend (we have known each other since we were 14). You want to talk about a view. Their house backs up to a farm (see pic) and looking out the front windows reminded me of a beautiful landscape painting. I can understand why they moved here from Georgia. I spent a wonderful week getting to know Sage and Sterling (their kids) and getting reacquainted with Kathy & Todd, it has been too many years since we have seen each other. One thing I am coming to realize on this trip is that life is about the experiences you have and relationships you form not the things you own. Talk about experiences. The week was chock full of them. First we went snowboarding on Sunday. I have recently taken up that sport and have gotten the basics down on an icy molehill in North Carolina. It was a whole new world snowboarding on a real mountain with real snow. I felt like superman on a snowboard. It was so effortless to carve big turns that it felt like floating on air. It was also a lot softer to land on than that man made crap in NC. Now I know what snowboarding is supposed to be! After a couple of days of relaxing Todd invited me to go fishing in his new boat. He got this mack daddy drift boat for Father’s day and was itching to get it on the water. So we went to Union Reservoir to drown a few worms. The weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees and sunny but the fish weren’t cooperating, but a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. Later that evening I met up with my cousin Zack at the Lazy’s Dogs rooftop bar to enjoy some of the local micro brews and the Boulder nightlife. I can’t say I was disappointed. The beer was fabulous and the local women weren’t half bad either. While enjoying our beers and the scenery Zack asked if I wanted to fly fishing the next day. He is a guide and seeing as I had never tried fly-fishing before I said what the hay lets do it. Luckily Todd & Kathy are also fly fishers so he got me kitted out with all the gear I needed. Early the next morning as we were getting ready to head out Zack got called in to work so I went with his roommate Will and another buddy of theirs Brian, both of them are guides also. The weather was forecasted to be cold and snowy luckily I had all my cold weather gear with me. Off we went to the Blue River, which is reputed to be a “Gold Medal” trout stream. After an adventurous 90-minute drive up I 70 through the Eisenhower Tunnel we arrived at our destination and got geared up. Thanks to Will’s expert instruction and amazing fly rig I caught my fish Rainbow Trout after 3 or 4 casts. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was only a 12 incher but who cares (sorry no pic)? We kept fishing for a couple more hours and I hooked 6 or 7 more fish but I was not skilled enough to land them. While we took a break to rerig our lines and eat a bite the people at the Damn Dam decided to up the flows in the river and our fishing day was shot but, if you will pardon the pun, I was hooked on fly fishing. I would like to send a big thanks to Will and Brian for a great day.

Thursday was just a chill out day. I helped Todd move some furniture and picked Kathy up at the airport. Friday I decide to hang out downtown and take some photos. The weather turned warm again (If you don’t like the weather in Boulder just wait a few minutes) so I cruised the shops on Pearl Street. Not finding many photo ops I decided to head up the canyon to Boulder Falls to have lunch. In another one of those tourist misinformation things they billed it as the Old Faithful of Boulder. The falls were pretty and it was a nice place to each my lunch, but Old Faithful, come on! I will have the chance to compare the two in a couple of days. As much fun as I was having and as lovely as the company was it was time for me to move on. I got the Turtle rigged for travel and took off for Yellowstone Saturday morning.

In conclusion, Boulder is an amazing town with beautiful scenery, friendly people, and loads of recreational opportunities. The weather is all over the place but I liked the colder and dryer climate. In short this is a town I could see myself living in someday (Sorry Pops). Kathy, Todd, Sterling, and Sage thanks for everything! More giving and gracious hosts I could not have asked for. I will see you guys soon.
I am off to Yellowstone………………….Later, Brett