Category Archives: Travel

Giant Windmills and the Pawnee Buttes

Britton and I decided to take a day trip out to eastern Weld County to see one of the only landmarks that is out there: the Pawnee Buttes. We had visited before but it had been at least 10 years and we had never gone together.

Grover House
Grover Train Museum that looks like an old fashioned school house

Our first stop on the 70-80 mile trek from Greeley was the small town of Grover. Grover is not quite a ghost town, but pretty small, with only about 100 people. We stopped to check out some of the old abandoned houses there and decided they would make good settings for a creepy zombie or other horror movie.

Creepy House on the Prairie
Creepy House on the Prairie

Squirrel Thing
Weird/Cute Squirrel thing in the window

Tree framed in Door Frame
Desolate Prairie/mountain view from within the abandoned house

The whole time we were out we could imagine Native Americans traveling through and then the old west time of the 1800s trying to make it out on the dusty flatlands of Northeastern Colorado.

Long Dirt Road
This type of scene has not changed much in 200 years

However, one thing that has markedly changed the landscape is the wind power in the area. As we entered the Pawnee National Grasslands we were awed by these huge, gigantic windmills that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. I mean, we have seen them from a distance before, but never had we been right up underneath them. They were staggering as they swooped around and around gathering the wind that is so prevalent out there.

Field of Windmills
Some of the hundreds of windmills we saw

WIndmill in comparison to person
It is hard to explain in photos the size of these things. Here you can see Britton (who is over 6 feet tall) in the lower portion of the photo


Check it out in this video! I am the small being at the bottom.

Old Fashioned Windmill Windmill
Juxtaposition of the old and the new

Finally we made it to the trailhead of the Pawnee Buttes. From there it is about a 2 mile walk to the actual buttes themselves and we had to walk through pretty harsh terrain of spiky yucca plants and cactus.

Cropped Window Scene of Buttes
At the start of the hike to the buttes

Buttes and Windmills
The buttes with windmills in the background. Something that was not there the last time we had visited

Me and B at the Buttes
Me and B at the Buttes

Britton and the Butte
Britton conquering a strange new planet? No just northeastern Weld County

On the way back home we spotted this fence with cow skulls hanging from it. I thought it was cool and strange and definitely worth a photo since the light was just right:

Row of Cow Skulls

In sum, it was a fun day trip into the wilderness of the Colorado High Plains and I would recommend you try it, if you haven’t yet. And if you want to maximize your driving out to the middle of nowhere, also time it to go to the Grover Rodeo on Father’s Day weekend to see an old fashioned rodeo with real cowboys. Happy Trails!

 

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Clearing Space and Filling It

These next few months will be all about clearing out our space in order to move into a new one (even more than we have in previous purges). And I don’t just mean physically, but also figuratively. Physically we have to sell, give away, donate, pack or toss almost all of our belongings. But as we do this, we are also figuratively making space for new things to move into it.

I think we all know the feeling of clearing off a table only for more things -keys, coins, papers, etc- to “magically” creep onto it again. We have to constantly keep a check on our space to make sure it holds what we want it to. In the same way, we must do that with our lives and what we bring in it: people, money, jobs, hobbies, our thoughts, our dreams, our purpose! Nothing stays a void very long. We are constantly filling and refilling. Creating and re-creating.

Often our physical artifacts are representations of our thought realm. When we aren’t careful and selective, it can be become cluttered -a mess. We must be careful what we bring into our lives- our home, our mind, our body – so that it will be a true reflection of what you want to see, to be.

And so in this way, it has been a real re-awakening to what is important to us, especially when we got new carpet and had to move everything that had been in every room. Most of our “stuff” really is just stuff. They are representations of things that were once important to us, and some of what still is. But most of it is not necessary in our transition to what we really want, and where we really want to be: which is 3000 miles away on four jungled acres in a tucked away surf town on a Caribbean isle.

I think we are coming close to a point where we will be looking more at what we want/need to take with us instead of what needs to be discarded. For instance, this is the list of things we will take so far:

Kumquat and Mexicola
The two plants I’d like to take

Clothing– we will need a little clothing to get us started. And most of my jewelry because it is small, easy to take and a lot have meaning (like our wedding rings for example).
Sentimental items– some physical photographs/albums, journals, small gifts, small wall decor items
Computer/lap top– for our music, files, blog, and digital photos
Paperwork-like licenses, titles, taxes, identification
Kitty- We have chosen to take Kitty. It will be a mini-adventure for sure to take our cat with us. And through his eyes we will see our reactions somewhat mirrored
A couple of houseplants– I would like to take our Mexicola avocado plant that I grew from seed and a kumquat tree.
Bikes -We are not sure on this one. I love my beach cruiser and it would be perfect in Rincon, but is it worth shipping? Same thing with Britton’s mtn bike. It is old but reliable.
Guitar/bass- We will probably be using a lot more acoustic instruments like bongo drums and acoustic guitars, but this perhaps will be a sentimental item for BK to bring. He is selling his amp, however, which will literally clear a lot of space.

Marshall Vintage
Amp for sale!

I think these are good representations for what we are bringing into this new space that we will be creating. Our knowledge, history and experiences. Responsibility. Living things. Love. Music. Hobbies and interests. Health.

In 7 short months, we will be walking into a new space and filling it with the building blocks of a new, exciting adventure. And we are thrilled!

Rincon House Fish Eye
Thanks to Linda for capturing this fish-eye picture of our place in Rincon!

 

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I Have Arrived in Rincon!

After a long day of flying and leaving Denver at a brisk -6 degrees F my friend Matt and I have arrived at the property.  We flew to Philadelphia and on to San Juan with the weather getting warmer each stop and arriving at a nice 80 degree evening.

big Red
The luggage I lovingly call Big Red arrived in one piece as our first moving bag

We figured we would get into Rincon eariler even with the drive instead of flying to Aguadilla, and we did, arriving in Rincon about 10ish.

When we got into Rincon the gate and everything around it was covered in new growth.  It will take some time to cut it back.  I am planning to hit up Home Depot in the morning to get some supplies.

I will post more pics in the morning.  It has been a long day and I am posting this from my phone.

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Time For a Little Sunshine

Yellow Flowers

Britton has been enjoying his time off and resting after his major medical incident back in November. He has recovered nearly all of his memory and is functioning quite well with the treatments of the doctor. He has been sleeping through the whole night again and doesn’t seem nearly as anxious either. Life as a whole has gotten much better for him and us. He is scheduled to return to a modified work schedule near the beginning of February.

In the mean time, our good friends have been talking about picking up a property in Puerto Rico as well which would be awesome because we would love to hang out with them there. They love the tropics as we do and I think together we would have a blast. They had a few properties they wanted to check out, and like we did a few years back when we first unknowing found our house, are sending a scout, our friend Matt, to check them out. Britton thought it would be a good time to go on a trip since he is using up all of his time off for the year and it’s a rare opportunity to do something like this with his best friend.

anasco beach

So Britton and Matt will be in Puerto Rico for a little less than a week in the middle of January. They will be staying at our place in Rincon while together they look at properties and do a few  fix-up jobs and clean-up around the property.

Since it is just a short trip, I am going to stay home and vicariously enjoy the sunshine through Britton and Matt’s updates. It will be tough since we’re in the midst of the coldest part of the year, but just knowing that they are down there getting it ready for our final journey coming up will make it all the more sweet.

 

Rincon Sunset

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