Who Let The Dawgs Out?

The weekend got off to a good start. The Bulldogs got a rare victory against the evil Swamp Lizards. Exciting game, the Dawgs fought with spirit that has been lacking this season. I can’t say I have ever seen an entire bench run onto the field to celebrate the first touchdown of a game. That could have backfired big time, but it worked. GO DAWGS!!!

I went a Halloween party after the game Saturday night. Pirates & Hippies seemed to be the in costumes. I was some weird hybrid of a bandwagon Rockies fan, Darth Vader, & Lord Dark Helmet. Sorry no pics, I didn’t take a camera.

Sunday afternoon, I went for a hike at Mount Galbraith Open Space Park. The hike was a rerun for me. I did it last November. It is a nice hiker only trail with some great views of Golden.
Me along the Mt. Galbraith Trail. Coors Brewery is down in the valley to my left.





As for the Rockies, their run has come to an end. I wasn’t expecting them to win the Series this year, but a sweep is very disappointing. I was expecting a better performance from them in Colorado. Oh well, it gets me ready for next season. I know the team now, and I plan to follow them from the start next season. It will mean more to me if they win the Series if I have been following them all season. Congrats to the Red Sox.

Go Dawgs!

-M

Four Seasons In One Day

We had some wacky weather in Denver this past weekend. The high on Saturday was 80° F. Less than 24 hours later, it was snowing. Several inches of snow fell, but the ground was too warm for it to hang around very long. I went for a walk after lunch Sunday and most of the snow was already gone.
Mt. Morrison from the greenway along Bear Creek.







I went to the Colorado Rapids final game of the season on Saturday. They lost to Real Salt Lake and will miss the playoffs. The cold front arrived at the start of the second half. Some wicked winds started blowing a kept going through the entire half. It was affecting play quite a bit.

The Rapids season may be over, but the Rockies incredible run is still going. The World Series comes to town next weekend. It is an interesting dilemma for me. The Red Sox were the first team I ever rooted for in baseball. They use to have Spring Training in my hometown, but I didn’t care for baseball as a kid. I didn’t develop an interest in baseball till my late teens. It wasn’t until I moved to Georgia that I followed what a team did everyday. And that was the Braves. The Red Sox are still my favorite American League team. If they hadn’t won the World Series in 2004, I would be rooting for them. But since they did win it, I got to throw my support to my new hometown team. I’ve gotten to learn the Rockies on this streak that they are on, and I don’t want to stop cheering for them. So Go Rockies!
-M

Rock Steady

All week long the weather has been beautiful in Colorado. Then the weekend comes along and everything changes. I had a small window of opportunity to go hiking on Saturday. I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked to Fern Lake. The weather wasn’t too bad. I was in shorts & T-shirt going up hill. Apparently other people were cold though. I didn’t get chilled until to the lake. It was windy there with a few snow flurries. There was a slight misty rain on the way down. I didn’t get any great pictures on this hike. Here is one of some fall color.





Fall color along the Fern Lake Trail










On the way back home I had to deal with some rain and hail. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad. I was still able to make it back in time for my football. The Dawgs didn’t play well again, but they won. It was been a crazy college football season. If the season were to end today, South Florida would be in the National Championship Game. Yikes!!!

Sunday was an all-day drizzle in Denver and snow in the mountains. I’m not quite ready for a snow hike now that I know how long the snow hangs around. So I stayed at home and practiced my Spanish. The Rapids game was only on Spanish Television. They kept their slim playoff hopes alive by beating Chivas USA on the road. It was Chivas USA’s first loss at home all year. The Rapids did it by scoring two goals in the second half while playing a man down. One game left, they need a win and some help.

Rocktober fever is still hot despite the cooler temperatures. The Rockies are up 3-0 on the Diamondbacks. They have won 20 of their last 21. The World Series is looking good. They just need to avoid a collapse of Yankee-like proportions.

Rock On!

-M

Rocktober

Baseball postseason has started, and I've found myself jumping on the Rockies Bandwagon. I live here, and I'm not going anywhere. So I might as well learn to root for the home team. They are hot; they have won 17 of their last 18. The Rockies have a good, young team. I'm starting to learn some of their players. I can see myself becoming a true fan the longer I live here. The Rockies sweep of the Phillies on Saturday night was nice distraction to a lousy Saturday afternoon. My Bulldogs got demolished. It was worse than the score. I sat through the whole thing in complete disgust. It was ugly. Living in Colorado makes it easier to take though.

On Sunday, I went for hike in the mountain bike infested Alderfer/Three Sisters Park outside of Evergreen. It is a beautiful park, but the mountain bikes are killing some of the trails. The mountains bikes are not going away; they are too popular. Hopefully, the open space parks will start creating separate trails. Even I consider mountain bikes the best kind of recreational vehicle since they don't cause air pollution. There is more hiking for me to do at Three Sisters Park. I might save it for when there is snow on the ground. That is not too far off. Here are today's pics.
Me on Evergreen Mtn. at 8,536 Ft. Mt. Evans is behind me at 14,264 Ft.






Fall color from the non-evergreens along the Evergreen Mtn. Trail.