Halloween

I hope everyone survived all the little ghouls out in the streets this evening. There were quite a few of them on the streets where I live. I haven’t really done any major hikes the past two weekends. So here are some pictures I’ve taken recently just to keep the blog alive.



Fall view along the Arkansas River





Royal Gorge Bridge





Royal Gorge Bridge





Royal Gorge Bridge once again.






The Bridge is huge tourist trap. The bridge and gorge is quite cool by itself, but all kinds of junk has been built around it. It is way too expensive to visit. Fortunately, I have been given a pass so I didn't have to pay to see it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made the stop.

Happy Halloween,

-MM

Solitude

The Rapids qualified for the playoffs on Saturday!!! They still have a game to spare. The Rapids have missed out on the playoffs the past 3 years in heartbreaking fashion. It is a huge relief that they didn’t wait till the last game again. So I celebrated on Sunday by going hiking. I did a hike in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains near Westcliffe. I hiked up to the Dry Lakes. I parked at the Horn Creek Trailhead. I followed the Rainbow Trail to the Dry Creek Trail. The Rainbow Trail is open to ATV’s, so it is quite wide. The Dry Creek Trail pretty much just goes straight up the mountain. It is a good haul up to the Dry Lakes. Fortunately the trail is only 3.5 miles long. The Dry Creek Trail is quite wide as well. I bet it was open to ATV’s at one time. It is open to hikers and horses only now. I made it to the Lakes and back to my car without seeing a single person. I’m not sure if I have ever done that in Colorado. I know I’ve had some mountain tops to myself, but I would still see people on other parts of the trail. I was quite surprised not see anyone. The road to the trailhead was paved except for the last quarter of a mile. Anyway here are some pictures.



Getting closer to the Lakes





Me at the Dry Lakes







Lake





Looking back at the Wet Mountains





View from my lunch spot





The Fall color still hanging around on the road out.

Chicago

I was scheduled to change planes and go back to Colorado after my Iowa trip; however, when I discovered that the US was going to play Poland in a friendly in Chicago, the thought crossed my mind to hop off the plane in Chicago and see the game. And that is what basically happened. Jim and Stacy decided to come out well. I met them in Chicago last Thursday, October 7th. We played tourist during the day. On Friday we did a bike tour of the city. It was quite interesting riding down the streets of downtown Chicago.


A stop along the bike ride. Oprah lives near by.








Jim and Lincoln







View from our hotel room











We went to a MLS game Friday evening. We saw the Chicago Fire beat the Columbus Crew 2-0 at Toyota Park. We joined a bunch of American Outlaws at Small Bar north of town and took a chartered school bus to the stadium on the south side of town. It was a long ride made shorter by the fact that beer was allowed on this school bus. Only in Chicago I guess.

Brian McBride scores a goal

We didn’t have any plans before the game Saturday so we basically walked around and saw the sights that were within walking distance of our hotel. Here are a few pictures from that.




The Egg a Millenium Park





Under the Egg





The side of the Egg







The Sears Tower





View from the Ferris Wheel at the Navy Pier.






On the way to game, we walked by the head-quarters for the US Soccer Federation.

The US/Poland game was a 2-2 draw. We stood in the US Supporters section for the first half. It was a little too crazy. There were a few people there who I doubt will remember being at that game. Jim and Stacy got nailed pretty good by some flying beers. It got me a little bit but not too bad. We had enough of the festivities in the supporters section by half time and moved to the nosebleeds so that we could pay more attention to the game. The majority of the crowd was Polish, and to our surprise, they spoke Polish. After the game, we watched the fireworks that took place at the Navy Pier from the top of Soldier Field.


View from the top of Soldier Field





Fireworks at Navy Pier







On Sunday, I returned to Colorado while Jim and Stacy returned to North Carolina.

Until next time,

-MM

Is this Heaven? No…it’s Iowa

Last week, I spent Sunday through Thursday in Dubuque, Iowa. I was there for classes and a conference. Dubuque is right on the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa near the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. Dubuque is quite scenic. I got chance to see town during my off hours. One of things I did was take a ride on the 4th Street Elevator. The Fenelon Place Elevator Company dates back to the 1800’s. Elevator is basically a cable car railway. It is described as the world’s shortest and steepest scenic railway.


The Mississippi River from the top of the bluffs above Dubuque







Top of the Elevator




The Elevator Car







The track










I also went out to the Field of Dreams. The movie site was only a 30 minute drive from Dubuque. It is a cool place to visit. It doesn’t cost a thing, although I did make a nice donation. People do come from all over to see this place. Some people from Australia and England were leaving as we got there. I’m not sure what they know about baseball. Anyway the place was pretty cool. It looked just like the movie with the exception of the power line going through the middle of the field.




Field of Dreams





I wish I had done the wave while I was here.





The view from foul territory in left field





The view from the corn






Rounding 1st Base





Batting practice on the field






If you build it, he will come.






The hotel I stayed at in Dubuque overlooked the Mississippi River. I did short walks along the river every day I was there.






Shot Tower



Prayer Booth. I prayed for Dubuque Star Brewery to reopen.





The view of the Mississippi River from my hotel room




The Mississippi River was a little bit high





I left Iowa on Thursday; however, the adventure continued in Chicago. Look for an update on the Chicago portion of my trip later this week.