Now THIS is Colorado!

Last night, when I got off work, I decided to drive up to visit my parents in the Upper Arkansas River Valley. The Valley is a remarkable enclave of hippies & artists, ranchers & church folk, all of whom seem to get along pretty well (the letters to the editor of the Mountain Mail not withstanding). It's always a very pleasant place to go.

On the way down, I stopped at the infamous Coney

Island in Bailey for a hot polish sausage and some fries. I wish I would have snagged a picture of thi s place for you... the building is

a little diner on the side of the road, but it's shaped like

a giant hot dog, about the size of a bus. When I was a kid, a really little kid, Coney Island used to

be in Conifer, just up the road, and before that, it was in Denver off Colfax, the legendary longest-running east west street in the country, but I digress...

This lady and her husband loved the van! She asked me a bunch of questions, and I gave her a quasi tour. It's proof that vehicle graphics work, and proof that Graphic Rabbit stickers WILL draw attention to your vehicle!

After a pleasant, quick conversation, I hopped in the BW, and drove through South Park and over Trout Creek Pass into the valley of my home. I was following a bunch of traffic, which made me slow up. At one point, you used to pass this sign that welcomed you to Chaffee County when you rounded the last corner that gave up the view of Mount Princeton in all of its grace and royalty. It's a stunning peak at that, reaching over 14,000 at its summit. These signs would say "Welcome to Chaffee County. Now THIS is Co

lorado!" The new signs that say

"Headwaters of Adventure" in promotion of the spectacular whitewater rafting in the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, a state park. While I appreciate the focus on the

tourism that makes the county the most money, but in a county that has more 14,000 peaks than the entire state of Alaska, I feel a neglect for the mountains.

Anyway, driving on, I got to a scenic overlook, and I had to stop to hang a leak. When I got out of the van, I looked around. The view...

the sunset... the music I was listening to ("Aqueous

Transmission" by Incubus)... the temperature... everything was perfect. So I snagged a set of

pictures, lit some incense, and drove the 25 miles home. The only thing I could think when I snagged the pictures... "Now THIS is Colorado!"

Just an FYI, the pictures, top to bottom, are looking north to south. Download them and put them together side-by side, right to left.