On the plane, LFG!

Plus seat 12A, so an upgrade to Economy Plus from steerage.

Now you hit a lucky streak!

Enjoy the flight.

Heh. I actually hit a nice lucky streak to get as far as I did in the two tournaments I played.

Thanks, it was an ok flight. As always, nice to get home, be in my own bed, etc.

Let's go Avalanche!

Avs win! Happy dog!

Oh yeah, one thing I wanted to mention. Looks like Hawaiian Marketplace and the strip mall just south of it (with Fatburger) are closed. Not demoed, but tape across the front.

No idea what's going in there. I like that Vegas has room for these kind of places as well as the huge casino resorts. Hope it's not getting smooshed.

Yes, I always wander into the Stage Door when in town.

Went downtown today.



Lord Stanley made an appearance.

That was pretty fun, though a madhouse. Got off the bus, went outside of Union Station, hard to move--it was packed. Thought I'd walk a few blocks up 17th street, the crowd will thin out.

I guess it did, but I found a spot about 1/3 of the way along the parade route. Couldn't imagine how big a crowd it was.

A couple stories from this morning.

When the truck with Aube-Kubel went by, the crowd started chanting "We dropped the Cup!" Apparently, he dropped it in Tampa during the postgame celebration.

When the truck with Kuemper went by (starting goalie), the guy in front of me motioned as if to toss him a beer. Kuemper saw him and nodded yes. Picked it clean out of the air.

Glove save, and a beauty.

A pretty good underhand lob too; it's a four or five-lane wide street, and of course Kuemper is on top of a fire truck. Maybe 20-25 feet horizontal, and 8-10 feet vertical?

That actually happened a few times during the parade; someone in the front of the crowd would get a player's attention, and toss them up a beer. The players seemed to have fun with it; of course, the crowd loved it.

Haven't traveled since February. Didn't camp at all this summer. Thinking about a post-Labor-Day trip to the mountains, maybe Utah's parks or something. Kind of a long weekend sorta thing, just to get away for a little bit.

Stay tuned for details.

Went pre-Labor Day instead. Decided I wanted the nights to be just a bit warmer while still avoiding the crowds.

I'm going to apologize in advance for the number of pictures and download times. Easy to take "I'd like to share this" photos with great scenery.

Took off Saturday morning, back Tuesday night. Was out of connectivity for a lot of the time, which was nice.

Anyway, woke up early Saturday. Didn't sleep great, scraped my toe on the edge of the bathtub, opening a small gash. Not a great start.

Took highway 93 down to I70. It's a state highway that run along the foothills from Boulder to Golden, a nice somewhat scenic drive as opposed to going through the city. Don't get over there much. Saw these guys, which were new to me.



Fun public art out there. Trundled up I70. Saw the house where Sleeper was filmed. Always like this view when heading up, kind of the first view of the real mountains.



Then went through the tunnel.



King Spew and the Queen were gracious enough to invite me to take a break and visit. Got a tour of the castle, and we got to know each other a little bit. Super nice folks, I'm still 100% on meeting good people through 2p2.

Up through Glenwood Canyon. A really scenic drive. There's only a couple of exits to enjoy the scenery. This picture doesn't do it justice.



Continued on to Mormonland. The drive down to Moab on Utah 128 is nice. Follows the Colorado River through sandstone canyons.





Sometimes it opens out a bit.







Continued into Moab. Found some dinner, got a bag of ice, and headed out. Wanted to stay at Dead Horse Point State Park, but their campground was full. I think that Edward Abbey mentioned DHP in his writings, which I enjoy.

Stumbled upon Horsethief Campground on the way to it, so stayed there. It's real nice scenery. Went for a walk, saw this fox wandering the campground.



Enough moisture in the atmosphere to generate a desert rainbow.



Great stars once it get dark. Didn't sleep well, up early and got out. Day 2 write-up next--the emptiness of central Utah.

Back up to I 70 near Green River. In the middle of Utah, there's a huge area called the San Rafael Swell just west of Green River which is unpopulated, sparse slickrock desert. It's ~100 miles of no services. The few exits that are there connect to towns which are tens of miles off the interstate. There are a few exits to scenic areas, but pretty much if you break down out there,





There is some life out there, but it's sparse





See the car in foreground for scale





Again, vehicle for scale















Spent the morning getting across, stopping at each of these scenic points and poking around a little.

As noted previously, I'm a map nerd. There was a section of US 6 I haven't driven before, so went north to catch that. (I used to live on US 6 back in my midwest days, so it's another one of "my" highways).

Poking along through these small towns, it was eerie. Remember, it's late Sunday morning. Not much open, almost no traffic. Stopped at Centerfield's city park to have lunch. A really nice morning, but nobody's out. Not sure if this analogy is correct, but it made me think of Stepford.

Finished up that section of the highway. Found a mediocre Chinese-American restaurant that seemed to be the only thing open in Milford on a late Sunday afternoon. Continued on to Minersville Lake park to camp.



A pleasant little park. Nice that it had showers in the bathhouse.

Next, day 3: back into the mountains.

Love the Glenwood Canyon drive! I've also been down 128 and always tell anyone going that way to take that road instead of the main one.

Super pics! My favorite is the fox. Eagerly awaiting to see if anything on Day 3 can top it.

Thanks guys. Easy to take good pictures when you have that kind of subject (and take a hundred, hoping a few come out). Remember, all images copyright if you print posters or T Shirts.

Day 3 woke around sunrise, as usual. Before leaving, I'll make some breakfast burritos, wrap them in foil, two into a small ziploc, then two of those into a bigger ziploc, and freeze 'em. EAch night, will pull a small ziploc out of the bottom of the cooler, so they'll be thawed in the morning. Depending on the weather, they might last several days to a week or so before either getting soggy or stale.

The wakeup pattern is to get out the campstove, and put a couple burritos in a frying pan on low. While that's warming up, put the bedding in the car, take down the tent and wrap it up, all that sort of thing. By that time, breakfast ready--it's usually 30-45 minutes til I'm on the road.

The first town I came upon was Beaver. Coming up to I 15, came over the rise of the overpass, where the road I was on ended in a big lot. There was a gas station, motel, a couple restaurants, and a Tesla charging station. Probably had about 30-40 chargers. Next to it was a canopy like at a gas station, but no structure or anything. Not sure why, but it struck me as funny to have a Tesla station in such a small town, and the juxtaposition with what seemed to be an ex-gas-station was great.

Anyway, continued down to Cedar City, and turned back east up into the mountains. At one point, there was a wait for a pilot car to take us through construction. The area was like this.



Further along



I think this was called Navajo Lake



Later on, came upon Butch Cassidy's boyhood home. I'm not usually one for historic stuff, but it was lunchtime, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of my favorite movies. After having my usual of sandwich, chips, and Coke, walked through the area.



There were a couple of signs for info. Going into the house, there was some old furniture to give an idea of thow they lived.

Continued along north. Came upon a rest area which had some nice scenery.







Wandered up to the interstate mid-afternoon. Decided to go back on the two-laners and see the backcountry. Ended up going through Capitol Reef NP, where they were doing construction on the road. While waiting, took a couple pictures too.







At the second construction zone, I happened to be first in line, so hopped out and talked with the flagman for a few minutes. Nice young guy. Told me they're out there 7-7 or 9PM sometimes. Fortunately, today's site gave him some shade, but being on his feet that long was killing his back.

Stopped in Hanksville for a burger (meh), then went north. Came upon this pullout.



Still loving the Subie, it runs real well. Went over 10K miles the day before.

Went up to Goblin Valley State Park to camp. Pulled up, the ranger said it's $45 to camp. I tell him that seems a bit excessive for a tent site, he tells me that they're "one of the most popular parks in the world". Really? Yellowstone? Kruger? Masai Mara? etc, etc.

It is a really cool place though, and it's just money. First set up the campsite.



Even without hookups or water, that's a pretty nice spot.

The reason for the name is this



It's a small valley with sandstone which has been sculptured by erosion over time to leave the little "goblin" towers. They're generally not huge, maybe 10-15' tall. You're allowed to do what you will (i.e., no trails or roped-off areas), but are asked not to climb on them.







And here there's some life, too







Next: day 4. The voyage home (Even got the sequel # right, I think).

Great pics but Fox is still #1. T-shirt royalties should start rolling your way in a couple of weeks.

We stopped at Goblin Valley a few years ago on our roundabout path to get to Arches NP. We really enjoyed it a lot and was well worth the detour, but if that guy had told me it was one of the most popular parks, I would have laughed in his face. I think there was only one spot where we had to wait for other tourists to move along so we could get the pics we wanted without them being in it. It is really a memorable and strange looking place.

Almost forgot. Wanted to give a shout to my friend Tony, who told me about Goblin Valley. I'd stopped some years ago, but just for a quick meal and peek (before I started camping). First time I'd spent time there, it was nice.

My site was on the east end of the campground. The ground drops away in that direction (the rock wall pictured earlier is to the west). Got to watch dusk come over the valley in that direction.
At one point, I noticed a vehicle come up the main road, but veer off instead of going to the visitor center.

Being old, got up a couple times to go to the bathroom overnight. This place is amazing at night. Milky Way spilled out across the sky like you see in pictures. Can't imagine what someone with actual good vision would perceive.

Up just before sunrise, packed up. Deciding to go south and explore some of SW/Central Colorado, or up to I 70. On the way out, stopped at the visitor center to ask about the vehicle I'd seen the night before--"What's out there?", thinking it might be a ranch or something.

The ranger told me there's a slot canyon just down at the end of the pavement, 5 miles or so. Well, I should go check that out.



The trail follows this streambed a while, into a narrow canyon. Pleasantly cool when I got there, grabbed water and camera, and off I went.



I didn't go real far in there. Came to a point where some boulder had jumbled up at a restriction. Clambered over those, found another set a ways in, decided that was enough.

On the way out:



After that, I decided I was ready to get home, and turned north (after taking one wrong turn). Trucked across eastern Utah and western Colorado. Looking at my atlas, saw I'd never been over Independence Pass, that might be a nice detour.

To get there, you take highway 82 through Aspen. It's a nice four-lane road leading to Aspen, but in town everything's congested and crowded. Thought for sure I took a wrong turn, but a few blocks later, saw the sign to turn left and got out of there.

As you get higher and higher, the road narrows. A couple short spots it's one lane, with stoplights each direction letting some people through, then switching back. There was also road construction going on. A few points were pretty much zero tolerance for error.

Not sure where along the way I found pullouts to take these, but here you go.





I'm having trouble figuring out how to adjust for pictures which have a lot of strong light but also a lot of shadow. Tried a few different settings here, this was the best of the bunch. Others washed out the mountains in the background.

Up, up up. I thought I must've missed the pass in the construction area (they're usually well-marked with parking etc) because we started going down. Pulled off at a trailhead to use the facilities, and noticed a red Subie parked there with Polk County, IA plates (where I lived before CO). What a strange coincidence.

After that, noticed the road going directly up the next hill, at a steep incline. Up there, around the corner, and got to the pass.









Cool and breezy up there. Some guy said something about the elevation, I asked if he was a flatlander. Said he was from Jacksonville. I gave him my condolences on their upcoming seasons. He and his wife were glad Urban was out, but couldn't figure out how whatever network it was that hired him ass a studio analyst, did so after his antics.

From there, drove up to Leadville (highest incorporated city in the US), and found a BBQ joint for dinner. From there, wound around in the decreasing sunlight up to I 70, Got on at Minturn, which is right by Vail.

Lots of roadwork near Vail Pass (which isn't real close to the town). I'm nearly always in the right lane, I'm in no hurry. As I'm going along, I notice a guy in a work vest, hard hat, and one of those flashlights giving the "waving down" signal to slow and move left.

Not much further on, there was a semi parked in the right lane. Not sure if it broke down, or they just decided to park it there but hadn't had time to close the lane or what. Glad I saw him in the twilight, that could've turned out badly.

Not much further on, it was through the tunnel the other way.



Then down the hill home. Unpacked the car, spent today mostly doing laundry, errands, and putting stuff away. Probably go up to my bar poker league tonight and restart my usual (boring) life.

Also want to give my friend Tom a shout. He turned me on to a retirement-related podcast. While Tom didn't encourage me to retire early, seeing him & his wife do so, and getting information from the podcast guys, gave me the confidence to do so. If it weren't for that, I'd still be writing software, likely at a job I don't care about, piling up money I'll never spend. Makes my doing my little adventures possible.

That's it for now. No plans to travel any time soon. Maybe a winter warm-up, we'll see.

Went to Blackhawk to play in a Seniors. Just over 50k at break 2, 500/1000/1000 coming back.

Or, you know 87k.


K9 limped, flop KK9.

Who's a good dog?

Get em!

Crap. Out ~36/171. 18 paid.

First hand at new table. Guy on my left had just won a big pot.

Folds to me on button, JJ. We get ~28 blinds in. (R, reraise, I shove he calls w QQ).

Turn a J.

Unfortunately, he'd flopped a Q.

Feel like I played well overall.

A little more from yesterday's adventure.

Frustrating getting up there. Just a bunch of small stuff trying to get out of town, including the credit union not having hundreds when I went to get money. It's amazing I was able to go as deep as I did with the dreaded fifties.

OTOH, it was a really nice day for a drive into the mountains. Leaves not quite changing up there yet, but it won't be long.

I was in a hand which caused the tournament to be paused.

Shortie goes all in, I call with KJss. He has J9dd, spikes a nine, one spade on flop. Turn, river spades to give me the nut flush. Dealer mucks and starts moving the pot to the other guy.

"Flush no good?"

Dealer calls floor, explains the situation and claim. Others verify I had KJ; one guy said he saw spades, but others couldn't get that specific.

So off to the cameras they go. Actually resolved surprisingly quickly; I went off to the bathroom, figuring it would be a while. When I came back, next hand being dealt.

Came down the canyon just before sunset, it was a really nice drive. Man, that Subie runs good compared to what I'd been driving.

As I said, I felt overall I played well. Looking back, of course I made some mistakes; especially the last hand. Guy gave me every indication he had a big one, I should've been able to get away. One of the notes I've made on myself is getting on autopilot. When I'm playing well, I take a beat to evaluate. Was pretty good about it all day, but was getting tired 7 hours in.

Still, I don't mind playing big-stack poker; sometimes it gets me.

While up there, got a text from a friend in St. Louis asking when I would come for a visit. He's retiring in April, maybe I'll scoot over if there's a party or something. But no specific travels planned at this time.

Realized I didn't put my "I played well" statement in context.

I think I'm a decent rec at tournament poker. So, I played well given my level of skill. Not that I didn't make a bunch of mistakes. Made a few steals here & there when the opportunity presented itself, that kind of thing.

Of course, I ran pretty good too. Just need to work on folding better.

Took a day trip up to Laramie. A friend was in town for a family get-together, and was nice enough to invite me up.

It was a nice time. I'd met some of his family last year when passing through, got to meet several others of the clan. Nice folks, a nice afternoon.

On the way out of town, passed by the Wyoming campus. Did not see a statue of Josh, but it was kinda cloudy and I didn't look closely.

Took the long way back through Cheyenne, then down I-25 to Denver suburbia. Put a few more miles on the Subie. Went over 11K miles on the way back, somewhere in the Fort Collins area.

Was great having you! Glad you came up. Hopefully I didn't infect you while you were here.

LOL, hope not. Still feeling ok, staying mostly isolated for a few days. Have a safe trip back to FW.