Friday, September 30, 2016

Squeaky 9-30-16


This morning I got up earlier for a Chapter Officers breakfast meeting.  We had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and bread, accompanied with orange juice and coffee.  A little ketchup made my eggs and hashbrowns heaven!  The meeting, well not so much.  The business meetings ostensibly are well planned and well timed, but they leave no time for official networking.  It is frustrating, to be here with my peers in a forum where we are brought together because of specific issues, and we can not address them together.  Note to IAFN:  plan longer meetings with built in tiems for discussion.
My morning sessions were Certification and Injuries.  The Certification was a very well done lecture, the Injury one was problematic for me and I wondered who vetted her lecture.
Lunch was  a speaker on The Internet and Teens and it was actually very good.  The food was good too!  A salad of greens and string carrots with a surprisingly good dressing, chicken and rice pilaf with some orientalish veggies, and bread, followed by coffee and cookies or a brownie. 
My afternoon session was good, wounding and healing, but this speaker is usually excellent!
Dinner tonight is at the Squeaky Bean (http://www.thesqueakybean.com) and is a "Indiana Dinner".  We had a healthy show and it was fun.  Got to meet some new people and have fun with those I know.
Dinner was a shared bottle of a French Wine!  
Steak with soubise sauce, yams and salas verde.
 And for dessert Chocolate Almond Cake, strawberry milk powder, strawberries, and dulce de leche ice cream.  Delish, I would certainly go back!
The walk there and back with friends was just what I needed after a long day of learning. 
Lots  of activity in the streets on a warm fall evening. 

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Hangry 9-29-16

There is a recurring theme of huger on this trip.  I guess it is a cheaper way to go.
I woke up hungry last night, and was hopeful for the Continental Breakfast this morning, but it was muffin, muffin or muffin. So I had a muffin and coffee. The keynote speaker on Human Trafficking was amazing.  and my morning session was inspiring.  I ran back up to the room to check in with Jodi, and saw a refrigerator in the hallway so I suggested that she ask about that, she did and we now have a fridge in the room! I went back down to find food, and there was no place in this building to get a bag of food to take to the Business  meeting.  Grr, no lunch makes me a crabby girl.  NOTE: to IAFN either feed me or have a space where I can grab some food if we are going to schedule the business meeting like this! So lunch was 2 Canada mints and water. 
Jodi chatted up the hotel staff, while she relaxed.   The young lady who made up our room is from Burma, she has been here for about five years and Jodi thought she was delightful.
For dinner Stephanie, Jennifer, Stephanie Jodi and I started out walking and settled on Marlow's.  I had a house salad, greens, dried cherries, raisins, tomatoes and croutons and a house vinaigrette which was excellent.   We Both had a filet setting on roasted potatoes ( no Bernaise available and and the house peppercorn sauce was a red wine base) and a side of fresh asparagus with parmesan cheese. For dessert We shared a Cree Brûlée, but honestly mine is better.   We walked a bit up 16 St. which is a pedestrian street, well policed, and some bummed.  

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Hrumph 9-28-16

Today was another leisurely morning until 11, the time we had to check out of our most excellent accommodation.  
This is a place that exceeded my hopes, let alone my expectations!  They have raised the bar for Hoteling!  Breakfast was delivered in the usual manner, and enjoyed in my usual manner as well.  I am sorry to leave! 

We had reservations at the Dusty Rose Tea Room in Georgetown at 11:30, so getting our act together to check out was not so very hard.  Jeannette the owner met us and shared with us that she had a family illness so the Tea Room was closed but she was keeping our reservation.  It nearly broke my heart, rarely do who do not love me, treat me that selflessly.  The Tearoom (http://dustyrosetearoom.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=2&chapter=1) is one of those places that makes my heart sing, it is decorated with plenty of lace, antiques and lovely china.  
Our High Tea started with picking out tea, I picked out Back Bear Jasmine, a berry and vanilla blend, which was heavenly.

Jodi picked out the Georgetown blend (mixed berries) and she liked it as well!  Next we got to pick between an orzo salad, or potato soup, which of course we choose as we liked it first time around!  It was excellent again, but maybe even better.  Served in shallow china bowls with silver soup spoons, how can it not be better?
 Then it was followed with a three tier tea server with a layer of ( more- yippeeee!!!!) meat pies, tiny spinach quiche, cucumber and green pepper tea sandwiches, salmon and cream cheese tea sandwiches, and deviled eggs.  No one make better deviled eggs than my momma, so loyal daughter that I am I can not rave about the eggs, but the rest was heavenly!  The second layer was filled with Apricot scones (with Lemon Curd) Raisin Scones (with cream), iced spiced madeleines and black walnut cookies ( these looked like Linzer tart cookies and were amazing!) , the top layer was a lemon and rosemary muffin, tiny chocolate hazelnut brownie and a tiny piece of chocolate pecan pie.  Overall it was a wonderful experience!
From there we drove though Guanella pass and had one last gander an God's grace in sharing beauty with us mortals!  
The aspen trees are yellow with some  orange amidst the pines and it is a lovely sight!
So now time to come back to reality, we had laundry to do.  Water is so scarce in Georgetown that we had to drive to Idaho Falls to do laundry, where we found ( thanks too the staff at the hotel) a laundromat.  So much quicker than I hoped, we had some clean clothes to take with us to Denver.  The trip back across Denver was busy, stop and go , but relatively uneventful.  We took a taxi to the hotel from the airport and the driver was a immigrant from Ethiopia 25 years ago and a very nice fellow.
So the Sheraton Downtown Denver had a high bar to meet, but so far it is mot measuring up, not even close.    There is no refrigerator, little storage space and we have double beds in spite of asking for a queen or king bed.  In addition there was 2 sugars and 2 creamers to add to Starbucks coffee, seriously?
We got here so late that dinner was cheese and crackers and a glass of wine.  The glasses here are a little broad in the bottom, so good for red wine.  I am looking foreword to an  early morning to find out who to give the auction items for the Foundation Auction to and get registered for the conference.  

Mountain Climbing in your late 50's Ain't What it Used to Be 9-27-16

We were told that we wold have to et up really early to accomplish what I wanted to today, but darn it we are on vacation. So we did the same as before, I got up, wrote this blog, and enjoyed my breakfast wile Jodi snoozed and then we moseyed around getting ready when she got up.  We were both, and sort of, still are, John Denver fans in the day and I thought she had to see Rocky Mountain National Park.  So we did.  Well, I offered options but this park is what we ended up choosing.  We took our snacks, some opened cheddar chips, a new bag of sun chips and our water.  Neither of us wanted a repeat of the hangries of yesterday.  The road towards it was pretty close off of 70 to Georgetown.  I really like this little town and this hotel, we agree that we would come back here again.  
So off we go, driving, ears popping and enjoying the scenery.  Driving, Driving and a all of a sudden a loud pop.  We look at each other,  the car is riving o.k., no chaos outside of the car that we can see and then I remember the extreme puffiness of the bag of Sun Chips when I threw them in the bag that morning.  Soon I could smell the aroma of garden salsa sun chips as I drove.  We stopped for gas and  
Jodi suggested a brunch and just there was a cute little place called Rise and Shine Cafe.  
I had an  excellent Eggs Bene Sandwich and Jodi had a Bacon and Egg Sandwich. 
 The car just gave out at Lake Granby, just kidding, Jodi wanted to stop and take a few pics and it was a good stop!  
And then onward we went.  
We stopped at the Alpine Visitors Center to have a look and there were steps to the top.  
So we agreed that is would be worth the climb.  
I was not really thinking when we jumped out of the car and forgot to take some water, not the brightest move on this old girls part as the walkway does not look all that far, but it was a good hike.  Fortunately Jodi is not adverse to "Photo Ops" and I made it up alive.  Though, halfway up is a board that talks about Altitude Sickness. I am not sure if it was helpful or a hinderance!  Indianapolis is listed as 715' above sea level, Georgetown as 8,000' and the top of the Alpine Visitors Center as 12,000', It felt like we were at the top of the world.  
I also gained a true appreciation of the lunacy of those who mountain climb!   It is not only risking your life because of the climb, but the darned altitude sickness too.  
The vistas of the mountains were amazing, and a full 360 view!  People watching was also amazing.  We messed around up there for a while, and people came and went.  One  guy was by himself and i took a pic of him up on the rocks looking out and then shared it with him, I think his name was Douglass, he taught me how to AirDrop.  Watch out world!  Then there was this sweet young couple  from Connecticut who got engaged at the top of this mountain, most of the women up there at the time were nearly in tears.  
How thoughtful this young man was propose in such a lovely place.  I pray that their love has many mountain top experiences and endures the valleys that are sure to come as well.  There was al ( I was not thinking this relationship was going to well)  aa lovely gray headed woman about my age siting on a rock looking totally bored while her husband ignored her and took photos of the scenery.  I thought what a pity to not incorporate her beauty with the Surrounding beauty.
 Oh well.
 On the way down a Indian woman informed me that my Eddie Bauer Dress and April Cornell pantaloons are really Indian garb, well sort of I guess.  I just wanted warm legs!  
Back down, which was different but nearly as hard as going up, I powered my nose and we were off around the adjoining mountain.  All of a sudden  in spite of signs to stay on the road, and only stop at "pull offs", there were about a dozen cars pulled off and then ((Thank you Daddy for all the exhortations to look for Antelope)  I saw a herd of Elk, just sitting there while all the humans stopped traffic to have a look and take photos.  That was cool.  
Then around another bend a ways on traffic stopped.  I  saw people turn around, and be disgusted, and I thought to myself that this could either be very bad, or very fun.  Patience really does pay off ( and what were we going to do? take another road?  I am still wondering what those people who turned around did) and there was Male Elk on the opposite side of the road munching on something and on the other side a female dining as well.  
Then all of a sudden another female comes up by the male and calmly saunters across the road to eat with her friend.  Not going to get more up close and personal without getting out and petting them.   We drove on to Estes Park which reminded me of Nashville in Brown County, and neither of felt a need to park and shop through the same cliche you find at any tourist trap.  We went back to Georgetown, through  Allenspark, Ward, Nederland (of the Mirror) and Central City.  I was rather dismayed and I had thought to fritter away 10 bucks or so at a casino.  BlackHawk and Central City  seem to be joined and BlackHawk looked like a Disney  for gamblers, right down to the  created rock behind the casinos. Not my cup of tea and I came home with my $10.00 in my pocket. We decided to head to Coopers again, we had wanted to  have a meal there before  we left.  I had thought to have a Filet and looking at the menu reminded me of the Duck Confit  Pot  Pie and the Filet fled my mind

Jodi seemed to be considering the Filet as well, but ended up getting a burger.
 I had another glass of that lovely wine, Oh Mambo red blend, and Jodi had a very improved White Russian.  We still had two complimentary glasses of a nice Chardonnay to drink at the hotel  (Jodi let me have it all and I made her a Kaluah and Cream) so we took it out behind the hotel and sat by the creek and listened to the lovely sound of the rushing water.
  At least until I got too cold. One last dip in the hot tub to try to sooth my sore body and off for pleasant dreams.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

the Cowgirls slip in a bit of Paris

The Cowgirls slip in a littlle Paris 9-26-16

Another lazy but rather early start to the day, I am waking up late for home, but early for here!.  Funny, I had planned on some sleeping in!  Croissants (with apricot jam),  fruit, OJ and coffee again while I blog.  
We wandered into Georgetown to visit the Hotel Du Paris.  Opened by Louis Depuy, nee Adolph Francois Gerrard, a fellow who it seems made a couple of serious life snafus before he was 30 years of age.  He defied the Catholic church and plagiarized anothers writing.
 But he had a epiphany moment and decided he wanted to do something with his life, opening the hotel.   Needless to say it is much more complicated that the above, if you are interested you can go to the website (http://hoteldeparismuseum.org/louis.html) and explore a bit, though the tour was much more educational than the website!
 The guide was a wealth of knowledge and I thoroughly enjoyed him.
 So much  so that we had to dash to get to our appointed hour for  our trail ride.  We went on the suggestion of the hotel staff A&A Historical Trail Rides. (http://www.aastables.com), it was a bit of a challenge to find as I had to coach Siri some but finally I was able to find the road, and then we drove right by the stables.  There at last.  I was pretty worried about getting  my old derriere on my mount, but there were these lovely blue steps available so it was doable!
 In spite of all the funning from Jodi, I sure was glad I ported my reliable cowboy boots, they certainly know their way around horse droppings, stirrups and of course authentic fashion!  The scenery was amazing and I learned that the "silver birches" I thought I was seeing, are Aspens,  go figure, what was I thinking?  As we approached the corral I began to wonder if horseback riding is like riding a bike, or was I going to look like a City Slicker?
Our mounts were Jambo and Lucy, but my mount Jambo acted more like my Lulu The riding was different than what I had done 30 years earlier,  of course, we were in the mountains!  Jodi seemed to enjoy it, I have a photo of a rare HUGE grin on her face,
She did well, better than others I have ridden with. 

Dinner was not the steak I thought this cowgirl deserved.  The restaurant we dined at our first night was closed when we arrived so we drove downtown, but the dining opportunities were pretty nonexistent, other than the EuroGrill!  
So we ate at a little place called Mountainbuzz cafe and pizzeria.  We had the pizza and I gave it a 5.5 out of 10.   
Here we sit waiting on the Presidential Debate.
And here we sit after, actually we got in the hot tub again to ward off evil horseback riding spirits! I don't think anything can ward off evil presidential election nightmares!

Trains and Silver Mines 9-25-16

She looks in the mirror and "poof" she is in the body of her own grandmother.  
I have become an avid listener to audiobooks, but getting them through the library is much less harmful to my retirement fund so.  As can be the case, none of the books I wanted to read were available so i started searching for sloppy seconds and ended up with "the Mirror" by Marlys Millhiser.  Serendipitously it is about a woman from Boulder Colorado who travels back in time due to a mirror ( Maybe it is really about the mirror?).  Regardless it is about mining, Colorado and time travel.  Serendipity in the form of Colorado and mining.  I find my creator so generous as I was not really engaged about going to Colorado, ( its not Paris you know) , but because of this book i really enjoyed today ( yesterday) in a way I might have not.
I woke to the luscious scent of freshly baked croissants.  
Who can stay in bed with that wafting trough the room?  So  coffee with the fun Krups type coffee maker,  croissants, juice and fruit.  The croissants got my thumbs up rating!  Which means pretty stinkin good for an American Croissant!
Next on the agenda was a gander at the scenery and indeed we are  up in the mountains in a valley, gorge, gulch, or fissure ( had to throw that in for my SANE buddies). It is a lovely setting.  
A shower in the amazing walk in shower with the L'Occatine products made the lack of a bath much less painful. I can't get over what a find the Hotel Chamonix is!
Next to our Hotel is a "Health Center", regardless of your beliefs about medicinal Marajuana, it is funny to be next to that. Beyond that is a liquor store which was open on Sunday so we bought a bottle of wine and Kaluah so at least Jodi could have some Kaluah and cream! Then we found a SMALL town grocery store and bought some water, jam for my morning croissant, chips and cheese and crackers. 
We drove into town and looked around some, there is a Museum to the Hotel de Paris here!  
Yippee, hopefully tomorrow we can go there, but today we were doing some reconnaissance  and looking for food to take with us on a train trip as we drove up and checked out the Georgetown Loop  Railroad  (http://www.georgetownlooprr.com)     and bought tickets.  
There are several interesting dining establishments, several of which are breakfast, and lunchy places, just like I would own if I were to ever have done that.   We ended up in the Dusty Rose Tearoom (https://dustyrosetearoom.com) Jodi and I both had the potato soup and She had a cucumber sandwich and I had a meat pie.  The plan was to take them on the train.  We got to the Loop early and Jodi looked at me and said "are you hungry, I could eat now."  So we did and boy was I glad,  Soup on that train, even sandwiches, would not have gone well.  That said the food was excellent! My meat pie even segued well into the mining tour as many miners were Cornish and Welsh.  Not exactly a pasty but tasty and nice dovetailing into the experience.  
Engine #9 pulls about 8 cars 2 or so Parlor cars and then some closed and open cars.  We intentionally stood in line for almost 30 minutes so Jodi could have a prime photography spot.  When we finally got on the train, she was very intentional about our seats and we sat ourselves down, ready to see beautiful scenery and have an adventure!  As people were piling on this women, you know the type, pushy, thoughtless and entitled, demanded that we move to make room for her party of 7. 
 We said we had sat there so we could take good pics and she blew us some rash of merde that she came this time every year, and her family needed to sit together.  Once she realized she had irritated us she started with "she could move her nephews and blah, blah, blah".   Sorry salope, way too much, too late!  THEN she started touching Jodi on the arm offering still to change places, this earned her a hemorrhoid hex. 
The scenery was/is beautiful, lots of green in the mountains from the pines with scattering of  (silver?) birches.   Those birches leave swathes of gold among the green.  
The sound of water dancing over the rocks and the rustle of leaves is ubiquitous and a pleasant addition to the scenery.
The Lebanon mine was very interesting We got to see photos of the miners, hear stories about them and the mine.  The average lifespan for a miner was 35-45 and not necessarily due to injury, the rock they were mining is full of silica and they ended up with silicosis ( http://www.humanresourcesmba.net/10-deadliest-occupational-diseases-in-history/), which had the dubious distinction of being on the top 10 deadliest occupational disease list even today. 
The  guide said if they had just listened to their wives and used wet bandanas over their faces it would have helped a lot, but as men often do, they did not listen to their wives. He also said that as they were mining, platinum was plentiful but they did not recognize it as such and that there are streets and walkways filled with rock containing platinum today .  
We went down in the mine and even got to see "Double Jack" drilling like they did back then, just like mentioned in "The Mirror"; the miners would even have competitions on their time off to prove who was best.  
The trip ended with going over the BIG TALL bridge, and the vista was beautiful. 
Time to consider dinner and so we came back to the room, and sat out on the patio with a glass of wine, contemplating the  mountains and menus available in the room.
 We settled on Euro Grill, and I am thinking we should have had one more glass of wine!  IT was an experience.   Jodi was interested in the cabbage on the menu, but she was not allowed to have a side of that, even though listed as a side.
 So the waiter told her she could have peans with garlic and bacon.  She asked for peas without either, just plain and I had Hungarian Goulash, which included dumplings.
 She got green beans, and my dumplings looked like slices of unbaked but risen bread. Certainly NOT a do over.  
There is a 2 person hot tub  here and the hotel supplies robes and towels, we decided skinny dipping would be easiest so we grabbed robes and mine would not close,  tee hee hee;  so out we went and jumped in.   The stars were draped in the heavens, and it was a perfect way to end the day.