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 | Mike and I are
snow-skiing and photography enthusiasts. We used to go to skiing in Colorado every
winter (before I started back to college and my vacation funds dried up!) We went to
Breckenridge in 1988, Purgatory in '89, |
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Crested
Butte in '90, |
and Steamboat Springs in '91. |
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We made
it back to Breckenridge with some friends in '99, and met up with A.J., Mike's friend from
college. |
| Of course, we like to visit
Colorado and take pictures in summer, too. We went to Pike's Peak for the first time
in 1993, and drove up the mountain in our car. It was really scary! The edge
of the road seemed to disappear under our wheels, and we were looking DOWN onto the
treetops! By the time we got to the top, I had a huge headache and could hardly
see. The temperature was 33°, in July! The next time, we took the train up to
the top! |
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Meg and Mike at Pike's Peak |
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Garden of the Gods |
We also visited Garden of
the Gods that trip, as well as Royal Gorge. We drove back toward Boulder along State
Highway 9, and got caught in a pretty bad thunderstorm at sundown. We decided to
stop for the night, rather than drive through the rain on an unfamiliar road. The
motel in the first town was full, so we had to drive on! We wound up at The Historic Fairplay Hotel, in
(where else!) Fairplay! It was a lovely restored Victorian hotel, with authentic
furnishings and decorations, and even a clawfoot bathtub! And breakfast in the hotel
restaurant was excellent!
| We've also been to Rocky
Mountain National Park several times. We've already decided that when we win the
Texas Lottery, we're moving to Estes Park, Colorado, to be closer to our favorite source
of beautiful photographs. |
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View of the Alluvial Fan, created when Lawn Lake flooded
upstream, as seen from Trail Ridge Road, Upper Park |
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Sprague Lake, Lower Park |
| We went to New Orleans for
Memorial Day weekend 1998 with our friends Bob and Sheri. We took a swamp tour,
walked all over the French Quarter, ate dinner on the Creole Queen paddlewheel steamer,
and finished up every evening with Cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde! |
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Our 'gator-hunting Cajun guide says this little bayou is
called "Bayou Self" |
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Dinner cruise on the Creole Queen |
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Window shopping on Royal Street |
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The gang at Jackson Square |
Meg and Mike
at Cafe du Monde
| We usually try to make it
back to Wisconsin every year to visit Mike's relatives. We make a point to go up to
Butternut Lake, where Mike's uncle rents cabins. |
The lake is home to bullhead
catfish, walleye pike, and muskellunge! We both like fishing (although I still can't
quite bring myself to touch a bullhead long enough to unhook it!)
One year Mike's brother gave
him a supply of glow-in-the-dark tubes about 1" long, and told him that they might
make the fish bite. Mike was so anxious to try out this new idea that when we got to
the cabin, he didn't even wait to unpack. He got his tackle box and fishing rod and
went straight to the dock. Within ten minutes we could hear him yelling to bring a
net and a camera. He had hooked a muskie!
But it was too
small and he had to throw it back! The minimum size limit is 36", and this one
was only 30"! Too bad, Mikey! This one apparently warned all her friends
about those strange glowing things, because none of us caught anything but bullheads after
that!
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Nice and calm Flambeau River, Wisconsin |
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Nice and rough Guadalupe River, Texas |
| We like to go
canoing, too. When we are staying at Butternut Lake, we always take an 11-mile
leisurely canoe trip down the nearby Flambeau River. The heaviest rapids on this
section are only strong enough to make a little bit of noise! We rafted the
Guadalupe River in central Texas in 1988, though. Those are some fun rapids!
A couple of 3- or 4-foot drops!
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Two Mikes in a canoe on the Brule River |
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Mud Monsters! |
We tried to
canoe the Brule River in far northern Wisconsin in 1997. The rapids were smaller
than the ones on the Guadalupe, but we had young children with us this time. So we
wimped out and had to portage through every section of rapids so the kids wouldn't be
scared. The hike wouldn't have been so bad, except for the 1-mile section of mud
puddles!
| Not all of
our northbound trips are adventures! Sometimes it's just admiring the peace and
quiet!
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"Alcatraz
Island" and sunset on Castle Rock Lake, Wisconsin in 1996
This is the
S.S. Minnow, which sits on a volleyball beach called "Gilligan's Island" on
Castle Rock Lake. We really lucked out on this shot. It was taken July 4,
1991, just as a storm was approaching.
Waterfalls
on the Black River just upstream of Lake Superior, Michigan Upper Peninsula in 1998
We made it back to Colorado
in 2001, and this time we brought a digital camera.
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Neat rocks in Estes Park |
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Bull elk in Rocky Mountain National Park |
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Whaddya
know! The new digital camera DOES have a manual override, so we can get special
effects like the blurring of these rapids in RMNP. |
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It even does sepia tone.... |
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and Black & White! |
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A thunderstorm comes over the mountains to Estes Park, |
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and the sun comes up over Butternut Lake, Wisconsin. |
Watch the
birdie! Leo and Misty in Wisconsin
Can I go with
you this time? Pleeeeeeease?
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