Pacific Wet Coast

I had uttered a preference for working west of the Mississippi River so for the second time this month, I find myself flying west. This time to Olympia Washington. My only experience in working Washington was over in the Tri-Cities area of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, an intirely different experience politically as well as geographically. While over there, I did have the chance to come to Seattle for the usual tourist traps.

This being a pretty short gig of two weeks, my only chance to really get out was Saturday so I immediately headed to Seattle for another glimpse at the areas I had checked out before. Although I'm headed out in another day, I look forward to the chance of getting back, hopefully in drier weather.

Sunday, I had hoped on riding down to Cannon Beach in Oregon but with it raining most of the day, I didn't want to deal with traffic on wet roads. Instead, I took a walk through the Tumwater Falls park near where I'm staying. Although there was a light rain, people young and old were on the trails. What you do notice here is there are no umbrellas to be seen. Some wear hats and perhaps a hood on their sweater but an umbrella salesman would starve here.

The Falls were modest but nice and scenic. Chinook Salmon made their way upstream where they are trapped and sorted. If the Chinook has an adipose fin still intact, it is permitted to continue upstream. Those without adipose fins were raised in the hatchery here and were clipped before they were released to go downstream and eventually into the pacific. The unfortunate fish I took a picture of (click to enlarge) has no adipose (rear back fin) fin, therefore when she gets to the top, she will be sorted out and gutted for her eggs because she was a hatchery Chinook. All that work going upstream only to be trapped and gutted. Sounds like life in general.

Just an observation and not being political.... BUT...I've never seen so many street corner beggars in my life. While I am given to helping out people in need without question (and I've been taken a few times), a person would put himself in the poor house if you gave a couple of bucks to every street corner bum you come across in this area. They're all over the place, some old, some female, some fat, some skinny, some dressed nicely and some look like real bums. Some have dogs and the occasional ice cooler. While some are truly down on their luck or out there through no fault of their own, to me, it appears that it is a choice to many of them.

Now, since Ive brought up the subject of street beggars, what I don't see.......is black bums, Asian bums or Mexican bums. Go figure.

Meet Davis Andrew Bourgeois

On my way to the Denver airport from Boulder, Darlene called me as the event were happening. I was able to hear the entire delivery and birth of my 5th grandchild, Davis Andrew Bourgeois. He was born approximately 10:37 a.m. CST, weighing 8 lbs and 11 oz. He was 21½ inches long.

Parents Laurie & Blaise along with big sister, Hadley welcomed him into the world.

Buckhorn Exchange

Leave it to my friend Mac to find unusual places to eat. A couple of months ago, he suggested Primanti Brothers Restaurant in Pittsburgh which turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in my culinary experience. Today, he called me, telling me about the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver which has had plenty of reviews anywhere from Trip Advisor to television shows, such as Man Vs Food. Being the skeptic I am, I had my doubts but went along with it as well as another co-worker, Janey.

At 6:30 pm, we all converged on 1000 Osage Avenue, in Denver. Right away, I felt a little nervous for my car and accessories because it was slap in the middle of a Denver's housing projects. It was also across the street from one of the RTD light rail stations where a lot of "pants on the ground" types congregated. Nevertheless, I saw Janey drive up so we both entered the Buckhorn Exchange to wait for Mac's arrival.

Established in 1893, it has been in constant operation since then and has accommodated celebrities and politicians all through the years, including Teddy Roosevelt. It also holds Denver liquor license No. 1 that was issued in 1935. I might add, there hasn't been a lot of updating of the restaurant since then either.

Stuffed animals hang from the walls along with collections of ancient memorabilia such as rifles, pistols, clothing and pictures from days gone by.

Besides beef, the menu included Buffalo, Elk, Rattlesnake, Lamb, Cornish Hens, Quail, duck and the list goes on.

Our waitress addressed us in somewhat of a robotic attitude, explaining that the buffalo and elk would best be served medium rare. I eat nothing medium rare except vegetables so I endured the raised eyebrows of our waitress and ordered a combo of elk and buffalo cooked (you know it's never what you order) medium.

Even with my skepticism and the high prices, I did find it a pleasant evening. Counting our blessings for still having 4 tires on our vehicles, we split up to get back to our hotels.

Colorado Long weekend (Labor Day)

Nothing like a long weekend in some place you've never been before. Co-worker and friend, Janey planned to do a lot of driving and sight-seeing. Both of us, being flatlanders from Texas and Louisiana had already made up our minds, we wanted to check out mountains.

Saturday, we loaded up in Janey's rental and struck out for the Rocky Mountain National Park. Arriving in Estes Park, we grabbed a quick but delicious lunch at Smokin' Dave's Barbeque and entered the park. For reasons I'll never know, Janey took the dirt ATV road up the mountain. There were switchbacks that truly were not designed for long wheelbased Tahoe trucks. After what seemed like forever, we arrived at the top of the park covered in dust. At 13,000 feet, we found breathing to be a major effort when walking.

Along the way, we were treated to sights of elk, turkey and an unending panorama of mountains touching the blue skies.

Fortunately, we found an asphalt road for our return trip that took a third of the time and once again we were breathing thicker air at only 5,000 feet.

On the way home, we began to talk about never been to Aspen and before the day was over, we were making plans for a run over the mountains again the next day. Crashing for a few hours, Janey met me the next morning, heading out on the interstate this time. 3 hours later, we were in Aspen. I'm not sure what we were expecting but Aspen was somewhat of a letdown. We wandered the few streets in town, spent too much money for a questionable hamburger at Bad Billy's and soon found ourselves headed back to the Boulder area.

Even though it wasn't quite what we were expecting, it was a nice and decent trip that we can count in our bucket list.

Show me the Golden Arches...

...and be quick about it!

Arriving in the Boulder, Colorado area, I am in wonder and amazement about how well hidden things are. Had it not been for my handy GPS, I may not have been able to find the Hampton Inn when I arrived late on August 30.

I'm staying 5 miles south of Boulder in Louisville and it seems like the whole area is ashamed of commercialism. I'm telling you that you have to be honestly looking for something to find it.

Each morning, I pull out of the hotel side street, hit Dillon Drive and make my way to the Boulder Turnpike. All I can see is neutral toned buildings with short trees and lots of cars zipping around like fighter jets.

Just tonight, I found a great little Mexican restaurant with the aid of the GPS but wanted something sweet to follow. Determined to find a McDonalds without the aid of electronics, I searched and searched for the Golden Arches and finally gave up and punched the food app on my Android. As it turned out, I was across the street from Micky Dee's and didn't realize I was at the same intersection I turn into each morning and never saw it. The same thing happened yesterday while trying to find a Chase Bank ATM but eventually gave up. I will have to be more proactive and find the gas stations before my car gets to empty.

I have to say, Colorado does wonders in camouflaging things. I can see limiting signs to a reasonable height but I think they've over done it. There is something beautiful about neon signs, logos and landmarks in a city.

Yeah, that's right. Show me the golden arches!