Random day

This truly is a random post, but I felt like taking pictures today (although, to be fair, when don't I?) so I decided to take the camera along as Jo and I checked out the new bulk food store in downtown Longmont.  We're not talking bulk as in go-to-Costco-and-buy-enough-mouthwash-to-last-two-years bulk.  Oh, no.  We're talking about scoop-as-many-peanuts-as-you-need-out-of-the-bins bulk.

See?  We both think it's an incredibly cool concept.  The idea is to pay for the product, not the packaging.  There is definitely an organic/healthy/sustainable slant to the store, so it's right up our alley.

Their were lots of yummy goodies to choose from, but we had a specific recipe in mind (fruity couscous salad,) so that made our job easier.

Afterwards, we headed up to North Longmont to do some errands.  Jo was nice enough to accompany me to one of my favorite thrift stores.  As always, he headed to check out the books while I browsed around.  After playing a little Trivial Pursuit..

...and posing with a random scary clown...

...and buying a large toadstool footstool, which I will eventually write about when I'm ready to reupholster it, we left.

And that is all.

Erin leaves

Oh, sad day!  After all the fun times we had together, Erin still refused to drop her life in California to come live with us in Colorado, and we woke up early so Erin could get packed for the return trip.

We had some time to spare before driving to the airport, so we played one of our favorite games, Catchphrase, to pass the time. 

No, Erin, we will not let you forget that you thought Peru was a place in Spain where French men in berets go to paint.  We just won't.

So, fast forward to the airport.  We made it past the devil pony alright and went into DIA with our girl to send her off.  Jo wanted to just dump her off while the car was still rolling and throw her luggage out to her before we sped off, but I thought that would be kind of rude, so we paid the 4 bucks for parking and politely accompanied her inside.

Jo's look says it all: we really didn't want to see Erin go.

Erin thought it would be funny to show me the way I always take pictures, which, apparently, is all hunched down as if I were Quasi Moto.

Which is interesting coming from a girl who had a hard time opening her eyes for the pictures because she didn't want to strain her neck. (???)

I love these two people more than anyone else in the world.  A girl couldn't ask for a better boyfriend and bestfriend.

Is it just me, or does Jo look much more excited than Erin to be taking this picture?

We nabbed the first unsuspecting passer-by that we could in order to take this, one last picture of all of us together.  Jeez, I sound like Erin's going to die or something.  I mean the last picture before the next visit, of course.

Then we went on the moving walkathingy, which refused to slow down so that we could prolong the inevitable moment...

...when Erin would wave to us one more time before leaving.

If you see this, my girl, know that we both love you and miss you like crazy.

Home again, home again.

Here's some more shots of our campground in the morning light.  The river is just down the hill once you hit the trees behind the fire pit.  I'm bummed we didn't take a picture of it because it really was pretty.

And here's the tent, lookin' all cozy amongst the trees.  We all slept well, after having had less than a full night's sleep the previous two nights on top of all the physical activity we had been doing.  We wanted to get a good start on the day, so we got busy breaking down the tent and packing the car.  We had a lot of road to cover today.

But we still made sure to make time to photograph this strange metal contraption that we had moved into the woods the night before, simply because it had been marring our authentic wilderness experience.  We couldn't figure out what it was or where it came from, but pondering the mystery left me feeling very pensive and poetic.  We left it in the quiet, sun-filled woods, an enigmatic metal sculpture symbolizing the mundane, abstract life we live...

We hit the road again and drove on, eventually stopping in Buena Vista for a little breakfast.  Following the nice lady at the gas station's recommendation, we decided on McPhelemy (no, not McPhlegmy, Jo) Park. 

We picked a nice sunny picnic bench and had, what else?

More bagel sandwiches.

Jo and Erin set up while I documented the event.

It was a delightful little park, and the perfect place to chow down on some good grub.  This was the view to the left of where I was sitting.

And this was the view behind me.

I finished eating first, so while Erin and Jo finished up, I took a stroll around the little lake at the park.

Photo tour time!  I crossed this bridge....

...to get to this field of dandelions...

...and after that I walked around to the front of the park, where I took a picture of this flowing water.  And there you have it!

As I walked back, Jo was still finishing up while Erin had decided it was naptime.

And, damn, that girl is a sexy napper.

After finishing up, we continued on Highway 24 and made our way to Leadville.  Leadville is a historic mining town with remnants of its historic past peppering the surrounding area, as well as the town itself.

The views from anywhere in town are amazing.  Here's a random, not-so-exciting street, but look at those mountains in the distance!

Still a ton of snow up there, which is why, as we had discovered earlier, most of the mountain passes were still closed.  Still, we were bound and determined to make it up and over the rockies in order to get to Aspen, so we resolved ourselves to try and do the impossible.  More on that later.

And one more shot of the lovely views.

Even though this blog is supposed to be about Jo and I, Erin is the other love of my life, so, for the time being, Jo is just going to have to share the spotlight with this girl.  For now, this blog is Jocherin Wizlolliot.

I took this picture just before being obnoxious and driving off without Jo and Erin.  But that's not what I want to talk about.  What I want to talk about is convenience stores.  We almost never go into convenience stores in our everyday lives, but even if we did it wouldn't matter.  There is something so very unique and wonderful about being on the road, and realizing that a restroom break is in order, or the gasometer thingy is on E, or perhaps that a refreshing Icee would taste wonderful right about now, and then pulling into the nearest convenience store parking lot to fulfill your roadtrip wishes.  Whether it be a brightly colored chain store (7-Eleven, anyone?) or the shabby mom-and-pop shop on the South side of town (Bill's Chug and Grub), that refreshing blast of AC that immerses you as you walk in (except in Bill's Chug and Grub, where the AC is broken but where there a little fan on the counter,) is forever entrenched in my memory as part of the joy of roadtripping.  Ahhh, convenience stores.  Even with your overpriced loaves of white bread and nasty hotdogs that have sat out for too long, I love you.  I raise my cherry flavored Icee to you and say "cheers!"

Anyway, moving on...  This is downtown Leadville.

I would have loved to check out some of the antique stores that seemed to be on every block, but, alas, the day was awastin' and we had a dangerous and technically challenging mission ahead of us, which we had chosen to accept:

Try to make it over the mountains to get to Aspen using Hagerman Pass, a treacherous and hard to find mountain pass that claims the lives of thousands of reckless souls each year, and which requires the utmost skill and concentration to navigate.  We had the Jetta, we had each other, and we had our steely resolve.  We were ready to go.

Okay, okay, I may have exaggerated just a little.  Or a lot. Hagerman Pass, which turned out to be closed at the top due to the massive snow drifts, isn't all that dangerous, although we did have to squeeze by another car on the way down and the two cars go really close to each other.  I'm not making that one up.

Anyway, we didn't have too many other harrowing adventures, but since we were nearly the only ones up there, we were able to have an impromptu photo shoot in the middle of the road.  Notice the drifts piled on either side: they're taller than Erin.

Here's Erin, being all provocative.

I know exactly what Erin's thinking here:  "Hey, I really like the way Jo's stance looks.  He looks so dead sexy with his arms straight at his sides and his legs about shoulder width apart.  I think I would like to stand like that, too."

So she did.

I didn't actually drop this huge snowball on Jo's head.  I wanted to, though.

And next up are the piggyback ride shots.  We were at about 11,000" elevation, all by ourselves, standing in a muddy road with snow on either side.  And it just seemed like the right time for a piggyback ride.

First Jo gave me a piggyback ride.....

Then I gave hime one.....

Then Erin gave me one...

Then it was time to head back down and continue on.  The reason we wanted to get to Aspen so badly was because we were on our way to hike to the Hanging Lakes and going through Aspen would have been the fastest and most beautiful route.  Since we couldn't get to Aspen (mission: impossible,) we settled for plan B, which was to take 24 to 70, then get to the hanging lakes from there.

This is a view of Turquoise Lake as we were driving back.  Notice the sheet ice on top. Spectacular.

I had to throw in one of Jo's signature feet shots; I love them.

Jo's well used to being in front of the camera for me and he's better at posing for me than Erin is, but I'll keep working on her.

The next part of our roadtrip is slightly absured.  I was mad about it at the time, but now it's just funny.  So we take Highway 24 to I-70, travel west on I-70 for over an hour and get to the exit for the Hanging Lakes.  Which is closed.  Aaargh!  We were all looking forward to seeing the lakes, which are supposed to be gorgeous, but no such luck.  So we turn around.

We decide to head back home and hit Boulder Falls on the way, since we didn't get to see the falls that were at the Hanging Lakes.  So we drive, we talk, we laugh, and finally we get to Boulder Falls.  And they're closed too.  Who ever heard of closing a waterfalls, anyway?  Apparently, there had been one too many deaths due to falling rocks, and the city felt uncomfortable allowing people to walk back there.

So what's a girl to do when the city's blockaded the waterfall you've driven a long way to see?

Go around the blockade, of course!  Here it is, Boulder Falls, in all its glory.

Here I am, checking out the river below the falls.

And here Jo is, dodging one of the aforementioned falling rocks.

A fellow trespasser took this photo of the three of us.  Notice the beautiful waterfall behind us.  Oh, wait...

Luckily, there were no rock-related mishaps, so we left with lives and limbs intact.

At this point we were less than an hour from home.  We made a quick stop at a little organic farmstand to grab some produce.

P.S: thanks for the prety shot, Erin.

Jo was taking a rare nap in the car while Erin and I picked out some radishes and pea shoots.

And after taking a few secs to stop and smell the flowers, we went home.

That's the end of the pictures of our day, although it was not the end of the fun we had.  We took Erin out to one of our favorite restaruants, the Pumphouse, for good food and converstation before hitting the hay.