Totally Epic, with mustard and ketchup, kinda

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVa-Y0EF-fj/

Glazed and chocolate yeast doughs, double-chocolate cake donut, and an apple fritter

 

From original The Donut House in Aurora, Colorado

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Pastrami and mustard on French Roll with Ruffles and Coca Cola for lunch

 

I love pastrami sandwiches. The shown fountain drink cup is of such quality that I'm actually able to reuse it after multiple washings. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVX8opuldr2/

Trail 10 - Shady on a hot day

This past weekend, Allie and I drove a bit.  The destination was Meyer Ranch Park (backup link)  From the book, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles for Denver and Boulder, this is entry #10. Though the book lists this trail as being in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains, for all intents and purposes, this is in the Rocky Mountains.  The entire park is west of the Legault Mountain Peak (9045ft).  The drive here is a bit longer than places I would call "Foothills".

Meyer Ranch Park is worth the longer drive.  This is a great place for a hot day.  Most of the Lodge Loop Trail (that forms a full circuit at this park) is shaded under tall trees.  The trail itself is very well maintained.  The uphill portions aren't steep.  Overall, Allie and I really enjoyed this location and will definitely consider coming back.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWgk9kl4fd/

Though Allie and I originally intended to visit this park earlier in the year, we were unable to get out to this beautiful location until the very last day of Spring (or the first day of Summer by a certain reckoning).  However, this was the perfect day.  With temperatures in the 80's and 90's in Denver, a shady hike in a wind cooled valley exceeded our expectations.  

By my information, a visit to this park comes with a likelihood to see wildlife.  Unfortunately, on this day, we did not catch any glimpses of mountain critters.  

As an unexpected coincidence, we finished our hike at nearly noon.  After our hike, we headed back into Denver Metro for lunch.  We decided on a famous restaurant that we haven't tried yet, Cherry Cricket.  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWqbafl3KK/

The burgers at Cherry Cricket were good.  I did something that is surely a sin somewhere to someone; I tried the Impossible Burger (veggie) with bacon strips!  Yummy.  Also, while we dined, this sucker visited us in the adjacent fish tank:

 

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Some photos from running around town

 

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G8 SF Bay Area Meet Jan 10th 2009, 12 years ago

 

#TBT Pontiac G8 and GTO cruise 2009, stopped  for lunch at the crossroad of Woodside and Skyline at Alice' s Restaurant.

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Robust cream of mushroom and sauteed chicken sausage soup to warm my soul

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJE6oAIlmVB/

Just saw yet another shooting star

In a strange coincidence, I've seen another shooting start last night as I walked out to my backyard. I looked up, and there it was.  This one was different than the previous sighting a couple of weeks ago.  The sky was perfectly clear.  This shooting star was just a point of light that streaked across the sky, but with no tail.  I noticed it just as it lit up.  It got brighter as it moved Westward until it dimmed a second or so later.  Similar to the previous shooting star, it moved East in a Westerly direction.

The Geminid meteor showers will happen in a week or so.  Maybe these early shooting stars are their vanguard.

Lunch today

There was an attempt to get In-N-Out Burger on a whim at the new location in Aurora. 2.5hr wait from this spot. A spontaneous decision to see if we could get In-N-Out today turned into a long discussion about if we should. In-N-Out is good, but we're too hungry. Another day. 

(Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYwW1gFt_p)

 

So, we ended up at La Sandia in Stapleton for a delicious lunch of Mexican cuisine. 

(Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIY8RHolVAJ)

Today I just heard the phase "every mushroom cloud has a silver lining" twice from difference sources

Today I just heard the phase "every mushroom cloud has a silver lining" twice from two difference channels on Youtube in different contexts, though both referring to atmospheric nuclear explosions.  One source (11/23/20) was ranting about the ill effects of religious extremism, while the other was talking about how wine vintages from before 1945 cannot be faked today due to worldwide radiation contamination from all the nuclear explosions from WWII and the Cold War (11/22/20). It's a strange phrase to heard twice in one day.

Slower Than Usual Shooting Star

I just happened to see a shooting star as I walked out to my backyard while taking the dogs outside.  At first, I caught a glimpse of a light in the sky above me and thought it was a plane.  I quickly realized it was a shooting star as I looked up to see the streak across the sky.  The shooting star had a burst-head that was followed by a long white line which momentarily marked the night sky just above where Mars appears.  

The streak was much longer than usual and started in the East and weirdly headed almost perfectly West.  This shooting star was also a bit slower and more long lasting that other shooting stars I've seen, though it still dissipated very quickly.  I was also surprized that the shooting star was so visible, given the wisps of clouds and the suburban light pollution.

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Delicious #pizza and #roastedsalmon @ North Italia in #CherryCreekNorth

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Warmish blustery wind causing a bit of chaos at an otherwise quiet #FarmersMarket @ #cherrycreekshoppingcenter

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Spring isn't quite here just yet

 

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Joie stopped for just long enough for me to capture this shot between running in circles around the yard.

via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B924sORlcax/

#ColoradoHomeAndGardenShow2020 @ #ColoradoConventionCenter

via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B87MPeSl_PF/

Do not touch this mysterious thing on the counter. #temptation #tapedup #tapeddown #packingtape #badsigns

via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B8LBDQflt6R/

Local fox on its morning hunt - April 2019

If you look closely, you can see it already caught breakfast.

Today I spotted a Bird Watcher that spotted something bald

On my regular commute to work through Broomfield this morning, I spotted a warmly dressed man who faced the wrong way on the wrong side of a bus stop shelter. I then spotted that he was looking through a photo camera with a rather large zoom lens.  He appeared to be looking North at something above the horizon, but not in the sky.  Something about all this said "bird watcher!" to me.

(Illustrative proposes only)

I'm driving my car in moving traffic, so I wasn't inclined to just start looking intently off into the distance in a direction that was not the road in front of me.  As quickly as I could, I followed his view line and saw the tops of trees in an open space, about 40 yards from the road.  Yup.  Bird watcher.  I look back to the road ahead.  Then, as quickly as I could, I looked at the tree tops to scan for a perched bird shape.  Yup, something large.  ::Look at the road::  I glanced back at that shape.  Bald Eagle!  I double-take to make sure.  Yup!  I briefly consider the notion of stopping my car on the side of the road to get my own rough phone camera shot, but there was no good spot to conveniently stop, and the traffic was moving rather fast.  So, I caught a couple more glimpses of this critter before continuing my day.

I haven't see a Bald Eagle in this area for several years.  It was nice to see one again, minding its own business; not minding the humans.  Hey, Bald Eagle, please eat as many of the prairie dogs and rabbits as you like!  There's too many for the coyotes and foxes around here.

Bumpy road or snow tires in Spring? It's not dinosaurs - May 2017