This humble blog was started to document our travels around the country during the summer of 2006, We have opted to continue updating it due to the requests from family & friends. Enjoy!
Friday, September 01, 2017
Happiness is Not a Place
August 16, 2017
Happiness is Not a Place
Before departing Colorado Springs, Kathy spent our last
evening there attending a concert at a small club called the Black Sheep to see
a band called the Wind and the Wave. I was completely unfamiliar with the band,
but Kathy had checked them out and really wanted to go, so we got tickets. The
band, a duo from Austin, Texas is touring in support of their second CD release
and first for Island Records, “Happiness Is Not A Place”.
One Flew West
First off, the club was fantastic, the Black Sheep was
just the sort of slightly seedy, yet comfortable and open with plenty of great
space to see the bands, a large bar and excellent sound. The opening act was a
Colorado based band called One Flew West. Normally local opening bands can
leave a lot to be desired, but this band was excellent and well-polished.
Really worth checking out.
The headliners, The Wind and the Wave were amazingly good.
In the past two weeks I have had the good fortune to see two great young bands,
the Wild Reeds and now the Wind and the Wave. Though there was a pretty sparse
crowd, the band delivered an amazing set that featured cuts from both their cds
as well as a few well-placed covers. I was so thankful that Kathy had pressed
us to go see this as I really, really enjoyed it.
The main reason for my birthday getaway was to visit the
Princeton Hot Springs. She had booked a room for us at the beautiful Mount
Princeton Hot Springs Resort in Nathrop, Colorado. The natural hot springs feed
a few beautiful pools, hot tubs, a water slide and a beautiful spa. They even
flow into the river that runs along the property creating warm pools of water
along the banks of the flowing river. It is a spectacular place and a wonderful
place to spend a couple of days relaxing.
It had been some time since I had been on a waterslide and
this was a good one and reminded me of how much I have always enjoyed them,
since my days as a kid at Boogie Mountain Water Park in Indianapolis. We spent
the day longing and playing then had a fantastic meal at the lodge before a
late-night dip in the beautiful spa pool under the stars, it was a just about
perfect day.
The next day we were off on a leisurely trip to Estes Park
with stops at Dillon Lake at Pug Ryan’s brewery and for a long afternoon
exploring Breckenridge as well. We took our time traveling the back way to
Estes that would take us across Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain
National Park. Breckenridge is a cute little touristy town. We had a nice lunch
at the Breckenridge Brewery and walked around downtown checking out the art
galleries, shops and bars.
We crossed the Continental Divide at the Hoosier Pass,
altitude 11,539 ft. and had to stop and get photos, being a good Hoosier and
all. It was a pretty cool drive as we wound our way towards Rocky Mountain
National Park for the final leg of our journey to see our friend Kerry in Estes
Park.
After being separated from Kathy for over a month while
she was in Colorado, it was finally my turn to head out for a week to see our
new house for myself and to reunite with my wife and enjoy a little vacation. I
flew from my quick stop in Indianapolis out to Colorado Springs where Kathy
picked me up at the airport and our getaway began.
Our first stop was our new house, which is currently and
slowly being constructed. I had seen many photos and videos but being on-site
gave me an entire new and much improved perspective. I really, really liked
what I saw, it is going to be so awesome once it is completed, which I hope is
sooner rather than later. Being able to walk around inside the rooms gave a
much better idea of what it will actually be like.
Kathy has been working hard with every aspect along the
way and the design is as much hers as it is the architect’s and it is pretty
damn cool. Now if we can just get past all these hold-ups and delays maybe we
can get something done. The views, especially from the larger unit are
spectacular with the front looking out over Pike’s Peak and one side looking
out at the Garden of the Gods.
A friend of ours who lives in Golden, Colorado drove down
to hang out with us for a day. Janine lived many years in Key West before
heading West and it is always great to see her. She met us at the house with
her dog and we hiked from there in to the Garden of the Gods to check it out.
It was so easy just to walk off our property and within moments be surrounded
by some of the most beautiful scenery in Colorado. It was a beautiful, albeit
slightly warm day and we made a quick loop ending up back on the property
before heading off for a late lunch.
Janine
Since Janine had her pup with her, we opted to go to the
first place that I have ever seen that allows dogs to eat inside as well as
outside. Pub Dog is just that a pub that caters to dogs and their owners. Dogs
are allowed both inside and out as well as in a fenced in dog park that is
surrounded by tables where owners can eat and drink while their pooches frolic
together. It was such an awesome place that we pretty much spent the rest of
the day there.
There were at times as many as 30 dogs in the outside park
area and it was as cool as it sounds. The food and drink was good as well, with
the food being served in metal dog dishes. I wish we had a place like this in
Key West, but I think we may be frequent visitors when in Colorado Springs,
even though we won’t have a dog to take there.
After a couple of days in Colorado Springs, meeting with
construction people, picking through paint samples and the like, Kathy and I
headed off for our own little getaway to celebrate my birthday. We were going
to the Princeton Hot Springs resort, but we made a couple of stops along the
way including a stop in the small town of Buena Vista, where we visited the
Eddyline Brewery for lunch.
Yellow Bellied Marmot
We also took in the biggest ghost town left in Colorado,
St. Elmo. I had never been to an actual ghost town and it was pretty cool,
though somewhat different than my imagination which had been largely formed by
seeing the Brady Bunch get locked up by an old prospector in one when I was a
kid. There was a large collection of mostly empty buildings from the late
1800s. One did have a general store/gift shop and another had been fully
preserved as sort of a museum, but most were pretty ramshackle.
It was worth a visit, especially for the chipmunk feeding
area in front of the general store. Literally hundreds of well feed chipmunks
scurry around, about and even on the people who gather there to feed them
sunflower seeds. They are incredibly adorable and friendly and it was a ton of
fun having them running over you in serach of the seeds. Such cute little
buggers.
About Us- We are Kathy Kilroy and Michael Blades and this blog was created to document our summer travels around the nation in 2006 and we have opted to continue posting to keep our friends and family informed of our lives. We each have lived in Key West for over 20 years and met and were married here in October, 2003.
One Flew West 
