Connie in Ouray

 The three of us drove up Camp Bird Road to do some leaf peeping, but before I get to those photos, I've found myself a bit squeamish on Red Mountain Pass and Camp Bird Road the last few trips.  I chalk it up to the fatality accident that happened two weeks ago at mile 3 up from Thistledown Campground at Drinking Cup.  There is a small cairn now marking the spot where the accident happened.  It weighs on my mind a lot. In the meantime, it is so beautiful up here, and as I look out the living room window at our acre of aspens, I get to see all sorts of colors.  Camp Bird Road:

 Greg and I drove up Red Mountain Pass, on Mike's advice, and I was just speechless.  If possible, it is more gorgeous than ever before. A bear triggered the Whites' motion light last night, and it walked down the road towards us and then behind our garage.  It set off the light on the back of our garage.   Tanya and Mark, Sandy and Larry Krafft's daughter and son-in-law, are in town now to close up the house for the winter.  Sandy is still undergoing treatment at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Barb and Steve's Florida house is getting pounded with rain from Hurricane Ian and will be or is getting the outer bands as it moves across Florida.  Steve's son has secured their boat, but fingers crossed it stays more north. On our road

The smoke from the California wildfires has gotten caught up in the jet stream and is pouring into Colorado.  It's unpleasant but less irritating than the gnats.  With the cooler weather, they have been less persistent but still buggy.  Fingers crossed, it looks like we're done with the 80s for this year.  When it hit 86 in Ouray several days in a row, I was pretty crabby. Bad news from Sandy Krafft, with whom I was texting the other day.  Here's her message:  "I have developed a serious eye issue with my glaucoma and we are packing, etc. I will be flying to Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and Larry will follow with the dog.  We will rent an apartment there for about six weeks.  So much to do and I need to avoid people so that the surgery won't be delayed."   I'm leaving Thursday for a long-planned 10-day Boston, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket trip with my Kansas bestie.  I'll be back on the 24th and will catch up on ...

Did I mention the gnats?  Jeez, they are horrible!  I imagine it's a result of really wet weather followed by really warm temps, but we did not have this problem last year.  We need a freeze. Yesterday, it was 87 degrees in Ouray, and it's been hot for days now.   I'm crabby.  The forecast is for cooler temperatures over the weekend, not a moment too soon. Greg and I drove over to Silverton late Monday afternoon, just because we can and it's a favorite drive, and we saw a few aspens turning yellow and more going in that direction.  I was surprised until I realized it was already September  5th.  My, how time flies. The Labor Day weekend was absolute madness in Ouray and up Camp Bird Road.  At one point, I counted 15 cars lined up for people to go to the Via Ferrata.  The other two parking lots were completely full.  We've had a few smoky days as the California wildfire smoke gets caught up in the jet stream over Colorado. ...

Dry days, highs in the 80s, even up here at 8600 feet, have settled in Ouray for the foreseeable future.  I'm maximizing my deck time, which unfortunately means the interior of the house doesn't get dusted or otherwise cleaned.  I'm just fine with that.  No one is enjoying the lack of thunderstorms more than Dempsey. Coming up the very first part of MFL yesterday from Camp Bird Road, 50 yards or so below the Fickerts' driveway, I came across a bear in the road.  At first, I thought it was someone's dog I didn't recognize, but it was just a young bear.  It ran off into the woods towards Barb and Steve's house before I could get a picture...but I did roll up all my windows. I'm doing daily algae skimming on the pond. There seems to be a lot clinging to underwater plants in the shallow part near JP and Michelle's, so I plunked in three packets of bacteria there.  Compared to last year's crop, this is nothing, but I plan to stay on top of it. We have...