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Sunday, April 13, 2025

Littleton Colorado's Historic Crabapple Trees!



One of the beautiful aspects of the Spring season is seeing nature come to life again.

My town of Littleton, Colorado, is known as the "Flowering Crabapple Capital of Colorado," with over 7,000 pink crabapple trees along the city's streets. The trees were planted in the early 1970s as part of a city beautification plan spearheaded by the City of Littleton's mayor at the time, Vaughn Gardinier. He convinced the Littleton City Council to appropriate funds to plant the colorful trees along city streets and to encourage homeowners to plant them in yards throughout the city.


In 2011, with the encouragement of the former Mayor Gardinier, and in celebration of the original effort, the City selected streets with the most colorful collection of the flowering trees and drew a map of a continuous loop route through the community to showcase the beautiful color. It was designated the “Littleton Crabapple Route.” Signs were created by the City staff and placed along the Route to mark it.



My husband and I took a drive along the Crabapple Tree Route ...





...to enjoy the beauty!



We saw so many crabapple trees!


In 2012, a group of citizen volunteers created a non-profit corporation and secured IRS designation to make tax-deductible donations possible, named the “Littleton Crabapple Route, Inc." Its purpose is to continue and promote the appreciation of the springtime color display of flowering crabapple trees in Littleton. They plant additional trees each year and encourage community events that recognize Littleton’s unique beautification heritage.
New trees planted are ornamental, of the nonfruit-producing kind.



Crabapples were not the only blooming spring flowers in view around Littleton. We've had a few weeks of warm weather between our light snow shower days, which has made the entire city begin to blossom. It is a beautiful time of the year!

The high Rocky Mountains are still snow-filled, as you can see by the photo above, but ski season will be ending in the next few weeks and months--the last will be Arapahoe Basin, which estimates June 8th to be their closing date!


I also know spring has arrived when the squirrels become bolder in their search for food. They have been invading my backyard trees lately and eating the budding leaves. One even tried taking a bite of a plastic hummingbird ornament I have hanging in a tree! They make me laugh!

I hope you are enjoying the changing seasons where you live--have a happy week ahead!












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Sunday, April 6, 2025

A Colorado Rockies Game as a Guest of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank



 


My husband and I were invited to attend one of the Colorado Rockies' opening weekend baseball games against the Athletics this past weekend at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, through a raffle that The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank sponsored.




It was a special T-shirt giveaway to the first 15,000 ballpark guests!


Please click on to enlarge the photo collage.

We saw placards on our way through the ballpark for many other giveaways and theme days ahead for the season.


I took these photos of our foothill neighborhood as we began our drive to Denver, and as you can see, it was a cold day with some icy snow that fell overnight. so.....




...it was nice to know we were going to a private suite within Coors Field, and be part of a group of cornea donor families and cornea recipients.

I was a cornea recipient in 2015, which granted me the miracle of good sight in an eye that had become clouded and scarred from an infection. You can read my story on this post. Every day I say a prayer to thank and honor my donor for the gift of sight.



The private suite was very warm and comfortable with a wonderful view of the baseball field. We were also able to sit outside if we wanted, or stay inside and watch from the window or on the large TV screen.



We saw a Golden Glove award ceremony that two Colorado Rockies players won--Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.  The Rawlings Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). The Gold Glove is widely considered one of the most prestigious defensive awards in baseball.



While the game progressed, all the guests in the suite enjoyed complimentary food and snacks that The Rocky Mountain Lion Eye Bank had the suite's catering provide.

It was exciting to see the Rockies perform a rare triple play in the second inning!  It was only the fifth triple play in their history as a team.
Sadly, the Rockies lost the game to the Athletics, but it was an exciting game nonetheless!

During the game, my husband and I were touched to hear the stories that some of the donor families told us of their loved one's donation. I also told them of my gratitude to have had my full sight restored through cornea donation. 

All in all, it was a memorable evening full of meeting and sharing with donors and recipients, during an exciting baseball game, in a warm, comfortable suite with good food.




My husband and I are signed up to be organ, eye, and tissue donors through our state driver's licenses in the Donate Life America program.

 More than 100,000 patients are estimated to be waiting for a transplant. Give hope and help save lives by registering your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor at your local DMV, on RegisterMe.org.




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Monday, March 31, 2025

A Drive through Glenwood Canyon to Vail, Colorado


In last week's blog post, I showed a drive we took last September from the westernmost part of Colorado on Interstate 70 East, through Grand Junction and Palisade, Colorado--click here-- to read that post. This week, the journey continues as we drive east and pass through Glenwood Canyon to Vail.



Glenwood Canyon is a rugged, scenic 12.5-mile (20 km) canyon in western Colorado in the United States. Its walls climb as high as 1,300 feet (400 m) above the Colorado River. It is the largest such canyon on the Upper Colorado.



 

As my husband drove, I took photos of the scenery.




The canyon's geology is interesting. It was formed relatively recently in the Pleistocene era by the rapid cutting of the Colorado down through layers of sedimentary rock. The upper layers of the canyon are sandstone. Sections of the lower canyon walls are made of Cambrian rock. 





Although there was a rough road along Glenwood Canyon since pioneers days for horses and wagons, the final link of the construction of  I-70 through Glenwood Canyon has been hailed as an engineering marvel!  Construction through Glenwood Canyon began in 1980 and was completed in 1992.  As you can see in the photo above, the highway going west at a narrow portion of the canyon is elevated, while going east continues to traverse along the river. Great care taken to incorporate the interstate improvements into the fragile canyon environment while leaving as much of the flora and fauna intact as possible.



Please click on  the above photo 2x to enlarge it to read the information about Glenwood Canyon's I-70 road construction. 




A few years after we moved to Colorado, my husband and I spent our anniversary in Glenwood Springs. On the way home, I saw this sign for Hanging Lake. I asked my husband if we could stop at this trailhead, as I saw many beautiful photos of the area on social media and wanted to see if we could hike up to Hanging Lake.  




It took us--mostly me--two hours to hike up the steep trail to Hanging Lake and another two hours to go back down, but we did see this magnificent lake and the spectacular waterfall, which was another 200 feet above it!

You can read more about this experience at this link



We passed beautiful scenery...




...and ranches along the drive.


We continued driving east, gaining elevation... 


...and began to see fall foliage.

Soon, we approached Vail, which is at 8,150 feet (2,480 m) above sea level.

Vail is home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado.  The town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually




The mountains surrounding Vail were ablaze with golden Aspen trees!


In October, these mountains would be full of snow, but in September, they were displaying full fall glory!




Vail Pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed U.S. Highway 6 through the Eagle Valley in 1940. It eventually became Interstate 70. Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained at Camp Hale, 14 miles south of Vail between Red Cliff and Leadville. 

 I blogged about the 10th Mountain Division and Camp Hale in this post.

Seibert, with other former members of the 10th Mountain Division, returned to Colorado after World War II with the intention of opening a ski resort. During training for ski troopers at Camp Hale, he bivouacked on Vail Mountain and identified it as an ideal ski mountain. By 1969, Vail had developed into the most popular ski resort in the state.



We continued driving east across the Rocky Mountains towards the Denver area, anticipating another two-hour drive to return home. 

We had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed seeing this part of Colorado again during the fall, and it was fun to take you along with us in this reminiscence! 

I can also be found on


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Sunday, March 23, 2025

A Scenic Drive Through Beautiful Mesa County, Colorado

Last fall, my husband and I drove Southwest to Durango, Colorado, where we took a round-trip ride on the historic Durango to Silverton Railroad (click here to see that post). On the way back towards Denver, we decided to drive a bit north to pick up Interstate 70 in Grand Junction, Colorado. As we drove east, we saw the most amazing scenery!


Grand Junction is located in Mesa County in Colorado. It is the most populous county in western Colorado, and the 11th most populous in the state.


The topography of this county was so unique!



Mt. Garfield reminded me of an Egyptian Pyramid!

Mt. Garfield is the high point of the Book Cliffs, east-northeast of Grand Junction, and overlooking the town of Palisade. The mountain was named after President James Garfield a year after Garfield's death. The mountain's geology is composed of Mesaverde Group overlaying Mancos Shale.




Palisade is known for its peach orchards and wine vineyards. The local climate provides a 182-day growing season, with an average 78 percent of sunshine, which makes Palisade "The Peach Capital of Colorado."  




Every summer residents of Colorado looks forward to buying the large ultra-sweet peaches.
I shared many of my favorite Paliside Peach recipes in this post.




Palisade lies on the north side of the Colorado River, 11 miles (18 km) east of Grand Junction,



 The river was flowing fully last fall and was a beautiful shade of blue.


The climate in Mesa County is relatively mild by Colorado standards. It has a semi-arid climate, with warm summers and mild winters. Average temperatures in the summer range from the low- to mid-90s (32.22 C) while winter temperatures usually range between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 to 10C). The area typically receives less than 12 inches of precipitation annually, mainly in the form of snowfall during the winter months.





I was in awe of the scenery!


The contrast between the bright blue sky and the large stone mountains was so beautiful!



As we continued driving east we approached  Glenwood Canyon.

Glenwood Canyon is a rugged scenic 12.5 mi (20 km) canyon, and its walls climb as high as 1,300 feet (400 m) above the Colorado River. It is the largest canyon in the Upper Colorado.  
Eight years ago, my husband and I drove to the Glenwood Canyon area for a few days to celebrate an anniversary. We hiked over 1,000 feet high to visit Hanging Lake--click here to see that post--to this day it is one of the most magnificent places we have seen in Colorado!  We are so happy that we accomplished that hike on a whim.


There are many more places we would like to visit in Mesa County, Colorado, and hope to return there in the near future to see the Colorado National Monument area, and perhaps be able to pick a few peaches from a Palisade peach tree!


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Sunday, March 16, 2025

The Perfect Landing

 

Mt Blue Sky

This month, my husband has been going for Cardiac Exercise Rehabilitation in a cardiology center in our Colorado Front Range area a few times a week, following the coronary bypass surgery he had in January. He's been doing well and building up stamina and strength as he continues to heal. I often accompany him, and sit in the center's lounge and read a book. 



One day last week, after his exercise session, we decided to go to a restaurant at the nearby Centennial Airport for lunch, called The Perfect Landing. We heard they had a delicious menu and a nice view of some of the takeoffs and landings of the local air traffic.



We weren't disappointed! It was exciting to watch the jets and smaller planes take off or land while we dined.


My husband had the Corn Flake Crusted Crispy Walleye Fish on a Baugette (top photo in the collage), and I had the Maine Lobster Roll on a Portuguese Split Bun (bottom in the collage above)  Both were 
delicious!
 
My husband has been advised to eat a Mediterranean Diet post-op. and we have been eating that way very vigilantly, so this was a rare treat and the first time we dined out since his surgery.



Another treat was seeing the magnificent snow-capped Rocky Mountains in the distance from the restaurant windows!  March is usually Colorado's snowiest month and happily, the mountains have been getting large snowfalls while our front range area has not seen excessive snow.


A view of the distant Rocky Mountains from Denver International Airport, east on the Colorado plains. Quite a different view!


The local deer have been enjoying the warmer days that we've had lately.


Relaxing in the sun and dreaming of Spring!

PS: Thank you to all who commented on last week's post about my attending the PBS Antique Roadshow last May! See that post on this link. I received the following information follow-up this week about the three episodes that will be shown soon and the special antiques that the appraisers discovered:

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