A western history lesson

So it seems that a few people were more interested in the 'weird, strange, or odd' structures in the photos from my last blog, than they were in the bears in the photos. As you all know I love to entertain and enlighten, so here's a little history lesson for all of you interested.

Those structures are Coke Ovens. 'Coking' is a term used for the carbonizing of coal. This process would burn off much of the volitale material found in coal, which would produce a much cleaner fuel source for the use in railroad steam engines and other machinary. Here are a two different types of coke ovens in the area.

These are the ones behind my mom's house. They are now being reconstructed that's why one is covered in a big teepee tent. You can't really go inside them now, but I remember venturing in as a kid, and I'm sure that the teenagers in town met there on occasion for a little you know what.

These ovens are built into a hillside and are up in a town called Redstone which is about 30 miles from Basalt. These have also been deemed Historical Structures.

Bears bears everywhere

I've now seen 4 bears in as many days. It's amazing but sad, because they are getting too used to people and that is not a good thing. But check out this little crew.

These were taken from the back porch

And this one was taken from the car in the neighborhood. Soo cute!!!

Only in CO for 4 days and already a bear sighting

So I was just driving along and what do I see? A big black bear with a Buddha belly looking at me. He was just chillin' on a little hillside about 30 yards from the road. What a big boy he is.

Leg 2 Complete

After spending a few days with Dad and Air conditioner, Onion and I set out on the next leg of our journey back to Colorado. After packing two giant suitcases to the brim, each weighing in at exactly 50 pounds, and attempting to drug Onion with children's Benedryl, we all made our way to the airport.

Onion settled in well for a while and was gem on the plane. I happened to be on the most talkative plane in the history of the world. I had a young girl in front of me dragging her row partner into the complimentary airplane crossword puzzle. And I don't mean to be a jerk, but they sucked. Then behind me I had a very bright eyed architecture student trying to impress another college student with his insights into such names as Gaudi, Libeskind, and Pei and how they all didn't get it because they're buildings couldn't be cleaned or furnished properly. I can't wait to see what this joker comes up with. There were many other interesting conversations but those two entertained me completely for the 2 hour ride into Denver.

Mom picked me up and we headed west toward the mountains at sunset. See.

We arrived into Basalt around 1230 and hit the hay. Here's a pic of this quaint little town this is the old hotel that is now a posh restaurant. Now I'm off for a bike ride. See you later suckers.

Just Peachy (minus the guy in the belly shirt)

So dad has several peach trees in the yard and I attempted to make some peach preserves today. The trees are covered and sagging under the weight of these beautiful peaches so here we go.

After finding a recipe for honey peach preserves dad and I headed down to a local supermarket. Here we picked up needed ingredients as well as a priceless photo...

This guy was something else. The belly shirt was one thing but the fact that is was mesh was just over the top. We managed to get the back shot, and tried desperately to track him down to get full frontal but alas he elluded our efforts. Let's just say he looked about 7 months pregnant and thought he was it with his Oakley sunglasses on. Woweeeeeeee!

Anyway back at the house we started the peach canning process.

Look at these beauties

Yummy it's boiling away. That brown thing is not a poo, but instead a little bag of spices. mmm

Voila!!!!!

I hope it's as good as it smelled while making it. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Me, my dad, an Onion and Air conditioner

Today marks the first day of my adventures into the unknown world of unemployment and travel.

Meet the players for the first leg of the tour.

Me.

My Dad

an Onion

and Air conditioner


The 4 of us loaded up in Boston after picking up the badass orange Dogde Caliber. I hiked up and down the 4 flights stairs to my apartment for the last time to grab our esteemed travel mascot, Onion, then we hit the road for our 16 hour drive to Chicago. Onion was a real trooper, we tried the Benadryl route to see if it would make him a little calmer. Suffice to say that I didn't see any calming affects, but the perfusive drooling was entertaining for a little while. He eventually settled in and needed very little looking after. Talking of ideal travel companions, Air conditioner was great! It never asked for a pee or water break, was quiet as a mouse and didn't require us to keep in included in the conversation. I can only hope that others will someday have a travel companion as wonderful as Air conditioner was for us.



Some highlights included:

NY wine country at sunset

Amazing American Architecture

Including this bad boy in Buffalo NY. It's been moved to the top of my list as a potential wedding venue http://www.salvatores.net/hotelpage.aspx .



With two members of our band of travellers leaving us in Chicago, Onion and I will travel next to the wild west via airplane on Monday stay tuned.