The Wizard of Osborne

4th Of July in Telluride, CO

I'd been itching since spring to go on a road trip, so on a whim (ok, well, it wasn't 100% whim – there was a little planning in there) I decided to drive to Telluride for the 4^th of July weekend. I'd originally planned to just take I-70 to Grand Junction then head south on Hwy 50 towards Telluride, but after some suggestions from (very wise auto-enthusiast) friends, I veered off I-70 at Glenwood Springs instead. Boy howdy, now there's a drive that can make your soul smile: CO-82 from Glenwood Springs to Carbondale, CO-133 to Hotchkiss, CO-92 to Delta, CO-50/550 to Ridgeway, CO-62 to Placerville and finally, CO-145 to Telluride. CO-133 was probably the best stretch of road in there, offering squiggly curves and scenic backdrops such as this to pose my car against…

(Note: If you look hard enough, you might just see my sweet new StopTech BBK lurking behind the front wheels.) But not even the Red Bomb set against a stunning background can compare to the scenery in Telluride…

I took that picture out east of Telluride, facing back west towards town, from the hike to Bridal Veil Falls. (A fantastic hike, by the way). And as it turns out, Telluride is also a pretty fantastic place to catch a fireworks show…

All in all, a memorable and amazing trip. Same drive and destination for next 4^th of July? We'll just have to wait a year and see!

(For the rest of my trip pics, check out this slideshow.)

Germany calling...

My husband and I have set a trend recently of visiting Germany with my parents during even-numbered years.  In 2002 we visited the German towns of Ruedesheim, Koeln, Berlin, Muenchen and Frankfurt.  In 2004 we went all over the map visiting the German towns of Freiburg, Wuerzburg and Rothenburg, the French town of Strasbourg, and the Swiss towns of Basel, Bern, Interlaken and Luzern.  We travel by train only (nothing beats 1st class on an ICE train) and stay in wonderful, small, non-chain hotels.  We walk everywhere, eat like pigs (or eat a lot of pigs, really) and just generally enjoy the Gemuetlichkeit.

So here we are in 2006...and we have no plans for a trip to Germany.  But I need to go.  Germany's calling me.  They're my people.  I fit in there.  Everything makes sense, runs on time and works logically.  I need to watch the world fly by at 215Km/h on the ICE train while I eat soup and bread along with my cold, crisp, fizzy Apfelschoerle in the dining car.  I need to go to Pfaffen and order the giant variety plate of meat, which I'll eat out on their back patio under that huge tree while sipping Koelsch from those tiny glasses they keep track of with tick marks on your coaster.  I need to stroll down the Ku'damm and hop into the KaDeWe to check out the latest in German bed linens.

I just need to go.