Monthly Archives: August 2012

Out of the Cage and On the Road Less Traveled

I had a doctors appointment in Fort Collins today so Cassie and I both took the day off.  I spend a lot of time working in the basement of a big concrete square building in front of  computer screens.  So I am always surprised at my reaction to the “outside world” on days off.  Just about anything and everything seems amazing to me.  From the amount of people driving around (pretty normal) to helicopters flying around with the President inside (not so normal).


Obama’s Helicopter (I think)

They had the whole highway shutdown and I could only get to within a block of where my appointment was, go figure.  Cassie and I decided to just walk across the shutdown highway.  It was the right choice and took less than 5 minutes.

After the appointment we decided to get some lunch.  Since we were out and about we didn’t want to eat somewhere we had been before so we went to the Taj Mahal.  Not the real one of course, it’s a restaurant in Ft Collins.  The flavors in Indian food are much different than what our palates are accustomed to, which is what we were after.  So we ended up eating too much..lol.


lunch

After lunch we went for a short walk down the Poudre Trail in Fort Collins before heading home. When we were walking down the trail, it split off into two paved ones and a dirt one. Cassie said, “Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” I didn’t know what she was talking about, so she said to look it up. I looked it up and found Robert Frost’s poem on my phone.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Just then we saw an awesome huge tree that we would not have seen had we taken the well-worn trail. It was pretty cool.


Cassie in the Tree. How cool is this tree!?

I work almost every weekday and simply don’t see the outside world often.  Even something as simple as a doctors visit can turn into a fantastically different day and an opportunity to experience something different in life.  Weird, I know, but I am ready to take the road less traveled for I truly do believe that will make all the difference.

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Cafe Panache in Greeley

The other day Cassie and I finally had a chance to visit Café Panache in downtown Greeley.  We had been meaning to eat there since we heard about their opening in the newspaper.  They focus on crepes, soups and salads.


Located in downtown Greeley

We showed up at lunchtime and ordered a turkey/provolone/sage crepe, a romaine salad and an order of curried pork with cherries.


Lunch

The restaurant has a nice French café feel to it. They play French music, serve chilled water in a wine bottle and is creatively decorated.


Cassie in front of the menu and some of the unique decorations (melted and repurposed albums)

The food was fresh and tasty and appropriately priced (everything was around $3).  I hadn’t ever had curried pork that I can remember, but I thought it was pretty good. Overall a fun spot.

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Gardens Galore!

Our garden has been producing like mad, as has my mom’s. We brought home some Armenian cucumbers from her house where they were growing over three feet long and zucchinis that will make great stir fry and breads! Craziness. We’ve been enjoying cucumbers and tomatoes and lots of salsa. You’ll have to stay tuned to The Rad Dish for the recipes. I still haven’t figured out what to do with the flying saucer squash we grew called patty pan. It’s very cool looking though!


All from our garden!


Salsa fresca hecha con verduras del jardin!

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Trip to Meeker and the Western Slope


My mom, brother and me in Steamboat on our drive through the mountains

We just got back from our trip to Meeker, Palisade and the western slope of Colorado. While in many ways it was a lot of fun, it wasn’t all easy. For one thing, we were visiting my dad’s grave, which brings up so many memories and thoughts of what could have been; what would be now, if he were still alive and well.  But it was also difficult because my mom, my brother, Britton and I are all such different people, on different paths in life. Britton and I are of course on a closer, more similar path, and Justin and my mom are also since they live together, but still, anytime you have four grown adults with different experiences, lessons to learn, opinions, and viewpoints on the world all in one car and in one hotel room, you might be a little uncomfortable.

All in all though, I think it was so important to do this trip. When Britton and I move to Puerto Rico, there just simply won’t be as many opportunities to spend time with our families and friends here in Colorado. Sure, they may visit and we may visit, but it just won’t ever be the same. So I am glad we did this trip.

We started our journey mid morning going through the Poudre Canyon. We wanted to see how much the fire had ravaged the area. In fact, it wasn’t too bad -near the road anyway. Although we did see a few blackened trees. Oddly enough, it was really hazy the whole trip, though not from any fires in Colorado. It all came from states surrounding us. It was unfortunate because it blocked some of the views. After driving through the Poudre, we stopped in Steamboat Springs for lunch and walked around a bit.


The view from the Meeker cemetery

We arrived in Meeker around 5 or 6pm and checked into a hotel. Then we headed up to the Meeker cemetery called Highland Cemetery where my dad is buried. We spent quite a bit of time there. It was powerful and emotional. And very beautiful. I can see why Dad chose this area -not only because he was born there and his mother and father are buried there, but also because of the sheer beauty of the place. It sits on a hill that overlooks the river that runs through Meeker with a backdrop of the mountains.


An angel carved from an old pine tree


Dad’s gravestone. Though he never actually went to Vietnam, he was apparently classified as having served in that war.


We also found my paternal grandmother and grandfather’s headstones. Iris is my middle name in reverence to my grandmother that I never met


In the cemetery at sunset


Meeker is a very small town of less than 3000 people. Agriculture- such as hay and sheep- is the main industry. Interestingly enough, the founder, Nathan Meeker, also founded Greeley and after being scalped by Native Americans in this area at the Meeker Massacre was buried in Lynn Grove Cemetery in Greeley!

The next day we headed out to Palisade for the peach festival, but found out that the festival really didn’t start until Friday! But anyway we were able to take some of the agri-tours around. We stopped at an Alpaca Farm and Mill where they make yarn from alpaca wool. We also stopped at some vineyards and wineries as well as fruit orchards.


At the Suncrest Alpaca Farm in Palisade


We learned alpacas are from the camel family and prized for their hypoallergenic wool


They had an extensive set-up to produce the yarn and final clothing products from the alpaca and other animals


Some people call this area the Provence of Colorado with all of its grapes, lavender and fruit orchards.


Wine Grapes


My brother and mom enjoying a wine tasting


Britton and I in our favorite place -in a jungle of trees. In this case it was a peach orchard


Gorgeous peaches. We didn’t bring any home because we were peached out from our own tree


Britton and me with a sculpture and the Grand Mesa in the background

We were planning on staying another night, but after our tours we decided we had done what we had come to do on this trip and started back to Greeley about 5pm. We took I-70 through Glenwood Springs, Vail, Georgetown etc. It was a nice drive. We arrived home at about 10pm.


Driving on I-70

All in all, while it was emotionally draining in many ways, it was also a lot of fun and I am so glad we did it. Thanks to Britton, Mom and Justin for going on this adventure together. And thanks to Dad for making it happen in a round about way.

 

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