The Blue River, June 2016

The idea was that we would take a 3 or 4 day trip to Steamboat Springs and camp either at Pearl Lake or Steamboat Lake.  It was the first time we would try out the new towing system with Shadow, our CRV.  It is always a little shaky for me watching Jim negotiate all the traffic on I-25.  Then the long ascent up I-70 to the Eisenhower Tunnel in 2nd gear alot of the time had me cowering in the passenger seat.  Coming down into Silverthorne was even more of a white knuckle experience with Maxine shaking as he put on the brakes each time.  We pulled into the nearest gas station, which, of course, was crowded and difficult to negotiate with both vehicles, but we managed.  On leaving, I heard a hissing sound coming from the tire which Jim inspected and determined that it was losing air.  We tried getting air in the tire at the gas station but, since we cannot back up with the "toad", we had to look elsewhere for air.  We found a place with what we thought was air, but it turned out to be vacuum cleaners at a car wash.  We were already in there when we realized we couldn't get out without backing up.  So, in a rain storm, which was beginning to turn more and more into a downpour, we de-coupled, Jim went back to the gas station for air in Maxine and then met me and off we went.  When the downpour turned into a real gully washer, we quickly decided to try to find a place along the road somewhere to spend the night.  We lucked out and found a great campground about 8 miles outside of town which was right along the Blue River.  The pictures say it all:

We brought Maxine in the following morning (which was blessedly clear and sunny) and they recommended that we buy two new tires, which we needed to pick up in Frisco.  We did so, bought some groceries and then Jim waited for Maxine while I drove back in the car to secure a place for us and for Gail and Harley who decided to join us here for a few days.  We were lucky to secure a great two-site camp spot on the river where we could fish and watch the rafters go by.  We drove up to Cataract Lake in the Eagles Nest Wilderness to hike, enjoy the day and maybe try out the new kayak.

Just off the main highway, there is a parking area and a small cemetery:  The Kansas Gulch-Grandview Cemetery.  It sits among the most beautiful Colorado scenery of sagebrush, wildflowers and conifers on the road up towards Green Mountain Reservoir.  A family from Kansas who settled here in the late 1800s is buried here.

A stunningly beautiful Colorado backdrop

Another hike in this area:  Surprise Lake

Our first glimpse of the huge waterfall at the end of
Cataract Lake

Gorgeous aspen forests surround the lake

Breathtakingly green

Our shady picnic table by the lake

There is a 3 mile hike around the lake.  Jim was trying out
the kayak and I had injured my hip, so we stayed put while
Gail and Harley took the hike.

Wild irises were everywhere-even in the campground.

Lunch in the sun

A very happy boy!

This family came along and offered us plenty of entertainment
as the kids jumped in and out of the freezing cold water.

No thumbs up for the kayak as the pump
needed another tool to get the nozzle to
close correctly.  Oh, well-at least we now
know Jim can carry it a short distance.

Our pals enjoying the day

We helped this family rescue that little dog on our way down
the mountain.

Back at the ranch:  The Lyons had to go back home and we decided to stay through Sunday, as we hadn't heard of Father's Day plans from either of the kids-it turned out that we found a text from Erin after we got home.  It was a delightfully relaxing time and it reminded us of the many Father's Day weekends we used to camp with Jim's parents and the kids when we were all much younger.

The most relaxed of us all

Lots of Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds at
our feeder

Columbines in bloom

Pretty tasty water (We kept him on a leash as the river was
quite fast with the spring run off).

We kept talking about trying to find a rafting company for Jim to go
down the river.  Fortunately, this guy came along and offered him a free ride.
A great Father's Day experience for Jim.

Fishing-evening

Fishing-morning

The last evening's beauty and a final campfire in the twilight.

New York City with Janet and Tony

Just had to start off this post with pictures of Molly McBean, Janet and Tony's love of a dog.  The first picture was of her staring at me as I woke up one morning.  The other is with her prized possession, Mr. Lion.  What you have to know about Janet and Tony is that they are the King and Queen of fun in NYC.  Whenever I come to town, they always have lots of fun and interesting things planned for me to experience.  I am never ever disappointed.

The first day we went to the Met to see a costume
exhibit.  I couldn't imagine what that would be like
but was thrilled by it.

The exhibit was called, "Manus x Machina:  Fashion in an Age of Technology".  It was the Costume Institute's Spring 2016 exhibit showing how handmade and machine made techniques in haute couture and avant-garde ready to wear intertwine over the last century.  I've never seen anything like it.

This was a 20 ft. train on a wedding gown
by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.  It was hand painted
in gold and machine printed with rhinestones and then
hand embroidered with pearls and gemstones!

This was the dress that wore that train.  It
was made of scuba knit!!!!  Hard to imagine!

And, here are pictures of the others in the show.  Some have actually been worn.  Others were purely works of art:

This one was made of black straws!!!!?!

Almost all feathers

This was an evening dress by Yves Saint
Laurent. It is made of silk and
bird of paradise feathers.

Both made of leather...

Feathers and plastic comprise this cape.

Would be a little tough eating in this one!

Made of paper

This one in the middle moved in and out by
remote control.

Imagine sitting down in this one!

Or this one-all plastic, I think!

On Monday night we went to a club called Iguana, NYC to hear Vince Giardano and the Nighthawks who perform jazz of the 20s and 30s.  Vince is a Grammy winner who plays multiple instruments and leads this multi-instrument band weekly at this club in New York.  Since he is somewhat of a "go-to guy" for this period music, he and his band have been featured in movies like The Cotton Club and The Aviator and the HBO TV show, Boardwalk Empire.  Pretty impressive!

And guess who was sitting at the table next
to us?  Mel Brooks-what a nice guy to let
us take a picture.  Apparently, he is somewhat
of a regular here.

Other regulars here are Charlie Levinson and his wife, Gail,
who are childhood friends of Tony's. Janet and Tony
get together with them here every so often. What
amazed me is that we left to join them at about 9 pm-
usually I am in bed shortly after that.  We left early-
after midnight! 

Time Square was hopping and was its usual exciting-
looking self as we drove to another venue to see
another favorite jazz group.

At The Rum House, we found Terry Waldo
at the piano in this very small, intimate club.
Several others joined him shortly and it felt
like he was playing just for us!

About 4 or 5 guys jammed together with Terry and we
sat right with them.  The clarinet player was my favorite.  

How can you not add another picture of the
infamous Molly McBean when she looks
this cute!

A nice surprise was lunch with an old college buddy of Janet's and friend of mine from my twenties, Judy Gleason.  We had a hilarious lunch at a very small table at The Park restaurant on The Highline.
I love how easily we can chat it up with old friends.  A very short but sweet get together.

Gleason, me and Janet

 Another day we found out from one of Janet's friends, Richard (who now lives in Florida), about The Kips Bay Decorator Show House which is a fund raiser for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club.  The pictures say it all.

The penthouse garden area

Close up of the hanging plant

I loved the window seat!

A very cool ceiling and light fixture

Guest room

I really didn't know what this room was-like a waiting area
of some kind.

Great colors-and the ceiling was black!

Another guest room

The master-loved the chaises!

One of the new-fangled paperless toilets
Note the box on the wall-buttons for
washing, rinsing, drying, etc. 😱

The "off the charts" dressing room

The logs are made out of glass!

A very cool sitting room-loved the colors and the flooring-so unusual!

That's real grass leading down to the
terrace below.

The terrace-the guide there even matched the furniture!

A really cool modern chandelier

A living room area

Very modern living room

Very formal dining area-loved the pedestal

This was a sitting room in the dining area.

It even had a little spot for Boo, if he lived here.

The bar area in the kitchen

A part of the huge, very modern kitchen

Gorgeous gold mirror in the powder room

Art work in powder room-love how
you see this in the mirror as you
walk in.

Gold frog, of course!

We were really tired after the Show House, so just peeked our heads into Barney's across the street-how the other half lives.  The prices were out of sight.  Loved this little bag-it was $1500!!

For our last night we went to a restaurant in the theater district which Janet and Tony called, "The Secret Place"-Bar Centrale.  It is secret because it is attached to Joe Allen's restaurant next door and it wasn't advertised for years.  There is no name outside on the entrance.  We even ran into Joe on our way out the door.

J and T

We had wonderful lobster/crab rolls

That night we went to see The Book of Mormon at the Eugene O'Neill Theater.  Written by the writers of South Park, it was creative, innovative and entertaining.  I can see why some would consider it controversial.  I wish I could have taken pictures.  It was a great trip-thanks to the city's best tour guides:  Janetski and Toneman!