Trim a Tree

Nope, I'm not putting up my Christmas tree. I was helping the Mister trim some oak trees that were hanging over the RV driveway. You can kinda tell from this pic:

Before we could leave on our next RV adventure, 

the branches really needed to come down.

So....the Mister brought over the truck tree trimming platform. 

He tied a wrench weight on the end of a rope to

toss over a particularly high limb. 

That didn't exactly work so well.

Next, he tried using the chain saw and pole to drape

the wrench and rope over the branch. 

That didn't exactly work so well either! 

Hmmm...now what?

He laughingly (I think) suggested that I climb the tree. 

Nope. Not going there!

But...I suggested, what about the swimming pool extendable cleaning brush?

It worked swimmingly!

The Mister used 'come alongs' to put some weight on the branch

to bring in lower, and to pull it away from the truck. 

Then, before I could even get my phone up to take a picture,

he cut the branch!

I asked if he could put it back so I could get the photo.

That only resulted in some sort of dirty look!

We lowered it on the rope and cut it into 

manageable pieces. 

There were a few more branches that

the Mister tackled.

And...there was a "do as I say, not as I do"

moment in cutting a few other branches. 

(apologies for the lousy sun lit shot...

the sun had moved as we worked, and didn't provide

very good lighting for this pic.)

But, as we backed out of the drive in the morning,

you might be able to tell that we had clear sailing!

Highway to Heaven

OK. So, I know you can't drive to Heaven, but driving through the Colorado mountains, and taking Trail Ridge Road (Rocky Mountain National Park), the highest paved road in any National Park, is just about as close as you can get. The road crests at 12,183 feet above sea level, and as one of my best friends said, "There is a postcard around every corner!"

Come along on the ride we Dreamers enjoyed for the 4th of July:

Over the first range of hills as we head west on I-70,
out of Golden, CO

I've always loved this corner as we squeeze around the mountain 

near Idaho Springs, CO. Still on I-70

Heading up. Wow, it looks like a long-ago avalanche plowed down the 

pines and cleared the way for a stand of Aspen to spring up. 

A bowl forming above the tree line.

It looks like a mining operation, but at this elevation, I don't think so!

We are winding our way up.

What a view. 

Another corner. Another postcard.

See the rays? We must be getting closer to Heaven!

A panoramic view near the top

I loved driving through this cut in the rocks.

Mr. Dreamy wondered why they didn't route the road over the top!

This looks like a simple hilltop. It isn't. It's over 11,000 feet in elevation.

The first thing to realize is that trees can't grow here. Other things don't grow well.

The grass is only about 4 inches high, if that. It doesn't grow much more. 

It doesn't grow fast. The biome is very fragile. 

But what is really cool about this picture is....

look closely. Zoom in. There is a herd of mama elk and babies!

Mr. Dreamy was sad that the 15'-20' snow banks near the top of

the road had melted since the road was opened over Memorial Day.

We saw a lot of people stopping to play in the snow.

They are probably living in Florida!

Just a pretty shot of some of the wild flowers we saw. 

There were a number of small waterfalls alone the way. 

This is a shot of my Minnie, enjoying the mountains!

I recently purchased a Mini Cooper. A dear friend sent us

a Minnie Mouse antenna bobber to dress up my car!

We stopped at the SE side of the park for a picnic lunch before

heading home. Storms were brewing over the peaks we had just driven.

This was our route.

I had no idea we were driving for over 5 hours....

until I stepped out of the car!

The Italian Job

I went on a "drive" with the Mini5280 club. We met in a commuter parking lot on a Saturday. 33 Mini Coopers. Different colors. Different styles. Each car as unique as its owner.

My car is the fourth in line. I'm wearing a red "Mini" hat.

I am in awe of the President of the club. He was a mountain bicycler until he had a bike accident that left him a quadriplegic. He met another wheel-chair bound fellow who drove a Mini, and discovered that driving a Mini brings back some of the excitement of riding a mountain bike. (He has some use of his arms and can drive a car outfitted with hand controls.) The President plans weekly drives. Each one as unique as the Minis that are in the line-up.

Recently, the drive wound through the front range of Colorado. 

We followed each other on some fun, twisty-turny roads. 

We drove for about two hours, then descended on a local Sonic for lunch. It was the perfect day. Sunny and not too hot. More Minis joined us and we began the trek to the new Schomp Mini dealer in Highlands Ranch, CO.

There is nothing "Mini" about this dealership. It has the largest building of any dealer in the US.

I'm there.... somewhere!

The club was given an exclusive tour of the new building a few days before it opened for business.

According to our tour guide, these hoses dispense everything, including ketchup!

The highlight of the tour was our "drive through" tour. By this time we had collected 68 Minis, and we drove through the parking areas, drove into the service writer's area, then turned and drove through the service department at the dealership. It certainly was reminiscent of the movie, "The Italian Job"... well, sort of. At our fastest, we were only going 10 mph... not racing through, and we didn't go down stairs... and we didn't go up and over viaducts. Regardless, we had a great time!

I couldn't find a way to embed the video that was produced (using a drone camera). If you are interested, you can copy and paste this URL to see our drive:

https://www.facebook.com/SchompMINIColorado/videos/1058791204204796/