buckle-up

A view to sunny days ahead Back in August of last year we were involved in a multicar traffic accident. It happened in a work zone where the highway lanes were tight and bounded by concrete safety walls. Unfortunately, when the traffic had cause to slow down, so much so that we had come to a stop, a pickup truck, towing a caravan, then careened into us at 70 mph.  Our Range Rover did its job but sacrificed itself in the process. Giving of itself to save us - Li'l Pumpkin Hand over a check, sign some papers and then, don’t call us, we will call you to let you know when to expect delivery. As for bargaining then no chance; indeed you are lucky to close a deal on a new car without being pressured to pay a market adjustment fee.  Last time I checked, this is America after all. The land of instant gratification! Of being able to walk onto any car dealership’s lot to simply wander along the aisles of parked cars to determine what color you liked best. After which the bargaining pr...

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west And my spirit is crying for leaving… Perhaps it is not a typical opening to an end of year post but as I took this photo of the western sky with the setting sun putting Colorado’s Rockies in sharp relief I couldn’t help but think of those lines from perhaps Led Zeppelins’ most famous song, Stairway to Heaven. Then again many, many, years ago among the gifts left for me under the Christmas tree I could always count on there being a vinyl LP by that group. As I recall, the card was always signed by my daughter, Lisa. Then again, I could be mistaken but all the same, just looking to the west at this time of year as the lights began turning on, it was difficult separating true beauty from the lyrics of that long ago song. Margo and I have come through the year with much that could have put a damper on our spirits. Even now, Margo’s grandson Aiden is hospitalized in Minnesota undergoing what we hope will be a life altering surgery on hi...

  Shattered windscreen; airbags deployed and still visible; not one panel left straight! It was just five weeks ago today, Sunday, when we said farewell to our beloved “L’il Pumpkin.” Yes, our orange Range Rover, two door Evoque convertible, was taken away. We watched it dragged up and onto a tow truck little realizing that we wouldn’t ever see the car again. Being hit in the rear while stationary on a highway, at 65 mph (who knows the g’s that were generated) and pushed into the SUV ahead of us, it wasn’t pretty. Throw in how all four airbags inflated (did you also know that four airbags come up at a replacement cost of approx. $15,000) and the subsequent frame and structural damage, it became a discussion about sorting out who pays what. That part of Interstate 25 (I25) just south of Windsor / Loveland has become essentially a concrete-lined tunnel of destruction. So many accidents over such a short period of time! The state of Colorado is into its fourth year of expansion proje...

Absolutely a dominating performance to take the pole in Nashville How can we start out with anything less than reminiscing over what could have been at the inaugural Indy Car event through the streets of Nashville. Around the carpark of the NFL Titan’s football stadium, across the bridge, around a tight Nashville city triangle and back over the bridge! Margo and I have been following the Indy racing this year and haven’t missed one weekend watching practices, qualification as well as the races themselves. When you have almost-family members as full time Indy racer it brings with it just that added spice of excitement. Following a brief summer hiatus which we think had a lot to do with the Olympics being televised by the same network that covers Indy races, there were back-to-back races in Nashville and Indianapolis. A twisting and unforgiving street course in Nashville followed by a proper road course in Indianapolis. Before we cover the race at Indy, it’s worth revisiting the wee...

  As Sunday night crept over the golf course alongside our home, the falling snow finally abated. On more than one occasion I had stepped outside to first clean snow off the roof of our ragtop Range Rover Evoque as concern mounted that two plus feet of snow might be too much to bear. It was then a case of knocking down the “flow of snow” building up on the entrance to our front door. By “flow of snow” I meant that; the more snow that fell the more the snow began forming what looks like a small waterfall. All around us trees were sagging under the weight and close in to Ft Collins the big cottonwood trees began losing branches onto homes, cars and the sidewalks. Photos soon appeared of snowplows stuck in drifts along with news that the main interstate highway, I25 was closed just north of us all the way to the Wyoming border.   As the news updates late last week informed us all to hunker down for a storm of historic performance, we elected to drive to Ft Collins for a Friday ...