Part Twelve

“Just another day in Paradise”

Our TV transmitter guy at News 8, Al the K (Super K to me) loves to use that phrase when everything is just ducky at the stations. Well, today was a just that ducky, including duck weather. More on that in a moment.

Day Twelve begins with a thank you to an old family friend, Cheryl-Ann, originally from Wethersfield, Connecticut; a transplant from Boston and a permanent resident of Littleton, Colorado. Cheryl has an older sister, Lynn-Ann, who resides in Boca Raton, Florida and their folks, Carmen and Joan, are back at the old homestead in Wethersfield. 

Joan and Carmen, known as Aunt Joan and Uncle Carmen to my family, are my folks’ best friends from back in the 1950s. They met through the Mountain Laurel Ski Club out of Hartford. Needless to say, Joan and Carmen have a part of the family for as long as I have been alive. They and my folks took many cruises around the world and had the best of times.  And they recently celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary.  Once my Mom started to get ill, the times of meeting up on a Saturday night sadly came to an end. Mom’s passing was quite a shock to them but they still have fond memories of those wonderful trip. 

Getting back to Cheryl-Ann, she works for the insurance industry in Denver. She is married to her husband Michael and they have a beautiful, 9-year old adopted daughter from Kazakhstan named Nadia. Cheryl actually spent 2 months in Kazakhstan when Nadia was less than a year old. She is a somewhat shy young lady, loves school and loves to ride horses. According to her mother, she is quite the equestrian. 

Baked whole chicken was on the menu for dinner and Cheryl and I got caught up with families’ lives. I did ado at 8pm last night with a promise to keep in touch and a visit in 2016.

When I got back to the hotel last night, Blogspot was not cooperating with my blog. Don’t know what it was but at least I am now backing on track, so to speak.

The morning begins with breakfast at Denny’s near downtown Denver with a ham radio buddy, Terry, N0PQV, and his wife Terri. Terry’s Dodge Caravan looks like something attacked it considering all of the antennas on the beast:

And as you can see by this picture, he is a unique individual:

Two years ago, it was a sombrero. This year, something along the line of the Mad Hatter.  To quote Bill Cosby, Terry is not paling with a full deck: all of the 5’s and 9’s are missing. Still, we had some great conversation and I got myself one delicious French toast breakfast. 

After saying our goodbyes, it was off to a site that Mother Nature kept me from 2 years ago: the Union Pacific Railroad’s Moffat Tunnel in Winter Park, Colorado.  The course laid out in front of me to get there was like driving at Lemans.  Once on Interstate 70, you are doing this uphill then downhill with sharp left and right hands turns…..all the 70 mph. 

At one about 10 miles west of Denver, you see this very vertical wall in front of you and a sharp yet fast left hand turn to miss it. Some miles later, you run into the Tunnel at Idaho Springs. The original westbound bore is getting a new road-to-ceiling-to-road concrete encasement so traffic for now goes through the original eastbound bore. So what happens to the eastbound traffic? Well, stay tuned.

Upon my arrival at Empire, Colorado, I now begin my 26 mile trek to Winter Park. If you love the challenge of a very hilly, curvy and don’t-look-over-the-edge type of excitement, then U.S. Route 40 is the place to be. 

Are you reading along, Bryan Irolla??!!

This road put the Vel-Ster thru its paces in trying to get up the grades at speed and to keep the speed in check going down the grades. And when I arrived at the rest station at Berthoud Pass, there was snow on the ground. 

And I drove further north, this snow became plowable and adding to it a good coating of sand for traction. 

Upon arriving at Winter park, I didn’t quite set Google maps correctly and the next thing I know I literally passed over Moffat tunnel’s west portal. I turn around and entire Winter Park Resort. 

 

The next thing I know, I am going some areas in the resort where I don’t think I am supposed to be. But then, I finally find the west portal and maybe a handful of railfans, and there ain’t that many parking spaces as I am now in the middle of the parking lot. 

Next thing I know, I look up and I see the familiar triangle headlight pattern. Out of the tunnel roars Amtrak train number 5, the westbound California Zephyr: two P42 locomotives, a baggage car, and a dozen Viewliner coach, dining and sleeper cars, running about an hour and half late. So much for perfect timing. But at least I did get to the west portal AND see a train come out if it. Next time in 2016, it’s a visit to the eastern portal west of Rollinsville, Colorado. Definitely!!

After going to downtown Winter Park to grab some lunch, it on back east to Denver and my next stop, this of the FM/TV broadcast variety.

The place is known as Lookout Mountain in Golden Colorado. Just about all of the FM and TV stations that serve the greater Denver metropolitan are reside on this mountain. And the views are something. And Lookout Mountain Road is quite popular with anyone who owns a 10-speed or mountain bicycle. 

And a beautiful view of Denver 30 miles to the east:

Soon after, I now am on a mission: a place to debunk and write. Again, I consult Google Maps on my iPad and we are on our way to Parker, Colorado and the Douglas County Libraries at Parker. 

As you can see, I have a lovely desk in the back of the library complete with electrical outlets for charging my iPad which is running on fumes.  A donation to this fine establishment will be in the mail when I get back. Nice place, eh Caty??

 And a finishing touch from broadcasting: the transmitter site in Parker of AM 850 KOA in Denver. 

Soon it is 5pm and I am on my way to Elizabeth, Colorado to visit my ham radio friend Nate, WY0X, his wife Jean, KC0KTI and their 3-year old dog Dino.  A steak barbeque was for dinner and we got caught up on our lives. And there is one thing happening that reminds me of my hometown airport: DIA, Denver International Airport, has departures going south over Nate’s house. A touch of home, How lovely.

Thursday  morning will be busy. A trip to Greeley, Colorado to see my fellow broadcaster Wendy Wham at KUNC and Michelle at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum with a meet-up with some folks from PBS. By dinnertime, we will be back in Nebraska at Sidney as we begin the stretch back to Omaha and home.

I'm Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Elizabeth, Colorado.