POSTCARDS FROM COLORADO JUNE 17, 2005

Note: Click Here for a Photo Gallery of Eileen's Photos in Colorado.

What a difference a day makes! No place to wake up at 4 or 5 a.m., ungodly hours, for sure. No place to rush off too and then wait untold hours because the trains are late and off schedule. No bleating people talking, no shouting cell phone talkers (these people ought to be taken out of a building and forced to talk outside), no screaming, yelling, running kids. It was a QUIET, restful night's sleep here at the Canyon Motel. It was cool without being cold (there's no air conditioning in this room, although there is a great big fan that moves air wonderfully, instead). We crashed into bed at 10 p.m., last night and didn't awake until 7:30 a.m. this morning. I feel almost human after two stressful days of travel. Wow. And then, we walked over to the Phillips 66 gas station where a woman makes a mean mocha latte and Dave got the Denver Post newspaper. We both go something we wanted!

The day is coolish, in the 60's, blue sky and bright, blinding sunshine. And it's QUIET. By now, you can tell we value QUIET over just about anything else. I'm convinced I'm really a recluse or a hermit in disguise. But hey, with a Moon in Pisces (both Dave and I have that), quiet is a natural way to be. Our home is quiet. We live out in the middle of nowhere, on Oak Creek, surrounded by national forest, and it is quiet except for the non-intrusive sounds of nature. So, this morning, sitting here on a round glass table supported by black wrought iron legs, sipping my mocha latte, and hearing birds chirping, makes me smile and continues to shed the tension I was carrying.

At 11 a.m. today, we leave Hot Sulphur Springs and wind our way north to Steamboat Springs up route 49. Our timeshare is at Hillside but we can't check in until 4 p.m. today, so we will be stopping along the way in our Honda Accord with 87,000 miles on it, and shooting wildflowers as we see them along the roadside. Not a bad venue and itinerary for a day, is it?

From the Springs, we had about 70 miles of road. And I intended to take every possible opportunity to shoot wildflowers along the way. It was 80 degrees Fahrenheit (F), hot and sunny out as we left the Grill in Hot Sulphur Springs about noontime. There was a canyon with magnificent granite cliffs surrounding us and I found some blue or purple Lupine to shoot. The Colorado River snaked along parallel to our two-lane asphalt road. I also stopped to get the yellow flowered Cinquefoil bushes, pink and white Evening Primrose hanging off the dry, sandy slopes, the short, scrubbing orange Globemallow and several types of Penstamon--among them Rocky Mountain Penstamon, a hardy light purple color, another type of dark purple Penstamon I couldn't identify and then a short, scrubbing purple Penstamon that crawled along the hot sand beneath the shade of the ever present sagebrush.

About half an hour later, and before we got to Kremmling, I had to pee. So, we found a dirt road that over looked the Colorado River and pulled off. I was busy finding my ever present Kleenex tissue in my shirt pocket as I squatted down below the hill facing the river and Dave was down wind of me with the Nikon looking for something to photograph. Just as I pulled my pants down, and was slowly skidding down on the sand between two thick sagebrush, I saw a huge, brown object down at the river, about 300 feet below me. I frowned, pulled down my pants and squatted. I wanted to make sure no one from the road could see my white behind. I focused my attention back on the huge, brown four-legged animal that was leaving a meadow of willowsfor the river.

My mouth dropped open. OH, my gawd! It was a MOOSE! 300 feet from me! And my hiking boots with their thick tread were stopping me from literally sliding down the steep slope of sand I was squatting on.

Holy cow! It was a female moose!! She was HUGE! All legs and a brown bulk of 2000 pounds of flesh combined with muscle. She moved gingerly into the river. I turned, trying to keep my balance and not pitch over or start sliding down off the vertical clime.

"Dave!!!!" I whispered. "DAVE! Dammit, come HERE! NOW!" I was trying to whisper quietly because it was a wild animal and if it heard me screeching, the moose would have run off. As it was, Dave turned toward me, camera in hand, and the moose lifted her muzzle and looked directly up at me squatting on the opposite sandy vertical slope with a wad of Kleenex in my hand.

Dave started talking as he worked his way through the sagebrush toward me.

"Be QUIET!" I hissed. I didn't want to scare the moose but I sure as hell wanted a good, clean shot of her down at the river. My Nikon D70 could give me a photo of a lifetime. Dave was frowning as he slid down the clime toward me.

"Why do you want the camera NOW?" he asked, puzzled "There's a MOOSE down there!" I hissed, grabbing the camera from him. At that moment, my hiking boots lost their grip. I began to slide south, down toward the river.

"Shit!"

I grabbed at a passing sagebrush with my one, free hand. The Kleenex tore out of it. My slide slowed. I grabbed another sage. I couldn't stand up or the people on the highway driving by would see my big, white butt. I had to stay hunkered down in a squatting position, camera in one hand, sagebrush in the other.

Finally, my slide stopped.

At that point, Dave SAW the moose.

"Look, Eileen! Look!"

"SHHHHH!!!!" I hissed at him.

Quickly, with my tread biting into the slippery sand, my slide south momentarily halted, I got my Nikon D70 into the action. I whipped off the lens cap, turned it on and took five photos of the moose as she walked upstream from us.

Dave slid down the hill to get the camera so I could give thesagebrush some water. He went galumphing across the top of the hill trying to spy the moose down below as she winded between the statelycottonwood trees that lined both sides of the river.

After doing my business and managing to take a sideswipe at the sagebrush who had stolen my Kleenex, I finally was able to crouch and pull up my pants and then straighten up and button them.

Dave didn't get any more shots of the moose. But I had. What a luckyfind!! So, our day started off with Moose medicine. I considered that a good sign!

As we drove ever upward toward Rabbit Ears Pass at 9900 feet, we spotted a marshy meadow. We stopped and luckily, the barbed wire gate was down so I crossed it and went in. I didn't know what the spiky purple flower that flowed in carpet-like profusion across the dark, nubby green expanse, but I was excited. This meadow was like a treasure chest opened up to me. They were "elephant ear" flowers--very rare and hard to find. I was down on my knees, getting my Rail Riders dirty (best environmental nylon jeans in the world--I've worn them around the world and they are tough as nails... http://www.railriders.com). I also spotted, much to my disbelief and shock: Shooting Stars!! WOW! They are a very rare flower and I was knocked over by how many were in this meadow.

There were wild Iris all over the place--light purple with white and black and yellow on their petals. I found yellow buttercups and a yellow flower from the Pea Family, as well. I shot so many Shooting Stars--I was like an addict in that meadow. So many rare flowers sought for so many years were suddenly all here--in one meadow. Mygawd... I was in Heaven...

At the top of Rabbit Ears Pass we stopped and I shot magenta Geraniums, Elderberry blooms, Shooting Rockets (red flowers) and some others I couldn't identify but will, later.

The valley that Steamboat Springs is in, is beautiful, lush, green and surrounded by the white shouldered Rocky Mountains. And it was 84 degrees F, I was frazzled by the heat and the climbs up slopes I had to make to get these great shots of wildflowers in their own unique environments.

We found the Celebrity Resorts just on the south end of Steamboat Springs. The lobby was 89 degrees and I was dying. Don't these people know about air conditioning... I was beet red with heat. I left Arizona (AZ) to get some cool weather but boy, oh boy, it wasn't HERE today--nor will it be for the rest of the week!

After check in, we have a lovely 580 square foot apartment with a full kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms and a huge bedroom. We finally unpacked and said: life is good.

We then went to eat--and drove into downtown Steamboat Springs, with no clue as to where we would land. We parked and walked. There were lots of places but none felt good to me. Finally, on the last city block before we left downtown, on the left, was Harwig's Restaurant.

It felt GOOD to me. I told Dave, "Let's go in and check it out."

The first clue it was good was that it had air conditioning and the coolness was delicious. The second clue was that the bartender was pouring wine at the bar to four patrons. This was a 'wine' place--so that was a thumb's up to me. I told Dave, "Come on, let's go eat."

The woman sat us at a white linen table in front of a stained glass window--lovely. No one else was in there at 5 p.m. except for very happy and inebriated patrons at the bar in the other room. The waiter was friendly. In fact, we had 3 waiters. I told our main waiter after looking at the extensive and impressive wine menu, that I wanted to know if they had King Estates Pinot Gris 2003 from Oregon. He said he'd get their sommelier, Michael Lang, to come and help me.

Mike was a lean, friendly and warm young man of about 30 to 35 years old. I told him that when I'd been in St. Louis for the Romantic Times Convention in late March, that I'd had the most incredible Pinot Gris I'd ever tasted over at the Adams Mark Hotel. And I wondered if he had it on his menu?

He said no, but, that Ponzi Pinot Gris 2004, a Willamette Valley Oregon vineyard, had a comparable Pinot Gris I might like. I said, "Does it taste like flowers in your mouth and have body?" He smiled and said, yes, he thought it did. I ordered a bottle based upon his recommendation.

Well! That started a delightful night with the sommelier! We started talking about wines--me the ignorant one--I only know what I like... and I found out he's traveled all through Europe and been Harwig's sommelier for 12 years. He had such a depth/breadth of wine knowledge and he delivered it in SUCH a delightful, storytelling manner, that I thought: Hey, this guy can write a book to help all of us wine fumblers who need to know what he knows so we can choose wine we like!

I told Mike later, that he should write a book. "As a matter of fact," I went on with great confidence, "I already have a title foryour book: "The Wine Doctor."

He looked at me and wasn't sure I was joking with him or I was serious. I told him I was a best selling writer with over ninety books published and 25 years in the business and I knew what I was talking about. He said he'd always wanted to write a book. I said: "Well, do it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I'm here and I'm telling you that you're a great story teller, you have the knowledge and you're not arrogant and looking down on us wine peons who know next to nothing about what we're drinking. We NEED your knowledge."

For example, I told Mike the Pinot Gris I loved from King Estates had 'body'. He said, the word was "weight."

I said, "Well, there you go. You just taught me something I needed to know. You can teach us how to translate and speak wine so we know what we're asking for."

He grinned. He had to run off to other customers, but later, just before our food arrived, he invited us to come down to Harwig's wine cellar. We leaped at the chance.

It was incredible! Picture this: the ENTIRE ceiling was composed of nothing but wine corks--real cork--and it was a delightful texture. The walls (sides) were filled with a stock of roughly, 500 bottles of wine from around the world, set on their sides in oak wood. In the center of the room was one long banquet table with flower fabric chairs around it. He said once a month he and the chef, Barney, got together and figured out a menu with a wine with each course and people would then sign up for a 3 hour European style meal. Gawd, how I wished I lived here to take advantage of that!!! Mike is such a great teacher (he graduated with a degree in English!) that I'd love to learn from this young man and his incredible wine knowledge plus the provenance (stories) behind the bottle of wine they werepresenting with each, specific course.

Our food came and up the stairs we went. Dave got aged angus beef--New York cut with Béarnaise sauce and oh, geeze, it was so tender and the sauce--well, you wanted to just rub your face in it--it was sooooooo good.

I had Harwig's salad which had blue cheese, pecans, European greens with a balsamic (aged) vinaigrette. Yum.

Then, Mike came back and I again told him that he needed to write for all of us peons who loved wine but were afraid to embarrass ourselves by asking dumb questions--and that book would fill that void. I also told him that I thought he should give chapters on vineyards in each state in the U.S. to help our small vintners who might produce 500 to 1000 bottles a year, get introduced to American wine lovers.

By the time we left, Mike was called The Wine Doctor. He loved the title. And I know he's thinking about it. I'm going to email my agent, Ethan, and ask if he handles that type of book or not. If he does, then I'll let Mike know and he'll have to have a bio, table of contents and the first 3 chapters on The Wine Doctor sent to him for review. If he doesn't, then Ethan will know who does handle such a book.

I'm so excited! Oh, Harwig's has a Thai night on Monday night. Mike begged us to come back--he said its Thai food like no other--so we made a reservation. He said the German Sauterne (white) wines are served and really bring out the robust herbs used in Thai cuisine. I can hardly wait!

By the way, to check out Harwig's, go to: http://www.lapogee.com That Moose showing up today was a harbinger of lots of emotional goodies. And oh, yes, I still have half a bottle of my Ponzi Pinot Gris 2004 in my fridge tonight--trust me--it will be drank... and oh, my, it equals King Estates Pinot Gris 2003. Whatta day!

Warmly,
Eileen

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