Colorado adventure 2

Howdy Bloggers.
Little Fox here.  I made it to our first stop in Colorado.  This fox is staying with friends in Carbondale, Colorado.  One of the day trips we took was up the road to Redstone Colorado.  Redstone was a company town.  It was a model company town.  The owner of the mine treated his employees very well.  Excellent food.  Schools for the kids.  Safe(r) working conditions in the mines.  Recreation for the miners after work.

Redstone was established for coal mining.  So why am I in front of a marble statue?  Well, there is a town called Marble Colorado a few miles up the road.  Marble has a pretty important quarry for US based stuffies.  The marble used in the Lincoln Memorial and the tomb of the unknown solider came from Marble, Colorado. 

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A store that advertises ice cream. I think I should explore this place for sure. 

Sigh. No ice cream but I did see this cool antique store.

I really like this "Big Boy" statue.....that is until I saw that they wanted $859.00 for it.  Whew, this fox doesn't carry that kind of cash around.

I did meet a nice goat family.

Redstone was known for the coal mines.  These are coke ovens (and during the height of mining they had oven 200 coke ovens).  These are used to refine the coal (I assume).  The steel was stripped from the ovens during World War II for the army. 

 These ovens are very unique.  There are only a few ovens like this left in the West.  Redstone is one of the few places you can still see these ovens.

A little walk along the river led me to the Redstone Inn. 

 The Redstone Inn is a fancy hotel but it was actually built as a dormitory for the single miners in Redstone, Colorado. I hope they have a restaurant. I'm hungry.

They do have a restaurant but I have to wait a few minutes while they get a table for me and my gang.  Perhaps I have time to learn how to place chess? 

Colorado here I come

Hello Blog World,
Little Fox here.  I am back on the road, this time I am off to Colorado.  Ajdin went there a few weeks ago and it looked like an amazing place so I thought I would road trip out there.

Day 1: Drive from Portland to Boise. 
Drunk Fox has done that drive many times in his wanderings and he recommended a place in Pendleton, Oregon for lunch.

I didn't stop there even after Drunk Fox suggested it.  

A little later I arrived in Boise.  I got settled for the night and went out for dinner.  I figured I needed a drink and this beer is from Bear Island Brewing which only seems like a stuffy friendly establishment.

Yep, that beer pretty much put me out for the night.  Off to bed.

My roommate scored a great parking spot near the Idaho Capital Building.  It's about 6:30am and the capital isn't open yet but the grounds are in great shape.

Still early and time for breakfast.  This is the District Coffee House.  A coffee shop in downtown Boise that donates all of it's profit to an orphanage in India.  Seems like a good place to check out.

A nice big coffee and a warm breakfast sandwich.  Yum. 

Today I am doing a volksmarch of Boise.  It's basically a walking tour of downtown.  Volksmarching is beary popular in Germany (where it began) and some cities have awesome Volksmarch clubs and others not-so-much.

The first stop is at a local park.  It's actually a really big park along the Boise River.  Boise State University is on one side of the river and this big park is on the other side. I am enjoying the fragrant roses of the rose garden. 

No walking tour of Boise would be complete without going to the Basque District.  Don't quote me but Boise has one of the largest Basque communities in the United States. 

The district is beary nice.  Good looking restaurants and a Basque themed inn. 

Lots of history in Boise.  

The Methodist and Catholic Cathedrals are right next to each other in downtown Boise. This here is the Catholic Catherdral. They are working on the outside but it's a stately looking building. 

Speaking of stately the capital building is now open.

I thought the outside was nice but the inside is really really really nice.  It's pretty empty today as the legislature is not in session so that gives me a chance to explore.

A glacier adventure!

So much hiking.  Sigh, where should this fox go?  Perhaps I should ask some locals for an idea.  This bear who is patiently holding a fish told me to check out Danny On Trail in the Flathead National Forest.  I'm not 100% sure so I decided to ask for a second opinion from this mountain goat.  Yep, they both suggested Danny On Trail.

Let's go.  The trail looks nice.  Lot's of beargrass along the way.

Getting closer to the top of the mountain.  The bear I talked to said that there is a visitors center and restaurant.  Sounds like a great place for lunch. 

Made it to the top and it does look like a restaurant. 

This is a great shot.  All the places I visited this week.

Great views from the top.  Time for lunch.

Ahhhhh, it was nice to relax with a nice soda while I wait for my lunch.  Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.  

Hiking and traveling  is hard work.  Luckily I know how to relax.  These beers should hold me over till dinner. 

Mail from Jerry and Ben.

Happy Sunday.

Lightning, Big Bear and Odie and I were just hanging out this Sunday afternoon.  I was telling them about my winning photo for Jerry and Ben's Halloween contest while they listened intently. 

 As the Odie and  I are talking my roommates bring a letter to me.   Odie was intrigued since the letter was already opened.

Odie thinks that there must be something up with this opened letter that is arriving on a day that no mail is delivered, but we are going to have to live with the mystery as Sherlock Sandy is already working on something for the ministry of puzzles. 

Let's see what this card is all about.  Oh.  A card from Minnesota eh.    It's from Jerry and Ben.  They congratulated me on my entry to the Halloween contest and awarded me with my own Starbucks card!  Thanks guys.

Now that there has been a new category involved in the contest, blatant bribing of the judges, I need to consult some cookbooks to see what kind of treat I can make next year to send to Jerry and Ben along with my entry.    This dessert looks perfect and it serves two!  

Thanks Jerry and Ben for another great contest this year!

A non hiking adventure in Glacier.

Hiya Gang,

Last night I was enjoying some wine last night and decided that I needed to broaden my adventure at Glacier.

I decided to spend some time exploring Lake McDonald Lodge on Lake McDonald in Glacier.

Lot's of stuff to do at the lodge.  Looks like I can take a bus tour.  

Inside, the hotel has a great lobby.  

It's dark inside but you can see some cool lampshades from the the hotel was built in the 1920s by the Great Northern Railway Company to draw tourists to Glacier.  It was a good idea, it worked very well.  Last year 2.9 million people visited Glacier National Park.

You can see that I really liked these lampshades.

It was dark inside but outside it was beary nice.  Oh, is that a boat?  I wonder if they offer cruises for stuffies. 

Looks like they do.  I will have to wait for a stuffy friendly cruise but the views look worth it. 

 Lfox on board.  Let's go.

 Beautiful day for a cruise.  Look at the seat on the boat I got.

 The view from the front of the boat is amazing.  Oh my, the view from the back is great too.

Coming into dock.

I am on dry land and decided to wander around.  I saw a cool totem pole outfront of the hotel.

A great picture of the bear on this totem.  Sadly no fox totem. 

Wandering around the hotel and enjoying the flowers.

Ah, time for a rest. This rocking chair looks comfy.  I wonder if they would deliver some lunch to me out here.