Drive #1, Thursday Morning, was all south from my house to the cabin, 91 miles, 2 hours 21 minutes, because as you see above, it's almost entirely mountain driving through those thick forests.
I made it to the cabin by 9:15 .
If you go by the Google aerial, it doesn't look like much yellow
(The cabin is the green roof at the top of that red arrow.)
BUT, on the ground, it's a different story.
Mom and Dad have a number of goldens aspens already!
We tromped around to get the memory cards from one of the wildlife cameras.
I'd hauled a double mattress and topper and covers up to keep here (better than the air mattress!) Next weekend: the bed springs on the top of the car.
lunch!
After lunch, we spent the afternoon driving around nearby to see what color we could find.
Mapping the route after the fact:
The clouds after dinner (cream of mushroom soup!) scuttled any astral photography, so I turned in early and got up to try at 3:30 in the morning after it had cleared.
aliens!
a group of Stellar Jays have discovered the bird feeders. Dad had filled them up when they arrived and had to refill both Saturday morning
After breakfast before we hit the road, I roamed around a bit.
We set out before 8 (after buttermilk pancakes made from scratch!) on our full-day Aspen drive. The 5 hour and 19 minute map is assuming no stops.
All told, we were back after 8 hours.
this evening worked out much better, with only a few clouds out west for the sunset
The rest of the sky was crystal clear and amazing
Saturday morning scenes
When Dad and I went down to refill the feeders, which inevitably leave lots of seed on the ground, we had an audience. The family of chipmunks that lives in the rocks near the cabin was very excited on the hill above.
loading up, you can tell you're in the country when the border collies sport dirt spots!
the road back home
