While I'll soon be posting my "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" term paper, I felt it a bit more appropriate to jump to the past 36 hours. So, here goes:
You may have already seen the videos of myself and Phoenix9 visiting Estes Park a few weeks ago and riding to 12,090 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park. I enjoyed that part of the country so much, I decided to go back (via Southwest Airlines) and this time I headed to Boulder, Colorado.
I had stopped and spent a day in Boulder after leaving Estes Park and something told me I needed more than a day there. So three weeks later, I'm back in Boulder, CO.
I stayed in one of the nicest hotels I've ever had the pleasure of visiting, The St. Julien, that overlooks the Flatrock and the Fourmile Canyon areas of the Rockies.
The view from the room's balcony was nothing short of breathtaking:
I arrived in Boulder on Thursday September 2nd and yesterday (September 6th) I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Canyon area overlooking Boulder. This picture (below) was taken around 10:15am Monday, September 6th.
On the way down the mountain, we stopped for a late breakfast and when leaving the restaurant, this is what we saw coming from just above the Canyon view we just left.
From the News Reports, around 10:30am, the fire was started by a vehicle hitting a propane tank. Evidently it had started as we were descending the mountain.
When I got back to the hotel, the fire had spread:
As the day went on, due to the high winds, the fire spread quickly and the air was filled with smoke.
The Police had blocked the entrance to the Canyon and had started the evacuation of those in the potential path.
The winds were high and air support could not be brought in until dusk when the winds subsided.
As the winds slowed on Monday evening, the smoke started heading into the Downtown Boulder area where I was staying. I don't have the words to describe the thick smell of smoke. Even now, 24 hours later, and 2,000 miles away, I can still smell the smoke on my clothes and my luggage.
By dawn Tuesday, the fires were still spreading and the smoke was a thick fog in the downtown area.
I drove to Denver and flew out Tuesday morning. At that time, 3,000 acres had burned. By the time I arrived back in Florida, that number had spread to more than 7,000 acres and 92 structures had been destroyed.
I've traveled to many cities across the USA and Boulder is a city like no else. It's known as a "Green" city and is very bicycle friendly. It also embraces motorcycle riders.
Even those who ride Victory Motorcycles.
I didn't meet the owner of this Vision, but I hope you know that we're thinking of you.
