Wednesday 18 September 2013

Football and Jedi Knights...hmmm

Since our Long Weekend up in South Dakota, it's been a really quiet couple of weeks.  We had a Air Force football event organised by CITEL in Colorado Springs on Saturday 7th Sept.  Stuart didn't go as he was parading with the National Guard that weekend,
so Joshuah and I got a lift with Phil and Tanya and their 3 boys,  to the game.  When we arrived the car park was filling up with Cadets....barbecuing, playing frisbee..basically having a good time. There were shade sails and RV's scattered throughout the carpark...a real party feel.
We were advised to get there early to make sure we saw the band warming up...it was a really hot day and no shade and it was going to be a long day.    The band "warmed up" before they went out onto the ground and it was fantastic...they performed for about 40 mins, seemingly oblivious to the people watching them, having the best time with no inhibitions.  Take a look at the video I put together of the band warming up. At one stage they were singing to a girl watching the performance ...Hey Baby!
Airforce band pre football game, Colorado Springs
People were standing around the edge of the tunnel throwing $1 notes, which is part of the tradition.  Here are Sharon and Lindsay ignoring the signs and  throwing 'objects" into the tunnel!!
So to the game...it was really, really, really, really boring.  A game is 4 x 15 min quarters and started at 1.30pm.  At 5pm it finished... 3 1/2 hours later!  What can I say! Tanya, Sharon, Sue and I probably saw about 30 seconds of the game and the rest of the time was spent chatting and watching the clock, that would stop every 6 seconds for about a minute, then would restart and then stop after another 5 seconds of play! It is televised as well, so apart from the normal stoppage of a game, we also stopped for ads on the telly.  It was unbelievable.  And whenever the Airforce team scored a touchdown, about 100 cadets would run down from the stands and do the equivalent amount in pushups!  I enjoy watching most sports, but American football would have to be one of the most boring EVER!  330 million Americans would probably disagree with me..maybe you have to grow up with it.
That evening we all went back to Jane and Bruce's (exchangees from SA) for a BBQ which was really lovely.  The CITEL people are very generous and a great bunch of people and I really enjoy catching up with them...and the Australians!
Stuart managed to get away from the Army which is near Colorado Springs and joined us as well which was great.  On the Sunday he drove back to Fort Carson for his last day with the National Guard..he only managed to do a couple of weekends with them, but I think he would say they were invaluable and he got to meet some great people.  He was also presented with a Certificate  acknowledging his time with them.
On Monday I went to pick Joshuah up from school and saw a Jedi Knight walking down the street.  Seriously...a Jedi Knight.... who looked very much like this, casually walking down the street with his light saber and all!!  Sheesh!
 Friday night we went to Connie and Bill's for a party...Connie worked with Stuart last year (US year) and retired in June.  Stuart really misses her at school and she and Bill have been wonderful to us.  They are a great couple and we have plenty of laughs with them.
This past week has seen flooding in Colorado. Most of it is in the foothills of the mountains and Boulder is a town that has been significantly affected as well as Greeley, which is where Morgan lived for his 6 months here.  These towns are around an hour away from where this house is, and fortunately we had no problems.
However the rain put a dampener on our weekend.  We had planned to go on a bike ride up in the mountains on the Saturday, but due to the weather this was cancelled..our first weekend of no plans since we had been in the US AND our first proper rain since arriving in January. We did go for a few bike rides on trails near the house though...
and on the Sunday, Stu and Josh went to the Museum in Denver,
and at one stage thought they were back home...
until they went to King Soopers (our local grocery store) and saw these displays....all ready for Halloween and a reminder we are definitely in America (oh, and we were also reminded when Joshuah got asked by someone to speak Australian and do we ride kangaroos in Australia!) (oh, and when we were at the Keith Urban concert at Red Rocks, the guy sitting next to Stuart heard Stuart's accent, asked if he was Australian and then asked if he went to the same high school as Keith Urban! Apparently there is only 1 high school in Australia...the one Keith Urban and Stuart Cumming went to!!)
Last night we went to a CITEL meeting for teachers interested in doing an exchange to Australia.  It was one of their biggest turnouts, so hopefully something will come of it and people will make the effort (and it's a big one) to apply and have a great year in Australia.
So a really quiet couple of weeks.  We have nearly every weekend planned now before we leave on December 21st, so it was probably good to have one weekend unplanned.  We are looking forward to getting some snow before we leave...and with Autumn (Fall) approaching it shouldn't be too far away...and we can't wait for the Fall colours which are supposed to be spectacular.


Friday 6 September 2013

Labor Day Long Weekend...Keith Urban, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, birthday and fishing!

First things first....I was desperate to get my hair done after 10 weeks of holidays.  The weather and altitude here makes my hair really dry, wild and out of control, so I was really happy with the result...even if it only lasted less than 24 hours.  Unfortunately I don't have a hairdresser on standby 24 hrs a day to get me these results, so I thought I'd take a photo to hold the memory!
It was Labor Day long weekend last weekend, and we had tickets to see Keith Urban on the Friday night at Red Rocks, with Sharon and Lindsay. I was so excited to be going to a concert at Red Rocks...it is an iconic venue and the biggest bands and musicians in the world all want to play there.  I didn't know much about Keith Urban until he was on Australian TV as a judge on The Voice ( a couple of years ago) and he quickly won me over.  So it was too good to be true that we got tickets to see him....and of course to see an Aussie as well!
We arrived at the car park early and enjoyed dinner and drinks that we'd bought along ourselves, while overlooking Denver.
We sat there for ages, chatting, drinking....and when we decided to go up to the Amphitheatre we discovered our tickets were General Admission and you sat wherever...not the assigned seats that were on the tickets.  The concert was a sellout and we were a bit annoyed as there was no room for the 4 of us to sit together.  Anyway our seats were OK...a long way from the stage, but there is the big screen and we didn't really care...we were just a tad excited to be there!
The view is amazing from up there.  There had been a huge storm an hour earlier...thunder, lightning and rain and the clouds were still around but fortunately no lightning.
As the sun went down, the rock was lit up and it was a sight to see.
What can I say about Keith Urban...what a guy!  He had a great personality, seemed to love what he was doing...it was his first concert at Red Rocks and he was so happy to play there....and he sang beautifully, played brilliant banjo, piano and what a guitarist! He started off by walking out on stage by himself, playing banjo and then his band slowly joined him one by one, playing guitars and then the drums.  It was such an unassuming start to a concert by a very unassuming man.

 I'm not into guitar solo's, but he did a couple and it was amazing! He is a huge name in the States and the crowd were right into it.  It was bloody fantastic and I would thoroughly recommend if you ever get the chance to see him you won't be disappointed.  When he sang John Denver's Rocky Mountain High, the crowd went off, singing along with him.  It was such a nice touch.  Below is a link to a video Stuart made of our night with Keith!
Keith Urban at Red Rocks, August 31, 2013
The next morning we headed off in search of Mt Rushmore.  We didn't get the chance to go there during summer break and it's only 7 hours from Denver, so an easy weekend trip. So we left Colorado and drove into Wyoming...a trip we have done a few times now. Then we crossed the border into South Dakota...

and did a really interesting drive to Custer, where we had booked 2 nights accommodation.  We checked in to the Best Cowboy Inn in Custer and then made our way out to Custer State Park...what a beautiful part of the US.  We had no idea.
We did a recommended wildlife drive and saw some bison in the distance, plenty of deer and prairie dogs galore, returning to Custer around 8pm.
 The next morning Stu and I got up went for a wander around the town of Custer.  We really liked it, especially all the bison.
However, my favourite was this one...he is gorgeous!
There was a car show on as well. Studebaker's....which were lovely old cars....
but without doubt, the highlight was seeing the man himself, General Custer, wandering the streets, looking at the cars!
We wanted to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial, which turned out to be a 10 minute drive from Custer.  On the way there, we stopped at an Antique store to look for number plates..this place had them all and was run by an eccentric guy, with a story for everything.  He had the number plates we wanted but more surprising was the burro that was wandering through his store.  It was like a pet dog!
Crazy Horse Memorial was very, very impressive.  It is grand on a huge scale...ambitious beyond belief. It depicts Crazy Horse, a Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. It was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota warrior to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948.  It is on Thunderhead Mountain, in the Black Hills in Custer County, South Dakota. When completed it will engulf Mt Rushmore in size, but the finished product is a long. long way off!  This is as it is today.
This is what the sculpture is based on, so still plenty of work.
This is my favourite look though...
There was a great Visitor's Centre, gift shop, informative video and dancing.
After nearly 4 hours spent at Crazy Horse, we drove to Mt Rushmore, taking the scenic route through the Needles Highway.  We really were so impressed with the scenery, it is only a small area, but so much to see.
We watched a big tourist bus maneuver it's way through this tiny tunnel...and he was a student driver.  He took a while, but got through.  So much pressure!
 We eventually got to Mt Rushmore....one of those "I can't believe I'm here" moments!
 What do you think?  Presidential enough?
We got there with plenty of time to see the place and some more...and decided to stay around for the light show.  A Ranger gave us an informative talk on the Constitution, then a short movie, the President's were lit up, then he called every US serviceman onto the stage...there were over 100.  He them proceeded to put the microphone to everyone's lips as they called out their name, rank and field.  It is a nice gesture, however we thought it would have been more appropriate for them to stand up in the crowd and be acknowledged like that. 
We were able to condense so much into the short time we had in Custer and the State Park and the next morning (Monday) headed off towards Nebraska, to check it out.  On the way...
It was about 35C (95F), so pretty warm as we crossed over into Nebraska...
 I loved these scenes as we were driving...
When we were organising our Summer break, we went and visited Janice, who is an American who has done 2 exchanges...one to Scotland and one to Australia.  She was a wealth of knowledge in what to see over the holidays and one place she "tongue in cheek" said we should go to if we were in the area was Carhenge.  So I was delighted when I got the map book out to see we were headed straight there! 
Thirty eight cars were placed to assume the same proportions as Stonehenge. Some of the cars are held upright in pits 5 feet deep, boot end down and the cars that form the arches are welded in place and all are covered in grey paint.
It originated as a memorial built by family members after the passing of their father and has now been passed over to the city of Alliance.  I have never been to Stonehenge and probably don't need to now after seeing this!! Bizarre!
Next stop was the Chimney Rock National Historic site, which was hot and windy and DANGEROUS!
Then quite by accident we made our way to Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska.
  It rose up out of the ground as you drove towards it.  The sky was so blue, not a cloud and this rock formation was majestic.
Towering 800 feet above the North Platte River, Scotts Bluff has served as a landmark for people from Native Americans to emigrants on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails.
 We were so glad we "stumbled" upon it. It gave us some small indication of what the travellers went through on their way to California.  Over 250 000 people made their way through here between 1843 and 1869.
The views were lovely..
We left Scotts Bluff and made our way back towards Wyoming....
We crossed into Wyoming, still really hot outside...
and watched the storm clouds brewing....I just love it.  We got hit by a rainstorm that lasted about 1 minute, the temperature dropped by about 20C, drove through it and the temperature went back up to 35C...in the space of a few miles!
We stopped in Cheyenne at our favourite Wrangler store..Stu wanted to get another hat...we love this town!
before crossing back into Colorado and back to Denver.
We have never underestimated the size of Australia...and the US is about the same size.....but can you imagine being able to visit 4 States in one weekend back home?  Australia is vast!!  So another fantastic weekend.  I never get sick of being in the car, seeing all the wonderful places, and embracing it all.  What an amazing experience we are having!
While we were having a great weekend in the States, Morgan was celebrating his 20th birthday.  His is the only birthday we won't be there for, so it was a little sad for me.  I was pregnant with Morgan while we were at Wangkatjungka and he was born in Derby, August 31, 1993, so he's our Kimberley boy.  Fortunately my lovely family had a birthday celebration with him at mum's house in Australind
before he went on a Pub Crawl with Jakeb and friends in Perth. I have seen no photographic evidence of this Pub Crawl, however I wouldnt be surprised if it ended up looking a little like this...Happy Birthday to our gorgeous Morgan!!

 And Kristoffer was also making the most of the good life he has, living in the Kimberley, over this weekend.  He went on a charter fishing boat to the Rowley Shoals, which is 260 kms west of Broome, with a group of school mates from Bunbury, for a week.  By all accounts it was a blast and the fishing was plentiful (catch and release)...beautiful weather and spectacular blue waters.
Mark and his Humphead Maori Wrasse!
Blue spotted coral trout
Trout
Kristoffer with his Yellowfin tuna
GT
Kristoffer then got to go out on a helicopter to help fix a generator on a boat near Kuri Bay, 370km north of Broome....and was treated to this stunning landscape....the Kimberley coastline. Far, far removed from anything we have seen here.
Life is good.