Chapter close, new door opened. Finished 8 consecutive weeks of marathoning yesterday in Mississippi. Today at 10,300ft, ANTARCTICA training begins. YES! #luckyinlife
Post-midnite arrival in a rare Colorado ice storm. Sleeping in; can’t pick up Ro before 10am from his Fall kennel home. Surprise awaits when Papa shows – HIKE day! ‘though Denver suffered a quarter-inch ice, heavy SNOW high-elevation & SUNSHINE forecast’d Sunday. FAAANNNNTASTIC!
Sunday pup pick-up, day destination: Brainard Lake.
Local altitude, short 45 minute drive. Boulder Canyon to Nederland, chose Peak-to-Peak highway. Better to avoid Ward in winter season. Only one road climbs thru town – UP.
No drama arrival. Road plowed, parking secured. Lot FULL with shoers & Nordic lovers. Lodgepole pine. Precip base thigh-deep. Thin air. Welcome home soldier, marathon season over.
5 miles roundtrip today. Ever see a dog SMILE? Off-leash heaven. Heavy snow kept Pup trail-contained. Sunk to his neck early on chipmunk patrol, stayed close day remainder. LOL>
Backpack light, training day ONE. Need to manage 75lbs comfortably by mid-January. Paced slower than goal too – but my head, out there/up there SOULFUL.
LOVE LOVE my Colorado life. Heart SOAR ❤️
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- shoers & Nordic skis
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- off-leash HEAVEN
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- heart SOAR
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- wind whipping COLD
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- ANTARCTICA training
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- FROZEN ❄️
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- Sno Ro
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- 10,000ft SMILE
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- happy PUP
Brainard Lake 2018
Haggis & Chips
50/50 mix of guys sporting their family tartans. Might have been outnumbered today. Whole lotta man skirts. Folk music, Highland dance, Scottish sports & FOOD.
Walked thru the crowded Clan tent, to find out EVERYONE is Scottish this day. 23andme must have missed my Highland ancestry. Guy opened his secret Harry Potter Book of Tartans & revealed I am Family Dundee. Good to be Scot – if only a day 🙂
Mesmerized, stood/gawked watching two of the Games’ early sporting events. Stone throw & Sheaf toss (hay bale pitch). BIG guys; BIG guys in kilts.
FOOD. Bellied a plate of traditional haggis & Chips then jockeyed for a seat in Estes Park’s Fairgrounds arena. Opening Ceremonies.
Family Clan march, multiple troops of bagpipers, festival Speeches & a military flyover.
Day’s WOW moment. Military trumpet, first line of ‘Amazing Grace’. Moments later its single voice accompanied by tens of bagpipes. Backdrop: our Colorado Rockies. Magic. Found myself holding my breath. Life imprint, moment memorized.
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- Opening Ceremony
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- hundreds of bagpipers
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- Scot for a day: Clan Dundee
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- festival FOOD ❤️
Festival & Highland Games
Opening Ceremonies
Amazing Grace
Estes Park, Colorado
Who doesn’t love a parade? Friend invited [me] to tag along Saturday.
Scottish Highland Festival? ABSOLUTELY.
Neighbor Larry arrived in native Scot regalia. You think you know a guy. Man skirt?
Estes Park Fairgrounds, festival gates open at 11. PARADE MARCH down Elkhorn an hour-half earlier. Closest I personally come to being Scottish: wearing PLAID the next THREE seasons. Probably more BRAWNY MAN than BRAVEHEART. LOL>
Bring on the BAGPIPES! Show me some KILTS! LOVE LOVE a parade.
Each clan sported their own unique FAMILY plaid.
SCOTLAND the BRAVE played — over & over & over ♪ ♫ ♬
GREAT weather, GREAT energy, GREAT time!
Thanks neighbor 🌞
Every man dies, but not every man really lives – Braveheart 🏹
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- gateway to the Rockies
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- Estes’ Elkhorn Ave
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- men in KILTS
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- unique FAMILY PLAID
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- BAGPIPES ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
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- parade LOVE ❤️
Scottish Highland Parade (Part I)
Scottish Highland Parade (same song/one song mix)
Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival
SEPTEMBER 6-9, 2018
For more than three decades, Estes Park has been the backdrop for one of the nation’s largest celebrations of the heritage, the sounds, the tastes, and the arts of the Scottish and Irish cultures.
Held annually the weekend after Labor Day, Estes Park’s Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival is the largest gathering of its kind between the Mississippi River and California, and traditionally hosts bands – from the marching kind to the rocking kind and everything in-between – hailing from Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and, of course, the United States.
With jousting knights, dancing girls, hoisting athletes and calling bagpipes, groups and families of all ages will catch the Celtic spirit at this festival – surrounded by the scenic peaks of Estes Park!
One of the weekend highlights is the free hour-long parade on Elkhorn Avenue, Estes Park’s main street. Bagpipes, drummers, dancers, clans in tartan, Dogs of the British Isles, brass military bands and precision drill teams give a preview of what can be seen on the festival grounds.
