The end is near or maybe a beginning of a new era. In less than one year the 2012 phenomenon will strike! Perhaps a 12 part series will get us in the mood. Locally, here’s what’s up:
We live next to one of the largest volcanoes known; A supervolcano as it is called. Read the writing on the wall: We’re boned!
The Volcanic Explosivity Index (EVI) of Yellowstone is 8.
It has been theorized that the last EVI 8 caused the last Ice Age on earth 75,000 years ago. If Yellowstone were to erupt, there would be no North America as we know it.
Some scientists are watching the bulge
The magma (see diagram above) is something like 30 miles wide and 10 miles deep. Of any and all the 2012 end of the world predictions, this one is the one most likely to occur. The Venus Transient, Galactic Crossing, Polar Shift, Planet X or any of the other so-called predictions have NOTHING on the Yellowstone Volcano. I think Jeanne and I will visit Yellowstone this Spring before it’s too late!
In the town of Severance, Mr. Bruce Ruth posted a sigh that says: “The Town of Severance — Where the Geese Fly and the Bulls Cry”.
Why Severance is Famous
This town of maybe 650 population has this bar called “Bruce’s”. It was a biker bar that served bull testicles and it was famous for it (i.e. Rocky Mountain Oysters, or RMO). It was one of those famous dive bars that people out East would talk about. In 2006 Bruce Ruth died and the bar closed.
Part of the mural painted in 1972
It looked like the end of Bruce’s after he died. The town wouldn’t allow the new owners to get a liquor license unless building improvements were made.
The Flying goose and crying bulls are back again
Lucky for Severance a group of folks (one of them named Bruce) were interested enough to get the building into an approved state so that they reopened in October of 2009. Yes! The crying bulls are back!
Daddy Rab was there
We saw Daddy Rab at Engaging Loveland last July and when we saw that they were playing at Bruce’s, we just had to go. So we did. It was a bit like listening to the Blues Brothers performing at Bob’s County Bunker at times, but Daddy Rab knows a lot of cover songs so by the end of the first set they got ‘em up and dancing. I hope they come back again soon.
The Winter Break is now over! Today I start the Spring semester at CSU with “Plants and Civilization” and “Introduction to Astronomy”. The Astronomy class is in the same lecture hall right after the Plants lecture so my commute is going to be fairly efficient. It’s also in the same building as the “Bug Zoo”, so I can optimize my visit by feeding the roaches and taking in two lectures in about two and a half hours.
Black Sheep Bike at the health club Bike rack
Here I can take one of those “Spinning Classes” when it’s too cold outside to ride on the path. I also enjoy watching the health club members hunt for the closest parking space to the entrance in their SUV’s. Come on you guys! There’s plenty of space on the bike rack and it’s only 10 feet from the front door.
Christmas Tree Disposal
Here is Duncan Madog’s cart modified to carry a pine tree. The tree disposal area was only 4 miles from my home, so it was worth trying this out. How nice to have a 61 degree day in January.
A) S.E. Corner of Harmony and Timberline: Sponsored by the Poudre Vally Hospital and Peloton Cycles, it was my first stop in the morning. The bike mechanic taped my handle-bar tape which came undone last week. Thank you! They had Breakfast burritos but I didn’t have any: Too early!
B) Lemay and Oakridge Drive: Sponsored by The Edd and I and Recycled Cycles. Looked like good stuff, but still too early– and I had to get to Old Town Fort Collins.
C) 200 Linden Street: Sponsored by The Wright Life, Rocky Mountain Publishing and Cranknstein. My Black Sheep bike is resting against the sculpture “Free To Dance”, a piece of Art Action first seen in September 2010 HERE. Breakfast Burritos.
D) 236 Walnut Street: Sponsored by Happy Lucky’s Teahouse and REI. The teahouse is haunted as we found out HERE. They served tea and quiche. NOT breakfast burritos.
E) Oak Street Plaza: Sponsored by Bike Fort Collins, Climate Wise, El Monte, Rio Grande and The Point.
F) 250 E. Mountain Ave.: Sponsored by the Bohemian Foundation, ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours and Fort Collins Food Co-op. I got a free ankle strap at this spot.
G) 221 E. Lincoln Ave.: Sponsored by In-Situ, Tastebuds and New World Sports. This has always been a favorite stop on this tour!
H) Near Oak Street Plaza: Not a breakfast stop but YET ANOTHER TOUR DE FAT CAR FOR BIKE TRADER! Yes, it appears that one of the bike traders from Boise, Idaho is now living in Fort Collins. His Black Sheep bike is two ears old. Look at all the decals on this baby!
I) 500 Linden Street: Sponsored by New Belgium, Ridekick and Performance Bicycles. I hung around for a while to sample the hot breakfast and talk to the founder of Ridekick. It’s 9:30 am and all the morning stations are closed.
So, what’s that make it? Eight breakfast stops in one morning? On my way to work yet? Well it is Wednesday and I have to feed the insects at the CSU Bug Zoo, so I guess I really do have someplace to go.
Included in the month of December was the “Light Up The Night” for new bike lights and batteries which I didn’t attend because: 1) Bloco Em Foco was performing on the same night, 2) I had tickets to Spamalot, and 3) I have a generator light– I don’t need another light or batteries.
Then on December 6th was the FC Bikes Lunch Talk:
Presented by Dave “DK” Kemp, the Bike Coordinator for Fort Collins
Shown here admiring the 2011 Tour de Fat Black Sheep commuter bike. Note how the reflective white wall tires gleam with safety! Next up: The Winter Bike to Work Day.
Back in July of 2009 we were impressed with Ammons Hall at CSU. But there are other buildings designed by Eugene Groves such as:
The Student Services Building on University Avenue
Built in 1948 when CSU was still known as Colorado A&M.
Student Services side entrance
College Avenue Gymnasium (1924)
Other CSU buildings attributed to Groves are the Weber Building (1922) , Admin Building (1924) , Soils Lab (1924) , Music Building (1927) , Military Science Building (1927) , Botany Greenhouses ( 1930) , Johnson Hall (1936) and Braiden Hall (1946).
Heavy wet snow on leafy branches caused quite a problem. They closed down the CSU oval because of downed trees and power was cut off for several hours in Old Town. The snow on the street melted by mid-day. Some of our trees in the back yard are not as tall as they once were ;-(
Pumpkin carving at Mindy and Tom’s
It’s what you do near the end of October. The Day of the Dead is tomorrow and I still haven’t got my alter built. But we had costumes.
Jeanne
Besides watching the snow melt, there were a number of opportunities to go someplace in costume. The Holler!Ween event the previous week got us in the mood!
The “Meatloaf” part
As Eddie at the Rocky Horror Show musical wearing this really cool leather jacket I bought at the Goodwill store for $14. They also had this wonderful mullet wig or only $2.
Rocky Horror cast and musicians
This was very well directed and the actors were incredible. The members in the audience were not half bad either!
Jeanne and Jim
After the show we stopped in at Cafe Vino for some tapas and drinks with some friends.
At the UCA for the late night halloween organ extravaganza. Kyung-Soon Cho and Bobbie Mielke just finighed Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation for organ and piano. As last year, Sam Dawson began the show with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
Zombies by evening
Well, it’s November now. Time to store the costumes, makeup and Halloween decorations… Maybe I won’t put away the mullet wig just yet!
Just how scary is it to go bicycle touring? I don’t know for sure. I’ve done multi-day trips camping out with my bike on jaunts like the Ragbrai and Grabaawr but bicycle touring is a different animal. On those big organized bike trips all of your camping equipment and whatever baggage you might have on the trip is conveniently schlepped over to your next overnight destination by trained gorillas who are aware of the fact that you signed a waiver before the trip.
But bicycle touring is not like that. True Bicycle Touring means YOU take all of your crap with you ON your bike! You ARE the gorilla on a bike! You don’t need no stinking waiver! You are a different animal. You are crazy!
No, I don’t think I want to do this, but recently I found a way to emulate the touring experience by 1) not riding too far away from home, and 2) camping for only one night. Sure, it’s October in the Front Range of Northern Colorado; It will be cold at night and it might snow. But for just one day, how hard could it be?
Happy Holler!ween
I happened to come across a notice about a music / costume party being held on some farmland northwest of the town of Wellington, Colorado. Camping was encouraged and it was only 22 miles from home.
Michael (dressed as a skunk) with Bourbon Toothpaste
Michael produces a ‘happening’ called Holler!ween each year to benefit various organizations in the FoCo community; this time it was at Grant Farms near Wellington. We saw Michael and Bourbon Toothpaste at the Catalyst at the first FoCoMX back in April of 2009.
This event looked like the perfect way to try a little bike-tent camping so I made an advanced donation on-line and I packed my tent and costume and maybe a few other things I thought I might need and headed off to the farm. I made it there around 4:30 in the afternoon.
The Hippie Bus
The route to Grant Farms was fairly easy from Fort Collins via Taft Hill Road. The last bit was a dusty farm road that (due to all the dust) made me miss the main entrance to the farm. I rolled in via a back road where I saw two of these hippie buses blocking the back back entrance. I had arrived.
Black Sheep with tent and equipment cart
I set up my tent (note three other tents in the background) and since I was early I left the tent and trailer and took a bike trip into Wellington to 1) have dinner and 2) find a flashlight! Damn, I knew it would get dark! And walking on a farmer’s field at night could be interesting if you can’t see where you are going! Duh!
Other Bike Campers were there!
It was very nice to see that I was not the only cyclist at the event. The first inhabitants to arrive at the farm were in SUV’s and camper vans; I thought I was the only one there with a bike at first, but these guys must have come in while I was in Wellington. I took this picture the morning after the event– they were all sleeping; I didn’t want to wake them.
Hay bales and pumpkins
The party was happening in a large tent located on the farmland east of the camping area. There seemed to be enough beer and treats to satisfy the 250 or so people who attended the party. And everyone there was ready to party!
Even Frylock was there!
It was hard getting good party pictures. There were some great costumes but most of the pictures were way too dark except this one of a guy dressed as the Aqua Teen Hunger Force character known as Frylock. I’m sure the guy standing next to him is not Meatwad nor Master Shake. Note: The Aqua Teen Hunger Force is now called the Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1; I don’t know why.
YetiCon?
Apparently I was not alone as far as your typical Yeti costume is concerned. I found another Yeti and we posed for a picture outside the party tent where there happened to be a few stage lights set up. I’m the one on the left in case you were wondering.
Yeti on a Black Sheep Bike
Somehow I survived the party and the camping experience (NO HOT TUB? WTF?) and was up the next morning to take a final pass on the bike while in costume (not recommended) before riding home.
It’s what Kyle says about Casa Bonita in season 7, episode 11 of South Park:
Why eat here?
Listen, don’t complain about spending over $12 for mediocre food– after all, there’s no extra charge for all the entertainment, splendid appointments and 300 smiling service persons!
The Black Sheep Bike was there
Unlike Cartman who had to do away with Butters in order to be a part of Kyle’s birthday party at Casa Bonita, my main problem was simply that Casa Bonita is about 68 miles away; going all the way via bicycle was not an option. I needed some help via the Transfort and RTD systems to get me and my bike into Denver and then I could figure it out from there.
One of the Splendid Appointments
included this diving pool. If you get to be seated near the waterfall, you will have a great view of the entertainment and divers.
Where’s the fun in this?
There is so much musical entertainment and puppet shows and Black Bart’s cave, and the cliff divers, and the costumed dancing monkeys, and the gun fights that there really is no reason to jump into the pool. And stuff happens every 15 minutes.
Lunch here was OK, I guess.
But it must be better at dinner time. All of the ‘acts’ were phoned in performances and at times it seemed a little weird. The guy in the gorilla suit just stood there for a while and then got chased around the restaurant for no apparent reason. One guy came on stage unannounced and began to juggle three batons for about 30 seconds and then left the stage– What was that about?
I felt I had to go to this place; the media told me to do it. There was a report early in October about the Casa’s parent company filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Then in the CSU student paper there was an article about how important it was to make an annual pilgrimage to Denver to experience the place. Finally, when I went to the Second City show two weeks ago, the cast said that whenever they are in Colorado, they make it a point to go to Casa Bonita. Heck, I HAD to be there!
Spooky Fort Collins, part one can be found Here and part two found Here. This is now part three:
Walrus Ice Cream
This popular ice cream store has a variety of flavors and in the basement there is 1: A Portal and 2) A secret tunnel. I kind of figured that was the case. Everyone loves ice cream… even the dead.
The Portal
I know, it looks like a sump pump but three out of four mediums claim it to be a spiritual portal that just happens to be in the Walrus basement. It’s claimed that the flowing water is an underground river with an unknown source. Four out of five city engineers say it’s the Poudre River.
Used to be bank auto teller
Now it’s … it’s… I don’t know. Exclusive covered parking spaces? But long ago, it was a transfer point for the dead. Embalmed cadavers used to travel from beneath this parking lot and up to a delivery area to be transferred to the hearse.
Spiral metal staircase
In the basement of the Walrus runs this tunnel south of the building where the bodies were moved. It’s not clear how they moved upwards… much of this end of the tunnel is sealed including the staircase.
Lori at the haunted basement bar
At one of the bars in town there have been sightings of a woman near the boiler. At this spot, the EMF “goes crazy” which to most measurement technicians means it’s time to calibrate the equipment, but to a medium it means contact Ghost Hunters TV.
A sighting of a woman in the basement
It looks like a picture, but it’s really another demon portal where this strange nude woman with big red hair comes to greet you.
The Rio
This is where the Larimer County Coroner/undertaker did his work back in the old days or so they say. Believe it or not, the coroner’s name was Horace M. Balmer.
At last count there were three tours you can check out in town. Seems a bit many for a town of this size, but what the hey?
Spooky places to go in town this halloween:
Terror Tours In it’s 11th season, the Fort Collins Museum and Discovery Science Center knows how to handle halloween right. Any other tour in town is just a copy.
Haunted Fort Collins This is the one from which this blog entry was taken more or less.
