Goodbye Rob and Helen

Final thoughts on Colorado

So... We got up fairly early (but not as early as Rob and Helen, who went to work - har har), fed ourselves (read that as stole food), and unpacked and re-packed all our belongings in a more rational way. Rob arrived and dutifully took us to the airport, regaling us on the way with anecdotes like 'an avalanche killed a skier there' and 'an avalanche killed another skier over there' and ... well, you get the theme! Ellie had a squeeze (pocket of air) in her ear as we descended in altitude, but on the brighter side it subsided eventually and the puppy food factory wasn't exuding any ghastly smells. The necessary airport beaurocracy passed painlessly and we were soon on our way to Vegas with United Airways.

Some final thoughts and revelations about Colorado that we mightn't have included thus far - firstly, the place seems to be pickled with humming birds, which apparently migrate up to the Rockies. I always thought they were tropical birds, but we saw a lot of them, with their lustrous green plumage and high pitched tweetling (new word) call. Secondly, the thinness and dryness of the air, which had odd effects, like Ellie's nose bleed, bouts of breathlessness, and making tubes of ointment spurt everywhere uncontrollablly. Lastly, the sword of Damocles hanging over the environment in the form of the Lodgepole pine beetle. Lack of forest fires makes for overdense forests, which makes ideal conditions for the transmission of the beetles, which makes for lots of dead trees leading to ... a huge fire risk that needs careful management and leaves the mountain scenery predominantly brown rather than the anticipated lush green. Oh and also we were gutted that we didn't see a single moose the closest we got was a marmot (my mate marmot!). Which isn't that close at all if you think about it.

A Big Thankyou...

...to Rob and Helen for putting us up and putting up with us. Cheers me dears xxx.

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