Category: colorado

Jack’s New Car

March 25, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

We drove Jack’s new PT Cruiser up into the mountains yesterday. There seemed to be a lot of other people with the same idea, enjoying a mild March Sunday drive. There also seemed to be a lot of Colorado State Highway Patrollers on the prowl for speeders as well: I suppose the poor things had slim pickings over the winter.

Partly Cloudy

February 19, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

At least we have a nice view while waiting for the train to pass. (Photographic note: I had to play with the light levels using Gimp since shooting toward the sun confused the light sensor. The wide-angle look is purely a feature of the topography of that area.) I’ve wanted a good photo of this area for a long time: this is the closest so far to what my eye “sees.”

Twisted

February 16, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

This is the most interesting of the photos that I took of the wreckage yesterday. If you click on the high res version, you can get a better idea of the force that must have been involved.

Still a little shaky

February 16, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

About 12:45 I heard a loud boom, but we frequently hear booming noises when it is very windy here. Five minutes later, I looked out and saw this. My first thought was that a horse might be under it, and I was horror-struck until I looked up the hill and saw Magic and Rags staring down, almost as perturbed as I. I called Jack and gave him a brief description of the visible damage, and took my camera out while I checked how much danger the ruins presented for the horses. Of course, once I got out there they decided I would protect them, and came down to see what was going on. I managed to get them away from the wreckage and put them in the new field and closed the gate. The wind peeled the roof completely off of the structure, and it is now laying on the ground: nails pointing up. The wiring in the old barn was twisted apart and the bulbs were broken, so I threw the circult breakers in the new barn.

Jack is on his way home so we can figure out if we can make the old field safe enough for horses tonight, or whether I have to take them to my trainer’s to board for a couple of days while we clear away the debris.

Powers and Old Ranch

This morning, the Gazette reported

The intersection of Powers and Old Ranch Road now tops the city’s list of the 25 most dangerous intersections while many hot spots from the past year saw fewer crumpled cars and injuries.

This is an intersection I drive past several times a week, and I thought it looked extremely dangerous from before it opened. Powers looks like a limited access highway at that point, and there is very little warning that there is at grade crossing with a signal at the top of the hill. In addition, the drivers on Old Ranch do not have good visibilty to see the traffic that might be approaching on Powers. I wonder if this report will lead the traffic engineers to consider some risk mitigation like flashing lights on Powers to warn of the intersection.