This year's Uptown Art Fair fish

 James Anthony Beard is the artist.  These are three separate two dimensional metal fish on long metal rods.  The long rods allow the fish to sway gently in a good breeze.

Cherry Creek run

My first mile-high run in Denver along the Cherry Creek bike/pedestrian path.  I jogged 3+ miles with a co-worker.  It is a beautiful path right along the creek but below street level most of the way.  And it is right in downtown.

Denver B-cycle

Rented a bike from Denver B-cycle and rode around downtown.  Passed the capitol building on one end of town and crossed I-25 bridge on the other.

I'm a travelin' man

Third day on the new job and already on my first trip.  Actually that is much longer than my first trip with previous employer.  Almost exactly 8 years ago I was on a flight to California my very first day of work.

This trip has me right in downtown Denver.  I'm staying at a kind of funky Hilton Doubletree called the Curtis.  It is directly across from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Revisiting backyard bent oak tree theory

A tenant in the five-plex next door informed me that he saw four baby raccoons in the tree last night when he was coming home from work.

I commented that the mother must be close by.  He said she was hanging out in my backyard.

So a combination of the squirrels pulling and taking the support strings and the weight of raccoons are now the theory of why the tree is so bent.  Not sure what my options are.

Yay - rain

Two mornings in a row with rain showers.  My garden and yard and water bill are very appreciative.

Annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip

Starting off from Sawbill Outfiitters on Sawbill Lake.  July 13.

Portaging over a beaver dam

Typical campsite activities...reading and fishing and relaxing

Female or juvenile merganser ducks.

Having fun in the lake...lots of swimming

Day trip to Frost Lake with a sandy beach

Day trip past "face rock"

Julie with all our eggs intact

Jenny on rock on rock

Sitting on the rock on the rock

The rock on rock...red circle is the little rock that is holding the bigger rock on the giant rock...the blue circle is the trunk of the tree somehow growing out of the giant rock

Day trip...fern rock

Julie in campsite

Getting ready to leave in the rain

Back at Sawbill.  July 16.

Part of our gear (tent, rain fly and tarps) spread out at Jenny and Andrew's cabin to dry.

The other part of our gear.

It was a fantastic trip.  Left from Sawbill Lake on Friday, July 13.  Our destination was Cherokee Lake, a beautiful lake with enormous boulders, rock walls and mature trees.

The weather was forecast to be sketchy with high probability of rain.  We lucked out for the most part.  No rain until Monday when we paddled back to civilization.

The pictures tell the visual story but what you can't experience are all the different birds we saw and heard.  Saw several loons, various types of ducks, seagulls, bald eagles doing aerial acrobats and an osprey.  Heard so many song birds it was magical.

• Had a fun encounter with a frog.
• The flies were irritating but manageable.
• The mosquitoes won out as we had to take shelter in the tent every evening.