Our Last Trip to Breckenridge...

One of our favorite places in Colorado is the beautiful town of Breckenridge which is  located in Summit County, in north central Colorado. This is the heart of the Rocky Mountains--86 miles west of Denver.

We arrived and set about exploring the town. We went into the Breckenridge Photo Shop so that I could visit with Gary, the other wonderful photographer who was a tutor on the photography workshop I attended in Telluride a few weeks ago.

Gary is a fellow Nikon photographer and I spent most of my time in the workshop listening and learning from him. It was great to walk around his studio and see his work. Below are two of my favorites from his collection.

It was a cold afternoon so we headed up the hill to our accommodation at The Beaver Run Resort. We had a voucher from the resort for one night, not only was our accommodation free, but we were also upgraded to a fantastic apartment. We spent the afternoon enjoying one of the outdoor heated pools and hot tubs. We spent the night as a family watching The Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids loved this because it reminded us of our visit to Disneyland earlier in the year - The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was their favorite.

It was a treat to wake up to such a great view, but at the same time we were missing this beautiful town already.

After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs we headed back to the pool for a swim before the kids enjoyed playing in the snow.

We headed back into town for a late lunch and a final walk around town.

Goodbye Breckenridge - I hope I can return one day!

John Fielder and a trip to Telluride...

Without a doubt John Fielder is Colorado’s premier landscape photographer.  I have spent many hours in his gallery in Denver this year admiring both his and fellow photographers images.

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of participating in a colorful 3-day fall foliage workshop in the San Juan Mountains around Telluride, where autumn delivers layer upon layer of color. Fresh snow dusts peaks under blue skies, while golden aspens, yellow cottonwoods, orange willows and red sandstone hills add explosions of color to the high country John showed us his favorite backroads as vast ranches stretch out in magnificent valleys.

I took the image below along a magnificent stretch of, "Last Dollar Road". It was a beautiful morning and the sun was lighting up the brilliant fall foliage.

One of John's favourite places is Ralph Lauren's amazing ranch and surrounding land. The following image is a favourite of mine not only because of the wonderful vista - but I couldn't get enough of the Aspen bowl fences!

We spent hours, looking up to capture the towering yellow aspens rising against blue skies, and photographed horses and cows grazing in snow-kissed meadows. This was a wonderful opportunity to discover the heart and soul of nature’s beauty in the Colorado high country. I am still learning and feel that after this workshop I have been able to continue improving my images.

I have included a few images - I shot thousands over the weekend. I entered a number of images below in a Telluride Photography competition recently, and although I think the photograph is interesting, I was surprised when this was the shot that won second prize. Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder!

I submitted three images yesterday for selection, to be hung in John Fielders gallery in Denver in an upcoming exhibition. The panel will select only 18 images to hang - my fingers and toes are crossed. I am hopeful that one of my three will be chosen. This would be a fantastic end to a wonderful year of photography in the US in 2012.

Four More Years... Go Obama, Go!

If you are interested in politics then this is a great year to be in the US - election year! We have been reading, watching, listening and discussing all things political since our arrival last December. We have many friends who share our political ideals and alas a number of friends who don't. We have enjoyed many red wine infused evenings, discussing political parties this year with much vigor.

The election is only 13 days away and the three political debates are now over. Colorado is now becoming a very important state in the election and some even say that whoever wins Colorado will win the election!

Before we left for the US, Garry and I both agreed that to attend a rally with President Obama would be a fantastic experience. Today this hope became a reality!

The weather was bitterly cold as snow is expected tonight, and we lined up for hours with thousands of other supporters. It was fun to watch some of the interesting characters in the crowd as we waited.

After passing through the security checks we entered the park and joined the thousands of people who were already waiting.

It was an exciting atmosphere! We danced to a DJ playing dance song covers as we waited for Obama, who is racing through nine swing states in a no-sleep 38-hour stretch. Finally the great man arrived to enormous cheers and the chant of four more years from the massive crowd. I was standing about twenty people back from the barricade and could see Obama clearly at times - but photography was difficult. Everybody had a camera of some sort and often I just held my camera above my head and hoped for the best!

After his speech, I was able to move very close to the front of the barricades and was able to get some great shots Obama shaking hands with the crowd. Even though I couldn't actually see him at this time, I knew where he was because of the media who followed his every move, again I stood on tippy toes, held my camera as high as I could and hoped for the best.

Besides Denver, he will hit Iowa and Nevada on today in hopes of swaying those few, but critical, undecided voters in important swing states.


"We've gone through three debates, months of campaigning, way too many TV ads," Obama said to a crowd of about 16,000. "When you choose president, you don't know what's going to come up ... Trust matters."

The president then shifted into an attack on opponent GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, saying his plan is what "led to the Great Recession.""He's hoping that you, too, will likely come down with a case of what we like to call 'Romnesia,' " he said.

This is the 11th time the president has come to Colorado in 2012 and he suggested today he might return again before the election.

Go Obama, Go!

Testing of Tequila and Mezcal...

Our next stop was at an arts and crafts centre that specialised in making its own Tequila and Mezcal along with selling many sculptures, jewelry, pottery, onyx, replicas of Teotihuacan masks.



During our visit we were shown some local customs. First was a custom of usage of agava (maguey in Mexico).

Agave nectar - a sweetener derived from the sap, is used as an alternative to sugar in cooking. This is used in Mexico and Mesoamerica in the production of the beverage pulque.

People have found a few other uses of the plant aside from its several uses as food. When dried and cut in slices, the flowering stem forms natural razor strops, and the expressed juice of the leaves will lather in water like soap. The natives of Mexico used agave's to make paper, pens, nails and needles, as well as string to sew and make weavings.

 We got to try three different kinds of Mezcal, one was from cactus and was very sweet, one was a Mezcal with an almond flavor and was also very sweet, and the last was a more traditional smokey flavored strong type. I think this was a good way to relax the customers, in hope they would spend many dollars!

Then they showed us the various symbolic meanings of the obsidian carved statues and masks they had in their shop. They were all very ornate and beautiful. Some of the obsidian had a gold shimmer inside of them. We were shown many kinds of volcanic rocks and appreciated their beauty when they were dipped in water and held up to the sunlight.

The jewellery was beautiful and excellent quality. But very expensive, often you were looking at ?
$1,000 dollars as a starting point. We had been warned by our guide that silver in Mexico was not nearly as cheap as it once was due to the world wide price increase in silver.

Although this place could be described as a complete tourist trap, we really enjoyed the demonstrations, particularly the taste testing! It was nice to escape the crowds of Mexico city and relax - being driven around from place to place. This was also a great way for us to save time as we were on a tight schedule to fit in as much sight seeing as possible in only three days.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.....

Today we booked a day tour. We were picked up bright and early and headed for The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Although not far it takes considerable time due to the traffic. It was explained by our guide that wider Mexico cities population each day is 20 million people with another 5 million commuting for work into the city each day.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is an aspect of the Virgin Mary who appeared to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec convert to Roman Catholicism, in 1531. According to the traditional account, Juan Diego was walking between his village and Mexico City on December 12, 1531 when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared, speaking to him in his native Nahuatl language. She told him to build a church at the site.

When Juan Diego spoke to the Spanish bishop, the bishop did not believe him, asking for a miraculous sign to prove his vision's authenticity. The Virgin appeared to Juan Deigo again and, although it was winter, to him to gather flowers. Miraculously, Spanish roses bloomed right at his feet.

When Juan Diego presented these to the bishop, the roses fell from his apron (the Tilma) and an icon of the Virgin was miraculously imprinted on the cloth. The bishop ordered a church built at once, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe has proved extremely popular in Mexico ever since. Spanish missionaries used the story of her appearance to help convert millions of indigenous people in what had been the Aztec Empire.

Our Lady of Guadalupe still underpins the faith of Catholics in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and she has been recognized as patron saint of Mexico City since 1737. Her patronage continued to extend until it included all of America by 1946.

On November 14, 1921, a factory worker placed a bomb a few feet away from the apron. The explosion demolished the marble steps of the main altar, blew out the windows of nearby homes and bent a brass crucifix, but the fabric suffered no damage. Since 1993, the apron has been protected by bullet-proof glass.

In 2002, the Pope declared Juan Diego a saint; he was the first Mexican to achieve sainthood.


When arriving at the site we were shocked at the hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of Catholic treasures - I expected to see some souvenir stands but this was something else. We parked and were shown to one of the biggest shops I have been in - it was roughly the size of 4 basketball courts and it only sold Catholic artifacts. You name it, they had it!

Of course the shop had endless rosary beads, jewelry, t-shirts, coffee cups, crucifixes posters, paintings, statues and you could even purchase your own full set of the stations of the cross. However.....

What more could a devout Catholic Cowgirl want?

Some of Our Lady of Guadalupe clothing for your dog!

Perhaps an iPhone cover is more your style?

The original Basilica of Our Lady (the Antigua Basilica) dates from 1536 and still stands. However, the structure weakened over the years and the massive congregation outgrew the modest-sized basilica. The ground is actually sinking and it is expected the church will be closed within the next hundred years.

Below is the 18th century church that was built between the older two churches. It is a very small but beautiful chapel. The photo is not crooked and you can clearly see the extent the damage the sinking ground is having on this building.

This is the larger 17th Century Church - again it will be forced to close within the next hundred years.

Built in a flamboyant '70s style, the new basilica looks more like a stadium than a church. But here the focus is not the architecture or history of the building, but the holy relic and services held here. it is in a circular shape so that the image of the apron can be seen by everybody inside it.

While we were visiting a large group of girls arrived on a field trip. They were perfectly behaved and sat proudly for their photograph in the church.

The pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe is extremely popular. Some pilgrims crawl on their knees for miles as they approach the basilica before praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Pilgrims arrive year-round but up to five million flock to the shrine on December 12.