Mirrors

Some fun house mirrors make you look fat, others thin, this one just makes you look a bit goofy around the edges.....or perhaps it is just a normal reflection.......

Happy Mothers Day!

Last weekend was out Church's Mother Daughter Banquet. All the women and girls had a nice sit down dinner, served buy the guys in the church. The church gym was decorated up as nice as a gym can be, and the event was enjoyed by all.

Today in the US, it is Mother's Day. Regardless of where you are, take the time to give you Mom a big hug today, you never know how many more chances you will have to do that! I miss you Mom.

Auction

You may recall an earlier post called "Tail Fins" that I posted on 9/26/06, or the series of hood ornaments I posted in 2007. Those shots came from the collection of one man, and in August, he he putting his entire collection up for auction. When he let me in the yard to photograph the hood ornaments, his passion for his collection was very evident. I suspect it will be a hard day for him.

Out-Of-Sink Erator

When you do a DP site, you almost always have a camera with you, and last weekend was no exception. I was helping serve at the annual Mother Daughter banquet our church puts on, and had my camera in the kitchen. Now, if you look over the 551 shots I have posted prior to this one, you will notice that this photograph does not really live up to the standards I have set for myself. That is because my camera was apparently hijacked sometime during the evening........

Well it only seems fair that I post the best of their work. Click on the image to see the detail of the wash cloth threads :)

I decided against the interior garbage can shots! Tomorrow I will post one of my shots from the event :)

Wrong Way

It is odd how inviting this looks, but every indication says I should not enter......

Horseback Rides

I suspect it has been a few years since rides were available.......

Quilts Etc.

It is the Etc. part that has me curious.......

Blooms

The snow has retreated to the upper most regions of the mesa, and Delta is all abloom this spring!

Iron Man

Iron Man has come to Delta, and decided to hand out in front of the Egyptian theater. As I was taking a picture of him, the fan on the right said Oh, please please take my picture with Iron Man! He did not ask for a copy or anything, he just wanted his picture taken! Well, here you go :)

Country Roads

Green returns to the valleys, and the country roads just ask to be explored.

What to do with an old steam shovel

Park it in a field and string barbed wire I guess......

may day, may day

It is May first, the tulips are starting to bloom, the grass is green, and it is snowing..........

Cardboard Dropoff

Every so often, a "free" city service pops up that turns out to be very handy, and Delta has the cardboard drop off. It turned out to be very handy when we moved here, and again as we do our basement finishing project. Thanks City of Delta, this service is appreciated!

On The Way to Dropping off Cardboard...

On the way to dropping off cardboard (more on that tomorrow), I could not help but stop & take a picture of the setting sun on this old feed store. Good lighting can make a world of difference on a subject!

Hyphens

Hyphens are a tool often overlooked by graffiti artists, but not in Delta.

Free Coffee

One of the nice things about living in "the sticks", is that people tend to be rather laid back and generous. I fly out of the Grand Junction airport once a month, and one thing I always do is to stop by the one store in the terminal to pickup a free cup of coffee. Does your airport have anyone giving away free coffee? Now I need to find the free lunch......

Between our basement finishing project, and travel to CA, I have been "out of pocket" a bit lately, but I hope to get back to regular posting starting today!

Waiting

Waiting for lunch, waiting for the train to pass, waiting for the snow to melt off the mesa. A lot of waiting for such a small place! It was however 77 degrees today, the sun was shining, and the top was down. There are worse places to wait!

Too Pooped to Participate

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We have been finishing a basement for the past few months, and have entered the painting phase. All the sanding and such has left me too pooped to participate! I set down the primer last night, and we are getting close. All the activity around here has also been too much for Abby to watch :)

MJDLWBHDTC for short

My parting shot from the museum comes from looking into the back of a 1930 Model J Duesenberg LWB Hibbard & Darrin Transformable Cabriolet. It is a bit grainy since I was shooting hand held with a high ISO on my small camera, but this shot is fun to zoom in on any way. Take a look!

You will probably see more shots from the museum show up now and again, but that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Gateway Auto Museum, come again!

East Bound & Down

In the movie Smoky & the Bandit, there is a classic scene between the guy who wants 400 cases of Coors beer moved east very quickly, and "The Bandit" (Burt Reynolds). It goes like this:

"I need a car "
The assistant pulls out a wad of $100's, and peals off bunch.
"A fast car"
He peals off a bunch more
"Faster than that"
Again he peals off a bunch more

In the next scene, the Bandit drives this car out of the truck, into American history, and onto my wish list!

Mr. Hendricks, if you want to donate this to Bill's collection, feel free, but I must warn you, it will end up with more than the current 75 original miles, but hey, the people of Delta, and a few state troopers will get to see it! Perhaps this is not such a good idea........

It's all about the driver!

A magnifying glass as a windshield? I guess that would help with reaction times. Warning, objects in windshield are farther than they appear!

Oldsmobile F88

The crown jewel of the museum is this Oldsmobile F88. Now if you are thinking that you have never heard of this car before, there is a good reason. It was a 1954 GM concept car. 4 were built and 2 destroyed by GM when they decided not to take them production. One got out "into the wild", but was destroyed in a fire, and this one rumor has it, was snuck out in crates by the designer. It was bought by Hendricks at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in January of 2005 for 3.2 million dollars. I wonder if he got a warranty....I wonder why GM never asked for it back......I wonder wonder who, oouu who, Who wrote the book of love........Could you consider this a monotone car? Wait, that was 1958.....Sorry, caught myself wandering around my mind again :)

Work of Art

You don't see many cars like this 1929 Packard model 645 Deluxe Eight Roadster on the road these days, and frankly, I think the world is somewhat deprived as a result. I could get into touring around Delta Colorado is this work of art, and I know my girls would love to ride in the rumble seat! Why don't we have rumble seats any more........

Gateway Auto Museum

Delta sits just to the east of nowhere, and about an hour and a half to the northwest of Delta is the town of Gateway. If you have ever driven there, you will most likely have determined that Gateway is in the middle of nowhere.

Nowhere it turns out, is a very pretty place, and long time readers of DDP may remember a series of pictures I posted in September of 2006 of that area. Well it turns out that there is another gem in Gateway, and that is the Gateway Auto Museum. This Museum holds around 1/3 of the auto collection of John Hendricks, the Founder of the Discovery Channel. It seems that he fell in love with the Gateway area, and has spent a good deal of time and money developing a destination resort in the town. It is well worth the visit.

Yesterday, the men's group at our church made a trip out to the museum, and for the next few days, I am going to show you some of the shots I took. We start with the curious mirror placement of a 1928 Cadillac Series 341 Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton.

I hope you enjoy your visit!

These Boots Were Made For... Planting?

So that would mean the next line of the song is: "So I'll plant right over you". It's got a beat, you can dance to it, I'll give it a 90...... :)

Who says show business is all that difficult!

After Remington

My wife & I went out for breakfast this morning, and I noticed another mural for the first time. This one is unique in that it is done on wood. It is funny, I have walked and drove by many times without noticing it! It is interesting to zoom in and look that this one. Take a look and let me know what jumps out at you.

Be Prepared

If you are not sure that your vehicle can make it to your destination, you can always carry a spare....

Singer in a Straight Jacket.

Perhaps the most memorable number in the show was this young lady doing a selection of her own choosing, wearing a straight jacket. Of course, there are not many songs that can be sung in a straight jacket, but she picked a good one, Willy Nelson's........Crazy

Well Done DHS Show Choir!

Surgeon General & MC !

Some how they got Dr. C. Everett Koop as the MC for the show! Ok, well maybe not, but that was my first thought. :)

Got Ya Covered

You would not generally have high expectations for the food at this sort of event, but were pleasantly surprised. The food was very good, and the parachute canopy gave the dinner a certain ambiance. Somewhat hard to describe, but an ambiance none the less :)

Red Cross Canteen

The Delta High School (yes we only have one) Show Choir put on a presentation called A Sentimental Journey last night, and included a 1930's & 1940's theme. It started with dinner, served on stretchers, in a "Red Cross Canteen", and ended with a variety show. A good time was had by all! They are doing it again tonight if you are in town, and tickets are $15 at the door. I recommend getting there a bit early.

Lone Tree

While the cranes in the background were a bit far to see, this lone tree did catch my eye.

Earning A Living The Hard Way

I have a lot of respect for the men and women that still work the land.

Dobbie Dirt

The dobbie formations around Delta have an interesting feature, that is, they "produce" these fields of black lava rocks. It seems that Grand Mesa is an extinct volcano, and these lava rocks get pushed out in sort of underground mud river. Now that is what they tell us, but I have heard that others have seen the rangers with sacks of gravel, and they plant these fields......Either way, they make good landscaping materials!

Cranes

As mentioned yesterday, I was not able to get very close to the large group of cranes, but there were a few that were somewhat close. To give you an idea of size, these birds have a 4 foot wingspan! There were only some 350 birds this day, but I heard that yesterday, there were 3,500, and they took off right over the hill, about 150 feet above the people. I suspect the excitement level was a bit higher than when I visited. Perhaps I will be able to get back there this next weekend for some better shots. Do zoom in to see some of the detail.

Watching The Watchers

The Sand Hill Cranes have arrived to the Delta area, and last Saturday morning, a good number of people gathered to watch them sit in a field around 1/2 mile away. There was a moment of excitement when the flock took off rose a few hundred of feet, then settled down a bit closer to continue eating. The birds were really too far away for the casual observer to get too excited, but it was fun to watch the people who where there. It was obvious they were very enthused about the flock, and I hear of one person who even slept in her car to get an early start watching them. Since it was in the 20's that morning, you know she is into the hobby!

My understanding is that this is the last stop as a large flock in a northern migration, and from here they spread out around the north west US and Canada. I was able to get one pic that will give you an idea of what they are like, and I will post it tomorrow.

He has Risen!

These three trees remind me that the old wooden cross, one of the cruelest ways man has ever devised to kill someone, was not enough to overcome the love of God. Today, some 2000 years later, much of Delta will still be celebrating the fact that "He has Risen Indeed"!

Happy Easter Everyone!

A Good Place To Sit

If your looking for a good place to sit and watch the Grand Mesa, I think I may have found it!

Frosty Fields

Another cold morning in Delta, and frost covers the freshly plowed fields. Spring approaches slowly but surely.

Morning Surprise!

Just when you think it is safe to start up the sprinklers, you get a reminder that this is Colorado, and March & April typically get the most snow fall of the year!

Did You Turn Off the Water?

Ummmmm, I think so.......

Fruit Growers Reservoir

A few miles to the NE of Delta sits Fruit Growers Reservoir, and this is the time of year when the Sand Crane migration stops there as the birds move north. We headed out this morning to see them leave, but alas, it was a bit cold, and they did not come in last night. It was a beautiful morning in any case, and I was able to get a few shots I suspect you will like. Notice the ice still out in the middle of the water.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I was in Beverly Hills on business all last week, but I am back home now.

Don't Leave Your Kids at Mocca Joes!

Unless of course you want a hyper kid & puppy :)

Bigger Truck Needed

Don't you just hate it when you get out that spare tire for the first time, and it does not fit!

Mesa Watch

I know I post a large number of pictures of Grand Mesa, but it is very hard to have the worlds largest flattop mountain right outside of my office window, and not to photograph it. Especially since it changes so often. So rather than run from it, I will embrace it, and institute a Mesa Watch so every so often you can see what the mesa is up to :)

1907 Hillman's

So the questions is, what does this mean, and I am not sure. It could be something to remember John E. Hillman of Delta, Delta County, and a member of Republican National Committee from Colorado, 1932-40 (Google is great), a somewhat permanent advertisement for a 1907 Hillman automobile, or something completely different. Does anyone know?

339 Main St

Even though I spend my life in front of computer screens, I still love the old Neon signs.

Night Life

Delta is not exactly known for it's night life, but the lightning in this store front did catch my eye. Lights are on, but nobody's home.

A Port in the Storm

One of Delta's larger employers is a company called WeatherPort, and Delta is the headquarters for the company. They make these tent like enclosures that are used around the world. Perhaps you have seen one, and now you know where it came from!